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| Snow-flocked Hemlocks in the Hocking Hills |
I'm glad we stopped at the lake first thing, though, because there was much waterfowl to be seen. Due to the mild weather that we've had thus far, the water was completely open (i.e. not frozen), so there were many more waterbirds than one would find if the lake had been even partially frozen. We saw several good-sized rafts of American Coots and Hooded Mergansers (with females greatly outnumbering males), a couple of Pied-billed Grebes, a Double-crested Cormorant, and a Horned Grebe. Please let it be noted that, with the exception of the Coots (and maybe the Mergs), I probably wouldn't have been able to ID the other waterfowl due to utter lack of experience (especially since they're all in basic, or non-breeding, plumage right now!). Thanks to our fearless leader, Jim McCormac, for pointing out all these great birds!
As strange as it may sound to some, I find an odd type of enjoyment in driving around and stopping and looking and listening for birds. Of course, this is all done on rural roads, so traffic is not too much of an issue, but you do have to be mindful of private property. We stopped and "staked out" a couple of yards with feeders, and if the homeowners would have happened to look out while this car full of people with binoculars was checking out their house, they might have been a little alarmed! One of these feeders got us our only House Finch of the day, though.
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| My bird count partners, Olivia and Jim. |
Surprises for the day came both in the form of what we saw and didn't see. The aforementioned Horned Grebe was a nice find, as were several hearty-souled Savannah Sparrows cavorting with a large flock of Juncos, a Bald Eagle soaring over Lake Logan, and a few Killdeer holding out on the mudflats at the lake. We had several misses, too, that were disappointing: no Turkey Vultures (did see a number of Black Vultures, though), no Red-tailed Hawk, and no American Kestrel. Regarding the latter two, I suspect our chances would have been better if the weather weren't so dreadful. Who wants to be teed up in a tree or perched on autility line when the wind is blowing the snow sideways? We had also hoped and tried for Red-breasted Nuthatch, Winter Wren and maybe an overwintering Eastern Phoebe, but no luck. And so it goes.
The day wrapped up at Crane Hollow Nature Preserve, where we had a group gathering and pot luck. It was nice to sit in this warm, cozy house with some yummy snacks and in the company of friends, new and old, while we compiled the day's findings. It was a wonderful way to start the new year!
Here's the full list of species that our group saw and/or heard, if anyone cares to know:
- Hooded Merganser
- Double-crested Cormorant (new for the Hocking Hills count!)
- American Coot
- Canada Goose
- Pied-billed Grebe
- Horned Grebe
- Mute Swan
- Mallard
- Killdeer
- Belted Kingfisher
- Bald Eagle
- Red-shouldered Hawk
- Northern Harrier
- American Crow
- Norther Cardinal
- Blue Jay
- Carolina Chickadee
- Tufted Titmouse
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- Brown Creeper
- Song Sparrow
- White-throated Sparrow
- Dark-eyed Junco
- Savannah Sparrow
- Swamp Sparrow
- American Tree Sparrow
- Eastern Towhee
- Hermit Thrush
- Eastern Bluebird
- American Robin
- Pileated Woodpecker
- Downy Woodpecker
- Hairy Woodpecker
- Red-breasted Woodpecker
- Northern Flicker
- Mourning Dove
- American Goldfinch
- House Finch
- Carolina Wren
- Golden-crowned Kinglet
- Black Vulture
- Northern Mockingbird
- House Sparrow
- European Starling
