The Cardinal, Summer 2012 comments on the season

By Craig Caldwell der made separate pilgrimages to Mohican SP and SF in Jun and tallied large numbers of many This was a hot, dry summer in most of Ohio. thrush and warbler species. You will see them cit- Temperatures were above normal in June, part ed repeatedly in the Species Accounts. An area of a trend that made the month among the 10 called The Bowl, in Harrison, hosted a fine warmest for the lower 48 states as a whole. On variety of grassland birds; unfortunately public 28 and 29 Jun, 16 stations in the western third access is limited to its perimeter. of the state tied or exceeded their previous daily About 300 bird species are either residents, records with readings up to 107°. July was the breeders, regular migrants, or regular winter vis- second hottest on record in Ohio and the hottest itors; I call this Ohio’s Core List. Over 100 other ever for the lower 48. species are infrequent visitors (some with only a Statewide, June was among the driest 10% single record). They, with all the species which of the more than 100 years with data. Almost have never appeared in the state, constitute the the whole state had below-average rainfall, with Review List, which is maintained by the Ohio some areas having as little as 20% of the norm. Bird Records Committee (OBRC). The Com- Paradoxically, a few pockets had up to three mittee and this editor urge birders to report all times their normal June rain, but they were too sightings of Review List species, of Core List spe- few and too small to affect the statewide results. cies found at unusual times, of nesting by birds July was similar, though it was only (only!) about previously not known to nest in the state, and the 25th driest. A few counties in the central west of course sightings of birds never before found had as little as 10% of their precipitation norms, in Ohio. Information on how to document rar- and most of the rest of the state ranged from 50 ities is available at http://www.ohiobirds.org/ to near 100% of normal. The Ohio Valley and records/documentation.php. parts of the inland northeast, however, had up to The following section contains accounts for double their previous average rain. Nevertheless, 238 species, one hybrid, and one genus. The no new rainfall records were set in either month, OBRC received or downloaded documentation a marked contrast with last summer which saw for seven review species. Records for three of many new highs. Weather data are from the them were accepted and reports of the other National Weather Service (http://water.weath- four are in process. Four review species (White- er.gov/precip/) and the National Oceanic and face Ibis, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Fish Crow, Atmospheric Administration (http://www.ncdc. and Common Raven) had reports which were noaa.gov/temp-and-precip/maps.php and not documented for the Committee. http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/extremes/records/). Taxonomic order and nomenclature follow Several contributors commented that the the Check-List of North American Birds, 7th Edition season appeared to be a week or two advanced (1998) as updated through the 53rd Supplement compared to what we consider usual. The spring (2012). This document is published by the North vegetation timing was advanced and many spe- American Classification Committee of the cies’ migrations began and peaked earlier than American Ornithologists’ Union and is available normal, so summer was a continuation of that at http://www.aou.org/checklist/north/print. pattern. The heat and lack of rain quickly re- php. County names are in bold italics. Locations duced our already minimal shorebird habitat; whose counties are of the same name, for exam- Rob Harlan noted that the Bellevue “sky ponds” ple Ashtabula (city) and Delaware Wildlife Area, were dry by mid-Jun. Shorebirds’ dates of last usually do not have the counties repeated. Coun- departure northbound and first southbound ar- ty names for sites described in Cincinnati, Cleve- rivals, however, mostly followed their historical land, and Columbus are also omitted. Shortened patterns. names and a few sets of initials are used for lo- A few more waterfowl than usual lingered to cations and organizations which occur repeated- contradict the above trend. Common Mergan- ly; these abbreviations are listed here. The term sers have settled in as breeders in a couple of “fide” is used in some citations; it means “in trust locations, a very recent addition to Ohio’s list of of ” and is used where the reporter was not the regular nesters. James F. Yoder and Levi A. Yo- observer.

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Abbreviations: Mohican = Mohican State Forest and State Park. BBS = the North American Breeding Bird Many trails cross the boundaries so some Survey, a joint project of the United States reports include sightings from both. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Canadian Mohican SF = Mohican State Forest, Ashland Wildlife Service. Mohican SP = , (mostly) The Bowl = a limited-access area near the Ashland and (slightly) Richland Harrison airport. MP = Metro Park or MetroPark, depending on CMNH = Cleveland Museum of Natural jurisdiction History NC = Nature Center Conneaut = the mudflats on the west side of NF = National Forest Conneaut Harbor, Ashtabula, unless NP = Nature Preserve (except as part of CVNP) otherwise noted Oak Openings = Oak Openings Preserve CP = County Park MetroPark, Lucas CPNWR = Cedar Point National Wildlife ONWR = Ottawa , Refuge, Lucas Lucas and Ottawa CVNP = Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Sandy Ridge = Sandy Ridge Reservation, Cuyahoga and (mostly) Summit Lorain Darby Creek = Battelle Darby Creek Metro SF = State Forest Park, Franklin Shawnee = , Scioto, East Fork = , Clermont unless otherwise noted eTT = eBird Trail Tracker data entry kiosk, Shawnee Lookout = Shawnee Lookout County usually at National Wildlife Refuges Park, Hamilton Fernald = Fernald Preserve, Butler and SNP = State Nature Preserve Hamilton SP = State Park Funk = Funk Bottoms Wildlife Area, Ashland Springville Marsh = Springville Marsh State and (mostly) Wayne Nature Preserve, Seneca Headlands = Headlands Dunes State Nature WA = Wildlife Area Preserve, Headlands Beach State Park, and Winous Point = Winous Point Shooting Club, adjoining waters, Lake Ottawa Holden Arboretum = Lake, except for its Zaleski = Zaleski State Forest, Vinton Stebbins Gulch unit in Geauga Hoover NP = Hoover Nature Preserve, Errata: Delaware The Golden Eagle account in the Spring 2012 Hoover Reservoir = the northern 80% is in issue erroneously included a Richland sighting. Delaware, but the dam is in Franklin The Lesser Black-backed Gull entry in the Kelleys Island = Kelleys Island and adjacent Spring 2012 issue omitted the date of the last waters, Erie sighting. It was 01 May. Killbuck = Killbuck Marsh Wildlife Area, Holmes/Wayne Killdeer = Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area, Wyandot Lake Hope = , Vinton (It’s surrounded by Zaleski State Forest) Lorain = the dredge spoil impoundment east of downtown, Lorain, unless otherwise noted Magee = Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Lucas and Ottawa Maumee Bay = , Lucas Metzger = Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area, Lucas, unless otherwise detailed m. obs. = multiple observers

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