BIRD CLUB THE PASSENGER PIGEON

VOLUME 51, NUMBER 4 APRIL 2015

April Program: Birding the Bluegrass SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST SPEAKER: Brian Wulker of nearby locations and po- his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Date: Friday, April 17th, tential weekend trips for the Biology from Morehead  April Meeting 7:00 pm Cincinnati birder. Some State University in More-  April Field Trips Location: Sharon Woods spots on the docket are: head, KY. While in school, Visitor’s Center Red River Gorge, Minor Brian became involved in  East Fork Birding Festival Clark Fish Hatchery, Daniel the Kentucky birding scene April's speaker, Brian Boone National Forest and a and travelled throughout  Falcon Cam Wulker, will be taking us smattering of western and the state, which he contin-  Field Trip Notes on an exotic journey south northern Kentucky sites. ues to do frequently. Brian of the border… to Ken- is an expert birder and a  Bird Quiz tucky. For some reason, not Most of you will know well-rounded naturalist, so  Kayak Birding many Cincinnatians take Brian from his involvement he will include aspects of all advantage of their proximity with the local birding com- natural history in his talk. INSIDE THIS ISSUE: to a state that spans the gap munity, including the Cin- Please join us @ 7:00 p.m. between the Mississippi cinnati Bird Club. If you for snacks and schmoozing. River and the Appalachian haven’t met him, you’ve Birding Local Waterways 2 Mountains, with miles of probably seen Brian’s bird birdy countryside in be- reports. Brian finds great April 11 Kayak Trip 3 tween. In his talk Brian will birds on a weekly basis – ~ Jack Stenger, Program highlight some of his favor- my e-bird e-mail alerts have Chair East Fork Birding Festival 4 ite birding areas in Ken- become Brian’s personal tucky, including a balance sightings log. Brian earned Peregrine Falcon Cam 4

April Bird Quiz 5 April Field trip: Cincinnati Urban Birding March Quiz Answer 6 Date: April 18, 2015 habitats surrounded by a sea ter we would spot finches Time: 8:00am of human dwellings and that were hard to find any- Where: Spring Grove industry. It's a haven for where else in the area and in Calendar 7 Cemetery wintering and migratory the spring the warblers, Leader: Brian Wulker birds as well as local nesting thrushes and other song- How About Some Greek 8 species. This location has birds would be incredible. The Cincinnati Bird Club, been considered a Cincin- On April 18 the spring mi- March Meeting Re-cap 9 led by Brian Wulker, is nati birding hotspot long grations should be well un- going to Spring Grove before ebird hotspots came derway so we most likely Notes: Brookville 10 Cemetery and if time per- along. When I was a young will find a good variety of mits on to Burnet Woods. birder I would always get birds. Birds logged in ebird Notes: 10 Spring Grove Cemetery is a excited about going to for Spring Grove Cemetery microcosm of different Spring Grove. In the win- (Continued on page 2) Notes: East Fork SP 11 PAGE 2 THE PASSENGER PIGEON

(Continued from page 1) here: http://ebird.org/ tunnel. Here is a google If you have any questions ebird/hotspot/L711719 map link of the location of you can contact Brian at: can be found here: http:// the Cemetery: Spring Information about Spring [email protected] ebird.org/ebird/hotspot/ Grove Grove Cemetery can be L140465 (513)405-8373 found here: http:// Directions: In Cincinnati Burnet Woods near the www.springgrove.org/ from I75, take the Mitchell University of Cincinnati is Entering the cemetery from Avenue exit (exit 6). At ~ Bill Stanley, Field Trip another long time birding Spring Grove Avenue, con- 0.4 miles turn left onto Coordinator migrant trap and hotspot. tinue straight through the Spring Grove Avenue. The Birds logged in ebird for arch tunnel. We will meet cemetery entrance in on the Burnet Woods are found Brian just past the Arch right at 0.5 miles.

BIRDING ON THE LOCAL WATERWAYS Jason Gantt with De- local waterways starting off of the equipment, but you more information contact partment of Natural Re- in April at East Fork State must register to participate Jason Gantt at sources/Division of Water- Park. These outings are because the number of par- craft and a Cincinnati Bird free and the Ohio Depart- ticipants is limited. Details 513-734-2730 ext. 237. Club member has put to- ment of Natural Resources/ of the next trip are in the Here is a list of dates and gether a series of kayak and Division of Watercraft will newsletter on page 9. For locations: bird excursions on various provide the kayaks and most Date Location April 11, 2015 East Fork State Park May 9, 2015 May 22, 2015 East Fork State Park May 23,2015 , Carl H. Rahe Park May 24,2015 Little Miami River, Nisbet Park May 25,2015 East Fork State Park June 6, 2015 Grant Lake Wildlife Area June 19, 2015 Little Miami River, Lake Isabella July 11, 2015 Hueston Woods August 22, 2015 East Fork State Park September 19,2015 East Fork State Park October 10, 2015 East Fork State Park VOLUME 51, NUMBER 4 PAGE 3

Kayak Birding Trip:

See birds from the water at East Fork State Park. Campground Beach

Date: Saturday April 11, 2015 water temperature, not the air tem- first serve basis. See below to register. perature. It could end up being a fairly Time: 8:00 a.m. to noon (longer if we To Register: Call or visit East Fork warm day, but in early April the water want) State Park main office (Division of Wa- will be cold. tercraft section). Speak with Lu or Sponsored by: Ohio Department of Speaking of water, be prepared to get at Elizabeth and they will add you to the Natural Resources/Division of Water- least a little wet. Our kayaks are ex- list if slots are open. craft tremely stable, and in all the kayak trips Office Number-513-734-2730 Ad- Event Type: Field Trip I have led; only a few folks have gone in dress: 3292 Elklick Road Bethel, OH Cost: Free the water. Just be advised that it could 45106 happen. Even if you do not go in, wa- Office Hours-8am to 4:30pm Monday Details: If you have ever wanted to go ter does find its way into the kayak. thru Friday. birding from a kayak this is your Also, you will most likely have some chance. The Ohio Department of sort of optics with you. We recom- Contact Information: Jason Gantt, Natural Resources-Division of Water- mend that they are waterproof as the 513-734-2730 ext. 237 craft will be hosting several kayak bird- Division of Watercraft does not accept Directions: From North Take 275 ing trips this year. This trip is the first. responsibility for personal property. South to State Route 32. Go East on 32 East Fork State Park is a great place to towards Batavia. Take the Half Acre bird. The lake and its surroundings Please understand that kayaking is exer- Road exit and go south to Old St. Rt. offer great habitat much of which is best cise and at times can be taxing. Obvi- 32. Go left on Old St. Rt. 32. East seen from the water. Trip leaders Cory ously we will stay together and move at Fork State Park entrance will be on Cover and Jason Gantt will guide every- a comfortable pace, but if you are new your right. Follow signs to the camp- one to those areas. Both Cory and Ja- to or not used to kayaking you may find ground beach and look for the trailer son are relatively new birders so we yourself a bit tired. If we want and with kayaks on the beach. will all help each other find the birds. time permits, we beach the kayaks at a good location and hike a paved trail From South take 275 North to State We will launch from the Campground along the river to spice things up a bit. Route 32. Go East on 32 towards Bata- Beach at East Fork State Park and head via. Take the Half Acre Road exit and up the East Fork of the Little Miami Be advised that for safety purposes and go south to Old St. Rt. 32. Go left on River. At this time of year we should group cohesion participants must be at Old St. Rt. 32. East Fork State Park have a mixed bag of birds. Various least twelve years of age and weigh no entrance will be on your right. Follow shorebirds, waterfowl, loons, herons more than 350 pounds. Because the signs to the campground beach and look and early migrants are possible. Division of Watercraft is a state agency all participants will be asked to sign a for the trailer with kayaks on the beach. Things to Consider/Know: The waiver. Trips are weather permitting. Address: 2837 Old State Route 32 Division of Watercraft will provide High winds, thunderstorms, strong Batavia, OH 45103 (Camp Office) most of the necessary equipment. This currents or other dangerous weather includes sit on top kayaks, paddles and conditions will be cause to cancel the life jackets (must be worn). We rec- trip. Participants will be notified if the ommend that you bring water, sun- trip is cancelled. block, snacks, something to keep per- sonal items like phones dry, a hat and Finally, space is limited. The Division most importantly proper clothing. of Watercraft has spots for eight peo- Shoes must be worn. Dress for the ple. Slots will be filled on a first come, PAGE 4 THE PASSENGER PIGEON

East Fork State Park Birding Festival

Date: May 2 and 3, 2015 we can bring attention to to birds as a stop during festival volunteers. Hours 8:00am until 2:00pm the importance of having migration or a place to nest. Donald Morris is organizing places like East Fork State Volunteers can also tell the festival. Many of us There is going to be a Bird- Park as an ecosystem where people about the Bird Club know Don, who is a vigilant ing Festival at East Fork birds and other wildlife can and hand out membership East Fork birder and finds State Park South Beach and live free from the threat of information. The festival many good birds in the this is our chance to educate development. With the will run Saturday and Sun- park. people about the birds in habitat that is preserved in day from 8am until 2pm the park and let people our public lands like East and we are looking for peo- If you have questions about know that we (birders) are Fork State Park bird popula- ple to work for an hour or the festival you can contact using the park. Many tions can continue to thrive two at a time or however Don at groups like horse people, into the future. much time you would like donaldthe- bike cyclists, hunters, fish- to be there. If you have a We are looking for volun- [email protected] ermen, geotreckers and scope and are willing to set teers to work at the festival. (513)400-6544 more have a visible pres- it up and use it to show peo- What we would like to do is To sign up as a volunteer ence in the park and in turn ple water birds or even the have someone to point out contact me at help mold how the park is eagles that live on the lake birds on the lake and around [email protected] managed. As birders we are that would be good, but not the beach to people at the (513)324-2796 a quiet, inconspicuous required. I will be out of festival. While doing so the group whose use of the park town on May 2 and busy volunteer can inform people ~ Bill Stanley, Field Trip is easy to overlook. Our with family things most of about how important places Coordinator participation in the festival May 3 so I am also looking like East Fork State Park are can help to change this and for someone to organize the

Cincinnati Peregrine Falcon Cam Goes Live!

The Cincinnati Peregrine box is located on the north binoculars. With the web- comes the excitement of Falcon Cam is now live! side of the 4th and Vine cam, you can observe all of watching the chicks grow Check it out on the home Building (formerly PNC). the daily activities of an and develop, eating food page of RAPTOR Inc. at You can see this nest box active Peregrine Falcon nest brought into the nest box www.raptorinc.org. The from the observation deck from the convenience of and eventually fledge. Tune downtown Cincinnati nest of the Carew Tower with your own home! in and watch the action! As of April 2, four eggs Cindy Alverson have been laid with the RAPTOR Inc. hatching expected to be around the end of April or the beginning of May. Then

Photo From the Raptor Inc Facebook Page VOLUME 51, NUMBER 4 PAGE 5

APRIL BIRD QUIZ

Here is the April bird quiz. Maybe Jack has a DNA sample to prove this is a bird. Good Luck!

Rules: Anybody is welcome and they are counted as wrong. Mind Prize: To be determined. all are encouraged to participate. your plovers and quails. Also in- Answers: I will post the answer However, only paying members clude any comments you have with a brief analysis in the next (it’s only $12 per year) are eligible about the quiz bird, such as how Bird Club newsletter. This will for prizes and unadulterated brag- you arrived at your ID, or how include a list of all those who ging rights. To participate send you felt about the picture. Venting guessed correctly. Don’t worry, your answers to me is welcome. Any bird that is on wrong guesses will not be pub- ([email protected]) by the state list for Ohio, Indiana, or lished, so fire away: it’s better to April 25. Kentucky is fair game. Whoever get a CBC quiz wrong than to have has the highest number of correct All responses must be the official never participated. I think Alexan- answers by the end of the Bird common English names used by der Wilson said that. Club season (May) “wins.” Any the American Ornithologists’ Un- public discussion of quiz birds will ~Jack Stenger ion check-list (Link). This means result in a trap door opening up Program Chair they must be correctly spelled, beneath the violator. capitalized, and hyphenated or else PAGE 6 THE PASSENGER PIGEON

THE ANSWER TO THE MARCH BIRD QUIZ Are you a Larophile or Laro- phobe? I’m a little bit of both since gulling is one of my favor- ite types of birding, but it is often frustrating. With the freezing of the Great Lakes during the past two winters, us inlanders have been increas- ingly visited by unusual gull species. Although there were no major concentrations of gulls this winter in Cincinnati, there were huge roosts in Day- ton and Louisville that hosted at least five species each. For March’s quiz we have three gulls, all three of which are clearly different. The gull on the left is noticeably smaller than the other two and has di- agnostic yellow legs and a black ring near the tip of its bill. This is an adult Ring-billed Gull, our only common gull in these March Quiz Birds. Photo by Jack Stenger parts, and a useful yardstick for measuring the size of the other two gulls. These birds are tled plumage. For the sake of Herrings), slightly more exten- should have dark bases with “large white-headed conciseness, second and third sive white spots in the slightly narrower pale fringes. We’re gulls” (LWG), the suite of simi- cycles are intermediates be- grayer wingtips, and a smaller back to Thayer’s and Her- lar looking species that often tween these plumages. bill and more peaked head than ring, which can look alike in interbreed and are renowned Herring. Often one or more of Let’s start with the adult LWG all plumages. Thayer’s can be for both the headaches they these traits may be off, but this on the right since adult identifi- ruled out since there is no give birders and the excitement bird is 4/4 for with regard to cation is less prone to subjectiv- strong pale edging to the pri- they bring - all but the Herring Herring Gull traits, so we can ity than immature identifica- mary tips. The best field Gull are rare locally. feel comfortable with that iden- tion. We have 6 species of mark for identifying Thayer’s tification. The first step in LWG identifi- LWG to choose from: Herring, is the two-tone pattern of their spread primaries, but cation is ageing the bird. These the “white-winged gulls That brings us to the brown that mark doesn’t help us in a species (6 occur in Ohio) are (Iceland, Thayer’s, Glaucous) gull in the middle. It is an im- standing bird. “four-year gulls” since they and the dark mantled gulls mature bird, likely a second don’t attain full adult plumage (Lesser black-backed, Greater cycle gull because of the finely- I took this picture of a Ring- until their fourth calendar year. black-backed). This bird has a patterned tertials and greater billed Gull and two Herring In the adult plumage LWG gray mantle so we can rule out coverts. Like the adult bird, Gulls on the Cincinnati Riv- have homogenous gray (pale the black-backed gulls. It has Glaucous and Iceland can be erfront on February 9, 2014. gray to black, depending on extensive black in the wingtips ruled out by the dark wingtips species) backs, all white tails, To state the obvious, gulls are so we can rule out Iceland and and the “black-backed” gulls really difficult to identify. and yellow beaks with red spots Glaucous Gull. That leaves us can be ruled out by the exten- Herring Gull is one of the near the tip. In the first cycle, with Thayer’s and Herring sively pale back, scapular and most variable species in the LWG typically have mostly- Gull. Thayer’s Gulls usually covert feathers. On black- dark bills and a generally mot- have a dark eye (pale in adult backed gulls these feathers (Continued on page 7)  VOLUME 51, NUMBER 4 PAGE 7

Community Calendar APRIL 2015

 April 11...Cincinnati Nature Cen- ter Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat  April 11...Kayak Birding, East 1 2 3 4 Fork State Park  April 12...Audubon Society of Ohio 5 6 7 8 9 10 11  April 17...Cincinnati Bird Club Meeting 12 13 14 15 16 17 18  April 18...Cincinnati Bird Club Field Trip 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  April 19...Oxbow Inc.  April 25...Cincinnati Nature Cen- ter 26 27 28 29 30

OTHER BIRDING OPPORTUNITIES (Continued from page 6)  April 11, 2015, 8:00am U.S. This variation is evident in Cincinnati Nature Center Saturday Bird Walk this picture: the immature bird has Leader: Debra Hausrath (513)831-1711 noticeably smaller and slimmer bill than the adult. I spend many  April 12, 2015, 7:30am hours a winter scrutinizing Her- Audubon Society of Ohio ring Gulls and I’m still routinely Spring Valley Wildlife Area/Caesar Creek SP puzzled. Kathi Hutton was this Leader: Ann Oliver month’s sole correct respondent. (513) 307-0929, Another respondent correctly [email protected] guessed Herring Gulls, but left the Meet at 7:30 a.m. (for breakfast) or 8:00 a.m. (to leave) at the McDonalds Restaurant Ring-billed Gull unidentified. in Waynesville Ohio, located at the intersec- ~ Jack Stenger, Program Chair tion of US 42 & SR 73 and Quiz Administrator  April 19, 2015, 8:00am Meet: In the upper Oxbow parking lot at the main entrance just beyond the cement plant Leader: Brian Wulker, (513) 405-8373, [email protected]  April 25, 2015, 8:00am Cincinnati Nature Center Saturday Bird Walk Leader: Bill Stanley (513)831-1711

PAGE 8 THE PASSENGER PIGEON How About Some Greek? OK, well then How About Some Latin? Thoughts on birds and While Latin is the agreed end up with the Rabbit We have lost the genus their names. upon grammatical structure Footed Buzzard. Dendroica which included for all these names, not all many of our wood war- The binomial for the Swal- names are Latin per se, as blers. It broke down as low-tailed Kite is Elanoides While we know our birds Greek is often used, as are Greek dendro = tree, and forficatus. This comes by their common name, other languages. Indeed, oikos = dwelling. Now the from both a Greek genus their scientific name holds a geographic locations are new replacement genus, and a Latin species deriva- lot of insight into the spe- often used as a species name making most of our books tion. The genus Elanoides cies and adds a dimension of or even onomatopoeia has out of date, is Setophaga. breaks down as follows: added understanding. Our been used in naming, for Setophaga breaks down as Greek elanus = kite, and nomenclature stems from example the Corn Crake - Greek ses = moth, and oides = resembling. Forfi- Carl Linnaeus, the Swede Crex crex - which is what phagos = eating. Ok, I catus is Latin for a pair of who organized it all in 1758 the bird’s call sounds like. guess some warblers do eat scissors so we end up with; by creating the binomial Names have even been cre- moths but moths are noc- Pair of Scissors resembling a nomenclature system by ated from jokes or puns as turnal and warblers eat inch Kite. A lot of our small which everything known in in the case where Ratcliffe, worms in the day time. peeps are in the genus the natural world is named. in describing a number of Perhaps they find more Calidris. The Semipalmated species of Rhinoceros bee- moths than we give them By way of review, the major Sandpiper also has a tles named one in exaspera- credit for. Why all this taxonomic ranks for living Greek / Latin moniker, tion Cyclocephalia no- confusion ? It comes from things is: Life; Domain; Calidris pusilla. Calidris is danotherwon. new DNA studies that show Kingdom; Phylum; Class; from the Greek Kalidris that the American Redstart Order; Family; Genus; Spe- Some of our most common referring to a gray water (Setophaga ruticilla) now cies. The binomial nomen- birds have interesting name side bird which was men- has to be in the Dendroica clature uses the last two origins. tioned by Aristotle. Pusilla genus. It so happens the ranks, Genus and Species. is Latin for tiny; thus we Many genera are very famil- Redstart was named before The first part of the name have the Tiny Gray Water iar to us, but until I began the Dendroicas so its genus identifies the genus to Side Bird. Another familiar to research the meaning of must take precedence and which the life form belongs. genus is Otus, containing these names, I had no idea applies to all the other The criteria for deciding many of the small screech what they meant. One ex- members of that genus. how to include or exclude owls. One example is Otus ample would be Empi- Such are the rules of taxon- members of a genus is asio, the Eastern Screech donax, which is Greek and omy. At least ruticilla pretty much up to the tax- Owl. Otus is Latin for any breaks down as follows: makes some sense, Latin onomy professionals, al- type of small eared owl. empis =gnat, and anax = rutilus = red, and cilla = though one can assume that Asio is Latin for any eared lord. So the Alder Fly- tail. So why not Buteo ruti- there is a closeness in anat- owl, thus we have the re- catcher ( Empidonax al- cilla for the Red-tailed omic and / or DNA similar- dundant Small Eared Owl norum) would translate to Hawk? Of course not, as ity greater than that of fam- that is an Eared Owl. Lord of the Gnat of the Al- the Red-tail was named ily but not as great as spe- ders. The genus of the Al- Melospiza melodia is the Buteo jamaicensis the spe- cies. The second name der family is Alnus and is Song Sparrow. Melospiza cific name referring to Ja- identifies the species within Latinized to alnorum. This breaks down to Greek melo maica where the species was the genus that narrows translates as “ of the alder”. = song, and spiza = finch. first described and thus tak- down that group of birds Melodia is Greek for sing- ing precedence. Well, this that are reproductively Another familiar genus ing. Singing Song Finch. list of course goes on and on faithful, and don’t inter- would be Buteo. Let’s take for all 9-10,000 species of breed with their Generic the Rough-legged Hawk, Piplo erythropthmalmos is birds and the millions of cousins (at least usually Buteo lagopus. Buteo is the Eastern Towhee. Pipilo other species we share the don’t). By rule the genus is Latin for buzzard, and is Latin to chirp. Erythro = planet with. capitalized and the species is lagopus breaks down as red, and ophthalmus = eye. not. follows: Greek lagos = rab- Red Eyed Chirper. bit, and pus = foot. So we (Continued on page 9) VOLUME 51, NUMBER 4 PAGE 9

March Program re-cap: Internet Birding

For our March 20th program, Ned a hub of information for the Cincinnati http://birding.aba.org/ Keller presented on the history and Birding community. In the past five Ebird: ebird.org current state of Internet birding re- years, national platforms like Facebook sources. It was a thoughtful blend of and ebird have provided even more Resources: the history of on-line birding commu- options for information sharing and Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II data: nication and the resources currently continue to grow in popularity. http://www.ohiobirds.org/ available. Ned brought a unique per- obba2/newsite/? spective to these topics since he has Ned gave us a virtual tour of the on- page_id=448 created and/or maintained most of line resources available to birders. Ohio Ornithological Society Pub- our local on-line resources. Folks at the meeting requested the lications: http:// links to the websites that Ned dis- www.ohiobirds.org/site/ Ned provided a historical summary of cussed. Below are the main links from publications/about.php how birders exchanged information my notes. I apologize if I missed any Birds of North America Online: about birds and birding. In the early sites that Ned reviewed. As Ned illus- http:// 90’s phone trees, weekly voice ma- trated, anything you want to know is bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/ chine summaries, and conversations only a Google search away. Xeno-canto bird songs: http:// with other humans were the only way www.xeno-canto.org/ to get semi-up-to-date bird sightings Local sightings information. In the mid-90’s birding Birding in Cincinnati (Ned’s site): Facebook Groups: facebook.com forums began to pop-up on-line, but http://cincinnatibirds.com/ Cincinnati Birders generally had low traffic. Around this index.php Ohio Rare Bird Alert time Ned created the Birding in Cin- ABA birding list-serves by state Birding Ohio cinnati website which continues to be (including OH, KY, and IN):

(Continued from page 8) Good Birding. Dave Helm Sources: Wikipedia, Helm ( no relation) Dic- tionary of Scientific Bird Names by James A. Jobling, 2010

Gnat Lord "Empidonax-minimus-001" by User:Mdf - Self-made work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/ wiki/File:Empidonax-minimus-001.jpg#/media/File:Empidonax-minimus- 001.jpg PAGE 10 THE PASSENGER PIGEON

FIELD TRIP NOTES: BROOKVILLE LAKE REGION

The Cincinnati Bird Club (CBC) & Black Vulture 219 (215 at usual roost in Audubon Society (ASO) conducted a Participants included Jack Stenger, Jay Brookville Park at 8:30 PM), Turkey joint field trip to the Brookville Lake Stenger, Joe Bens, Mark Gilsdorf, Jason Vulture 16, Bald Eagle 5 (3 ad, 2 im), region this past Sunday, March 8th. Gantt, Allan Claybon, Karl Gross, Cooper’s Hawk 1, Red-shouldered Thirteen participants had a pretty good James Wheat, Lance Miller, Larry Bow- Hawk 1, Red-tailed Hawk 13, Ameri- day of birding. The weather was spring- dre, Steve Wheeler, Jack Zimmerman can Kestrel 1, American Coot 24, San- like and sunny with a high of 55 de- and Don Zimmerman. The following dhill Crane 94, Killdeer 6, Ring-billed grees. But Brookville Lake itself looked list is Jack’s and my best effort with Gull 125, Herring Gull 5, Rock Pigeon like the middle of January as it was still input from several other trip partici- xx, Mourning Dove xx, Barred Owl 1, mostly frozen. Almost all of our water- pants. It is quite possible our numbers Belted Kingfisher 1, Red-bellied Wood- fowl and water birds were seen in three will vary or I have omitted something. pecker x, Downy Woodpecker x, East- areas of open water: the East Fork of Jack and I did not keep track of all the ern Phoebe 1, Blue Jay xx, American the Whitewater River below the Dam, numbers of the numerous song birds we Crow xx, Horned Lark 45, Carolina a couple of open leads in the Fairfield heard and saw throughout the day. Chickadee x, Tufted Titmouse x, White basin, best viewed from the Sagamore -breasted Nuthatch x, Brown Creeper Resort, and the far north end of the lake The list (66 species); Canada Goose 1, Carolina Wren x, Eastern Bluebird along the Dunlapsville Causeway. 525, Gadwall 40, American Wigeon 5, 3, American Robin xx, Northern While we did not see anything ex- American Black Duck 15, Mallard 540, Mockingbird 1, European Starling xxx, tremely rare, we did have some great Northern Shoveler 3, Northern Pintail Eastern Towhee 1, American Tree birding. Our highlights included Bald 10, Green-winged Teal 2, Canvasback Sparrow 4, Song Sparrow xx, White- Eagles (one on nest), a just getting 46, Redhead 225, Ring-necked Duck throated Sparrow x, Dark-eyed Junco started Great Blue Heronry disrupted 10, Greater Scaup 107, Lesser Scaup xx, Northern Cardinal xx, Red-winged by an uninvited Bald Eagle, 94 Sandhill 35, Bufflehead 25, Common Goldeneye Blackbird 68, Eastern Meadowlark 2, Cranes, and 19 species of waterfowl 57, Hooded Merganser 1, Common Common Grackle 5, House Finch xx, (anatidae) in pretty decent numbers. Merganser 30, Red-breasted Merganser American Goldfinch x, House Sparrow Actually many ducks were seen in flight 12, Ruddy Duck 15, Wild Turkey 24, xx. throughout the day, at distances, and Pied-billed Grebe 3, Horned Grebe 2, ~ Jay Stenger, were left unidentified. We were in the Great Blue Heron 23 (18 at an active President field from 8 AM through 3 PM. colony along the Whitewater River),

FIELD TRIP NOTES: CEDAR BOG

Three of us met March 7 on Saturday our way to Cedar Bog. There was snow cream from one of the best dairies in morning to carpool to Cedar Bog State on the ground, but the sun was shining Ohio. Nature Preserve and help with habitat and it was a nice day to work on clear- Ebird lists from the trip can be found maintenance. We all had been watch- ing brush and removing a tree from the here: ing the various Ohio birding sites on the Massasauga habitat. The ground was internet and knew of a great number of frozen so it wasn't hard to move around http://ebird.org/ebird/view/ gulls being seen on the rivers flowing the frozen wet field where they live and checklist?subID=S22211505 through Dayton. Because Dayton was drag brush to the road. No snakes were http://ebird.org/ebird/view/ on the way, we decided to stop and seen on this trip and we will have to go checklist?subID=S22227205 search the river as we made our way back in the spring to find them. Be- http://ebird.org/ebird/view/ through town. Along with the thou- cause we had already been through Day- checklist?subID=S22211171 sands of Ring-billed Gulls and many ton to look for gulls, we decided to take Herring Gulls, we found several Great Rt 68 home and look for Horned Larks ~ Bill Stanley, Black-backed Gulls and two Iceland and other field birds. We did find Field Trips Gulls. Among the many ducks scat- Horned Larks, but when we got to Yel- tered along the river we found White- low Springs we had to stop in Young's winged Scoters. From Dayton we made Dairy and top the trip off with some ice VOLUME 51, NUMBER 4 PAGE 11

FIELD TRIP NOTES: EAST FORK STATE PARK Nine of us met on Saturday morning beach allowing us to study their plum- One Tree Swallow passed us signaling March 21 at the water craft office and age. There were also both Greater and that spring is here. A complete list of then made our way to the South beach Lesser Scaup close enough to get good the birds seen on this trip can be found of Harsha Lake. Waterfowl, grebes and looks at them and study the differences here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/ coots were on the move with many in head shape, bill nail and the color of checklist?subID=S22449966 coots near the shore. Horned Grebes in the back and sides. Bald Eagles nest in various stages of molt were close to the the park, and one made an appearance. ~ Bill Stanley, Field Trips

Photos from the Cedar Bog field trip

Iceland Gull Great Black-backed Gull Photo by Bill Stanley Photo by Bill Stanley

White-winged Scoters Habitat of the Eastern Massasauga Photo by Bill Stanley Photo by Bill Stanley

CINCINNATI BIRD CLUB

c/o Newsletter Editor 3491 Bootjack Corner Rd Williamsburg, Ohio 45176

President Jay Stenger

Program Chair Jack Stenger

Treasurer Lois Shadix

Field Trips Bill Stanley

Newsletter Editor Bill Stanley

Park VIP John Stewart

WE’RE ON THE WEB! CINCINNATI BIRD CLUB

Bird Club Membership Name ______Address ______Phone ______Email ______

2014-2015 DUES: _____Individual $12.00 ______Family $15.00 ______Student (under 18) FREE IF YOU HAVEN’T SENT Make your check payable to Cincinnati Bird Club, and mail to our Treasurer: IN YOUR DUES YET FOR THE SEPTEMBER Lois Shadix ([email protected]), 2928 Saddleback Dr, Cincinnati, OH 45244 2014 - MAY 2015 BIRDING SEASON, PLEASE FILL OUT THE FORM AND MAIL IT IN ALONG WITH YOUR MEMBERSHIP FEES