Black-bellied Whistling-duck makes rare appearance near Cedar Point

  • By Bruce Glick
  • August 18, 2010
  • 314
                        
In the shadows of Cedar Point, at the entrance to the causeway which goes to the famous amusement park, is a small preserve called Pipe Creek Wildlife Area. As we learned recently, it's not easy to find, even if you think you know where it is. On Friday the 13th, around noon, a birder reported seeing a Black-bellied Whistling-Duck at Pipe Creek. I received two calls from local birders soon after the report was posted on the northwest Ohio rare bird alert. Since there had only been one previous sighting in Ohio, and that one was a bird photographed but not seen by any birders, this was indeed a rare find. We decided to try for it. Seven of us filled my minivan and off we went, up route 250 through Norwalk and on to Route 6 close to Lake Erie. We thought we knew where Pipe Creek was but made several wrong turns before finding it, hidden a few blocks off the causeway to Cedar Point. Once we found the parking lot, it was about a ten minute walk out to the shallow areas and little islands along the edge of the lake where the bird had been seen. There were a number of people already there, and they were watching the Whistling-Duck which was sleeping among a small flock of Mallards. Through the spotting scopes it was possible to get excellent looks. Several times the duck got up and did some preening before tucking in its head and sleeping some more. Earlier it had taken off once, flown around for awhile and then come back to the same general area. The bird stayed around all evening and was seen off-and-on the next day. We were pleasantly surprised to find a lot of other interesting birds at Pipe Creek. Three species of terns were present as well as lots of shorebirds, including a Red-necked Phalarope, a Willet, several Stilt Sandpipers, dowitchers, and a variety of other small shorebirds. Snowy Egrets and Great Egrets were also feeding in the shallow water and a Black-crowned Night-heron flew over at one point. Birders have been expecting to find a Black-bellied Whistling-Duck in Ohio since they have been seen all around us. These tropical ducks are expanding their range from Florida and Texas, now being found as far north as Tennessee. There have been a number of sightings in Ontario as well. Now we'd like to find one closer to home, a definite possibility since there is so much excellent habitat here. Whistling-Ducks are often found around ponds and even on golf courses. Good birding!


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