Devoted to the Study and Appreciation of Ohio’s Birdlife • Vol. 41, No. 1, Fall 2017 Over the course of the fall, Adam Brandemihl seemed to have made good friends with this very photogenic Eastern Screech-Owl, capturing this shot on 14 Oct at Kiwanis Riverway Park, Franklin. On the cover: A text message from a stranger on 06 Aug led to Christopher Collins having the chance to see this nesting Common Nighthawk on the roof of a warehouse in Montgomery.. Vol. 40 No. 4 Devoted to the Study and Appreciation of Ohio’s Birdlife EDITOR OHIO BIRD RECORDS Craig Caldwell COMMITTEE 1270 W. Melrose Dr. Westlake, OH 44145 Jay G. Lehman 440-356-0494 Secretary [email protected] 7064 Shawnee Run Rd. Cincinnati, OH 45243 [email protected] PHOTO EDITOR Christopher Collins PAST PUBLISHERS 3560 Alvera Ct. Beavercreek, OH 45432 John Herman (1978–1980) [email protected] Edwin C. Pierce (1980–2008) LAYOUT PAST EDITORS Roger Lau John Herman (1978–1980) [email protected] Edwin C. Pierce (1980–1991) Thomas Kemp (1987–1991) Robert Harlan (1991–1996) Victor W. Fazio III (1996–1997) CONSULTANTS Bill Whan (1997–2008) Rick Asamoto Andy Jones (2008–2010 Jen Brumfield Jill M. Russell (2010–2012) Cory Chiappone Tim Colborn Victor Fazio III Stephan Gleissberg Rob Harlan Andy Jones Kent Miller Laura Peskin Robert Sams Jack Stenger Sue Tackett Bill Whan Brian Wulker ISSN 1534-1666 The Ohio Cardinal, Fall 2017 COMMENTS ON THE SEASON By Craig Caldwell throughout the northern hemisphere. The three hurricanes which wreaked havoc in Aug temperatures were below normal, ranking the Caribbean, Florida, and Texas pushed oce- among the coolest 25% on record. Sep and Nov anic and coastal birds far inland. Ohio’s second temperatures were somewhat above normal, with Sooty Tern was among them. And in addition to both ranking at about the 65th percentile. Oct, the lives lost and livelihoods jeopardized, much however, was a scorcher: It was the ninth hottest habitat was destroyed in the islands, putting their of the 123 years of data. The entire northeastern endemic species at risk. quadrant of the country shared our discomfort. The Ohio Bird Records Committee has been Aug and Sep were very dry, with rainfalls rank- reconstituted following a dormant period and a ing among the lowest 20% since data collection report of their actions last fall is published here. began in 1895. In Aug, most of the state received The new Secretary, Jay Lehman, is confident that 75 to 110% of its usual rain, though widespread a much larger slate of decisions will be available pockets got less than 50% and a few tiny areas got for the next issue of the Cardinal. up to 150% of their normal amounts. The Sep This issue of the Cardinal contains reports of pattern was similar though the highs and lows 313 species, the most since 2012’s 317 (though were in different areas than in Aug. By contrast, fall 2014 also generated 313 reports). The spe- the Oct rainfall ranked number 96 and Nov’s was cies accounts also include two hybrids and six re- number 115, with number 123 being the wettest. ports at the genus or family level. This issue again In Oct, only the northwest was significantly dryer includes data from every county, though reports than usual and the far northeast’s rainfall was a were scarce from Pike, Putnam, and Van Wert. little below normal. Most of the rest of the state Seven species were reported in all 88 counties, had up to double the usual amount of rain with seven were seen in 87 counties, and 20 more were some parts of the southwest receiving triple their seen in at least 80. normal amount. In Nov, the Ohio Valley’s pre- This season produced reports of 21 review cipitation was less than ¾ of normal; most of the species; their names are underlined. Sightings rest of the state received up to double its usual of eight species generated formal reports to the amount and several areas received three times OBRC and at least some reports of the rest were their average. posted to eBird or other media with photos or Of course not all of the precipitation was rain: descriptions which will allow review. Two of the It snowed in Richland and areas to its southeast eight species with formal submissions also had re- during the night of 31 Oct to 01 Nov. And of ports from other locations without any support- course snow fell in the northeast snow belt and ing information, as did four of the “posted-only” elsewhere on several Nov dates. species. The OBRC and this editor continue to Weather data are from the National Weather urge birders to formally report all sightings of Service (http://water.weather.gov/precip/), the Review List species, of Core List species found at NOAA (http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/temp-and- unusual times, of nesting by birds previously not precip/maps.php and http://www.ncdc.noaa. known to nest in the state, and of course sightings gov/extremes/records/), and the Plain Dealer. of birds never before found in Ohio. An easy-to- This year’s migration was overall unremark- use on-line form is available at http://ohiobirds. able save for its continuing the trend towards lat- org/rare-birds/report-a-rare-bird-sighting/. er southbound departure times. The last sightings Data for the following Species Accounts come of many warblers were days or weeks later than from reports submitted directly to The Cardinal their historical departures; a few species had indi- and The Bobolink (the latter courtesy of its pub- viduals linger far into Dec. Ruby-throated hum- lisher, Robert Hershberger), eBird (http://ebird. mingbirds set a record: One was here into late org/content/ebird), and the Ohio-birds listserv Nov and two others stayed into Dec. Only in the (http://birding.aba.org/maillist/OH). In the last five years have any been seen in Nov. Only species accounts, “normal” departure and arrival once before have two stayed into that month, dates are from Harlan et al., Ohio Bird Records Com- and twice before a single bird was seen in Dec. mittee Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Ohio, 2008. The warm, even hot, Sep through Nov no doubt Mentions of breeding locations are from Rode- contributed to the many late departures, but the wald et al., The Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in Ohio trend mirrors that which has been documented (“OBBA II”, 2016). 1 Vol. 41 No. 1 Taxonomic order and nomenclature follow Clear Creek = Clear Creek Metro Park; the east- the Check-List of North American Birds, 7th Edition ern 2/3 is in Hocking, the rest in Fairfield (1998) as updated through the 58th Supplement Clear Fork = Clear Fork Reservoir (or Lake), (2017). These documents are produced by the partly in Morrow but most of the birding is North American Classification Committee of the done in the larger Richland Section. American Ornithological Society and are avail- CLNP = Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve able at http://www.checklist.aou.org/. (the former Dike 14), Cuyahoga County names are in bold italics. Locations CMM = the trio of Jon Cefus, Kent Miller, and whose counties are of the same name, for ex- Ben Morrison ample Ashtabula (city) and Delaware Wildlife CNC = Cincinnati Nature Center, a non-govern- Area, usually do not have the counties repeated. mental entity whose Long Branch Farm and County names for sites described in Cincinnati Rowe Woods units are in Clermont (Hamilton), Cleveland (Cuyahoga), Columbus Conneaut = the mudflats to the west of Con- (Franklin), Dayton (Montgomery), and Tole- neaut Harbor, Ashtabula do (Lucas) are also omitted. Shortened names CP = County Park and a few sets of initials are used for locations CPNWR = Cedar Point National Wildlife Ref- and organizations which occur repeatedly; these uge, Lucas abbreviations are listed here. The term “fide” is CVNP = Cuyahoga Valley National Park, used in some citations; it means “in trust of ” and Cuyahoga and (mostly) Summit is used where the reporter was not the observer. Darby Creek = Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park, almost entirely in Franklin but with bits in other counties as well Abbreviations: Deer Creek = the State Park is in Pickaway, the Alum Creek = Alum Creek Reservoir, Dela- Wildlife Area is in Fayette, and Deer Creek ware, unless otherwise noted Lake is in both but mostly Pickaway Armleder Park = a Cincinnati city park on the East Fork = East Fork State Park, Clermont Little Miami River, Hamilton East Harbor = East Harbor State Park, Ottawa Audubon = the National Audubon Society Edge Preserve = The Nature Conservancy’s (http://www.audubon.org) Edge of Appalachia Preserve, multiple par- Bayshore = a fishing access site near a power cels mostly in Adams and extending a bit into plant a bit east of Toledo Scioto. BBS = the North American Breeding Bird Sur- Edgewater = the Edgewater unit of Cleveland vey, a joint project of the United States Geo- Lakefront Metroparks, Cuyahoga logical Survey (USGS) and the Canadian Englewood = Englewood MetroPark, Wildlife Service Montgomery Berlin Lake = Berlin Lake (or Reservoir), Ma- Fernald = Fernald Preserve, Butler and honing and Portage Hamilton Big Island = Big Island Wildlife Area, Marion Findlay Reservoirs = several contiguous water Blendon Woods = Blendon Woods Metro Park, bodies east of town in Hancock Franklin Funk = Funk Bottoms Wildlife Area, Ashland The Bowl = a limited-access area near the Har- and (mostly) Wayne rison airport Grand Lake = Grand Lake St. Marys. The State BRAS = Black River Audubon Society Park, the state fish hatchery, and the eastern BSBO = Black Swamp Bird Observatory, Otta- 20% of the lake itself are in Auglaize.