17
Jun

Birding around Dayton, OH – Part 4

Eastwood Lake.  Located in Eastwood MetroPark, Dayton, OH.       https://www.metroparks.org/places-to-go/eastwood/.

Eastwood Lake. You can drive along the entire length of this lake.
An example of scattered trees and an unmown area.

Like Englewood Park, Eastwood Lake is part of the MetroPark system of Dayton.  You can download the brochure which states there are resident Bald Eagles.  Several people we encountered at the other areas we birded recommended we come here to see the eagles.  Unfortunately, even though we looked, we saw no eagles.  This area is also known for its water fowl, but we only saw some Canada Geese, a few Mallards, and a mallard hybrid.

The park is about 440 acres with a 185 acre man-made lake.  This is much more of a public place than Englewood , Woodman Fen, or Aullwood Audubon.  There is fishing – including night fishing.  Boats are allowed on the lake.  There are alternate days for power boats – no restrictions on size of motors – and sailboats.  The afternoon we were there, no boats.  However, the morning had been stormy and there was a warning sign about a bloom of algae (see photo below).  There were at least a dozen or more fishermen fishing from the shores.

The area has scattered large trees, mown areas, and areas with grasses and forbs left unmown – these areas were filled with invasive plants.  So much so that I took photos and I will blog about this in a week or so.  In my opinion, this was not a great place for birders – even though the brochure said it was.  Englewood Park, Woodman Fen, and Aullwood Audubon were vastly superior places.  Neither Cleon nor I would recommend this lake for birding.  Too many people, too commercial, too close to a very busy highway.   No trails.  If you are going to walk, you must walk along the paved road.  But we were there, so we did write down what we saw and heard.  We were here for over an hour but you can see, not nearly as many birds as any of the other 3 places:

 

Mourning Dove                                Double-crested Cormorant                                              Mallard – also hybrid and a domestic duck
Red-winged Blackbird                     Indigo Bunting                                                                    Ring-billed Gull
American Goldfinch                         Cedar Waxwing                                                                   Northern Cardinal
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher                     Warbling Vireo                                                                   Orchard Oriole
Yellow Warbler                                 Song Sparrow                                                                     American Robin
Willow Flycatcher                             Tree Swallow                                                                      European Starling

On the left is a white domestic duck and on the right is a Mallard hybrid. Mallards are ‘indiscriminate breeders’. They freely mate with domestic ducks and probably the species Black Duck which may explain – in part –  the decreasing population of Black Ducks.
Great Blue Heron.
Bird house claimed by Tree Swallows.
More people than we encountered anywhere else. More cars, more activity, and just across the somewhat narrow lake is a busy highway. Not the best place for birding – or from getting away from it all. But that said, is is a good place to look at Bald Eagles. Unfortunately not the afternoon we were there.

Our next stop is Springfield, OH. We look forward to some beautiful spots and great birding.  Only about a 40 minute drive from Dayton.  To quote my friend Susan from central Illinois – Bird on!