Christmas Bird Counts plus January Birding Update
Columnist Bruce Glick summarizes happenings in the local birding world. This week Bruce reports on the Christmas Bird Counts as well as update on early January birding. Find out more in the "Gone Birding" column.
Weather is always a factor in birding, and such was the case last month for the different CBCs held in our area. Millersburg started off the parade on December 14, on a day that started out with rain but improved in the afternoon. The Ragersville count on December 27 had even more rain and Mohican also had lousy weather.On the other hand, good weather prevailed for the Wilmot and Wooster CBCs.
The big news came from Wooster where a large group of talented birders scoured the count circle from morning until night, coming up with the amazing total of 100 different species. For the last several years this count has been improving, getting into the 90s and this year the combination of wonderful habitat, good weather, and top-notch birders turned the trick. Other than Toledo's record-breaking 108 this year, Wooster's total is the first to reach the century mark in more than 100 years of CBCs across the state.
The two really rare birds discovered on the Wooster count were a Lesser Yellowlegs and a White-eyed Vireo. The vireo was located at the Secrest Arboretum in Wooster, and the yellowlegs was a pleasant surprise along Wilderness Road in the Funk Bottoms Wildlife Area. Both are extremely rare in the winter. Another key to the success was the extreme amount of water this year, creating habitat for lots of different ducks and other waterfowl.
As I reported earlier, the Millersburg CBC also did very well with a total of 91 species. At Ragersville the all-day rain kept numbers low but there were still some good birds as always. A surprise was finding over 100 Wilson's Snipe north of Sugarcreek. Wilmot had a good turnout of birders with lot of good finds, however it wasn't a record year for totals.
In Mansfield, another Rufous Hummingbird stayed around for count day. It's hard to believe that we had two of these rare western hummers on local CBCs this year (the first one was on the Millersburg CBC). Ashland and Mohican also completed counts this year. All in all it was another very good year locally for Christmas Bird Counts. Many birders are already making plans for next year. The first local count will again be at Millersburg, on Friday, December 14, 2012. Put it on your calendar!
January is moving right along, and a number of interesting birds have kept birders on the move, especially those doing a "Big January". At least one birder, Ben Morrison, hit 100 species already on January 5. I think Ben was chasing birds most of the time over those first five days. The Black-tailed Gull is still being seen at the Ashtabula harbor, and there have been Snowy Owls in different parts of northern Ohio. Keep watching for one locally.
Clear Fork Reservoir has hosted some great gulls, including Glaucous, Greater Black-backed, and Lesser Black-backed. The Wilds is the place to go for raptors, including a Golden Eagle if you are lucky. Local birders have been pleased that the Northern Shrike north of Funk has stayed around the same general area, unusual for shrikes.
A movement of White-winged Crossbills south through Michigan resulted in a number of these northern finches being located in Toledo and Cleveland last week. Hopefully more are headed our way.
Good birding!
Bruce Glick
birderbruce@yahoo.com
330-317-7798
