Odds and Ends From Our Trip
Cleon and I had a wonderful time birding in Ohio. I had been to Aullman Audubon back in the 1980’s with my Dad and liked it then – I liked it even more this time. Cleon has never been birding anywhere in Ohio. We both tend to think of Ohio as more flat, but there are large areas that are quite hilly and steep. Trails can be challenging in their ups and downs. The birding was outstanding. Cleon and I don’t often see the Willow and Acadian Flycatchers, but we saw and heard both at most of the places we birded. And even though it was hot and humid, the birds were still singing most of each morning. We would recommend to anyone who wants several good places to bird that are not too far apart to consider both the Dayton and Springfield areas. And there are good restaurants and places to stay at both places – always a must! I know Springfield has gotten unfortunate press in the past year or so, but we found the city welcoming and friendly – everywhere we went. Try visiting this area for yourself and I think you will like it as much as we did. We felt right at home.
Some additional observations:
Canada Geese. I blogged earlier that we have no Canada Geese families on our small lake and in the 20 years we have lived here, we generally have 4 to 5 families each year. We have also looked at the 3 large lakes close to us and again – no families. I did hear from Susan W. in southeastern PA who emailed to tell me she lives close to a pond and there are always several families each year and they seem to be in 2 waves – an early group and a late group – several families in each group. She told me there was only 1 family early in spring and none since. She felt that was a big change. We continued to look for Canada Geese and Canada Geese families throughout our trip. We saw very few adult geese anywhere we birded – whether we were on a river, at lakes, on in wetlands. We saw only 1 family and that was not in any of the places we birded in Ohio, but in upstate New York. So in our observation, not only are there few to no families anywhere we have looked, but the number of adult geese is way down, also. Has anyone else observed this? Or are you seeing as many geese and families as you usually do? Email me at lindasuehendricks@birdingbeyondthefieldguide.com.
Ospreys. If you are driving across I-90 in the eastern half of upstate New York, be on the lookout for Osprey nests. We saw 3 on big utility towers. You can’t miss them – even if you are whizzing along at 65mph. And one had a little head sticking up so there was at least 1 juvenile.
Black Vultures. Black Vultures have always been thought of as a southern bird, but they have been pushing their range north along the Atlantic Coast for some years. And now they are starting to come inland. We spent some time in New Paltz, NY, which is near Albany, and Black Vultures were in the sky and soaring in groups all over the hilly and wooded town. I counted at least 11. If you look at field guides published before 1990, this is out of their range. Field guides published after 1990 often have this area right on the edge of their range. 11 birds over 1 small town is a good number so my guess is the push northwards and inland continues.