Devoted to the Study and Appreciation of Ohio's Birdlife • Vol. 39, No. 1
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Devoted to the Study and Appreciation of Ohio’s Birdlife • Vol. 39, No. 1, Fall 2015 Darlene Friedman captured this captivating action shot of a Common Nighthawk on 06 Sep at Maumee Bay. On the cover: Ben Warner beautifully digiscoped this Swainson’s Hawk on 18 Sep as it searched for grasshoppers in a Holmes field, watched by a crowd of enthusiastic birders who added this western rarity to their state lists. Vol. 39 No. 1 Devoted to the Study and Appreciation of Ohio’s Birdlife EDITOR OHIO BIRD RECORDS Craig Caldwell COMMITTEE 1270 W. Melrose Dr. Westlake, OH 44145 Paul Gardner 440-356-0494 Secretary [email protected] 295 Acton Road Columbus, OH 43214-3305 [email protected] PHOTO EDITOR Laura Keene PAST PUBLISHERS [email protected] John Herman (1978–1980) Christopher Collins (starting next issue) Edwin C. Pierce (1980–2008) 3560 Alvera Ct. Beavercreek, OH 45432 [email protected] PAST EDITORS John Herman (1978–1980) Edwin C. Pierce (1980–1991) LAYOUT Thomas Kemp (1987–1991) Roger Lau Robert Harlan (1991–1996) [email protected] Victor W. Fazio III (1996–1997) Bill Whan (1997–2008) Andy Jones (2008–2010) CONSULTANTS Jill M. Russell (2010–2012) Tim Colborn Mike Egar Victor Fazio III Rob Harlan Andy Jones Laura Peskin Bill Whan ISSN 1534-1666 The Ohio Cardinal, Fall 2015 COMMENTS ON THE SEASON By Craig Caldwell sons. However, observers were able to find all of our regular migrants and added Piping Plover This issue marks the last for Laura Keene as and Ruff as bonus species. Photo Editor. Since her debut in the spring 2002 Elliot also noted lower than normal numbers issue (Vol. 35, No. 3), she has selected for us a se- of migrating warblers during late Aug in his usu- ries of 14 remarkable front covers and other col- al Lucas haunts. Statewide, the first sightings of or shots plus an interesting and informative array only two of the 36 species reported were later of black-and-whites to accompany the species ac- than usual, and four were early, so his experience counts. I and the other volunteers who bring you wasn’t widespread. Three warbler species also the Cardinal will miss her, and we wish her well on departed earlier than usual but a remarkable 22 her current endeavor: a Big Year. were last sighted anywhere from a few days to Christopher Collins is Laura’s successor. He’s several weeks after their usual departure dates. a former photography instructor, currently an IT No doubt the balmy (or hotter-than-balmy) manager, and has been a frequent contributor weather provided insect food much later than in to the Cardinal and to the BirdsEye apps. He’s many previous years. also a founding member of RogueBirders.com, Robert Royse had a banner day in the Deer a website for “die-hard Ohio birders with a focus Creek area on 06 Oct, when he saw House, Win- on education, conservation, and making bird- ter, Sedge, Marsh, and Carolina wrens. ing ‘cool’”. Christopher is already hard at work This issue includes the results of the Fall Cen- choosing the photos for the winter 2015-16 issue. sus conducted in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Ah, the weather. Aug led off this season with Because it is an effort by many teams covering a below-average temperatures and rainfall. What large area, its counts are usually not included as rain did fall, however, was far from evenly dis- the high numbers cited in the Species Accounts; tributed. The southwest received up to eight those are limited to numbers by single individuals inches (double its average), as did a few pockets or parties. elsewhere. Stations in the northeast and central We now have achieved four seasons in a row, east had as little as 10% of their average pre- a full year, in which every county contributed at cipitation. Sep reversed that pattern, with the least one sighting to every issue of the Cardinal. sixth-highest average temperature on record. This fall, three species (Turkey Vulture, Mourn- Though the statewide average rainfall was solid- ing Dove, and American Goldfinch) were report- ly in the middle of the historical range, several ed from all 88 counties and five others were seen areas received up to triple their usual amounts. in 87. Nineteen appeared in 80 to 86 counties. Oct’s temperatures were also above average, Well done! though not as dramatically as Sep’s. Rainfall was This issue contains accounts of 301 species, slightly above the long-term mean, with most of a lower number than the recent average for the state receiving between 50 and 125% of nor- fall. Nine additional accounts are at the family mal. Nov’s average temperature again jumped, or genus level and three hybrids are also noted. to the fifth-hottest of the 121 years with records. Sixteen Review Species, birds whose occurrences Perversely, rainfall was below average, with the (generally speaking) are rare and unpredictable, Cincinnati area being the only part of the state were reported. Sightings of a very encouraging to exceed its norms. And I say rainfall advisedly 12 of them were formally documented for the – snow arrived only late in the month and in very Ohio Bird Records Committee (OBRC). The small amounts. other four were informally documented through Weather data are from the National Weather postings to various internet venues. In addition, Service (http://water.weather.gov/precip/), the some sightings of species for which there are for- NOAA (http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/temp-and- mal reports, but from different locations, were precip/maps.php and http://www.ncdc.noaa. only informally documented. gov/extremes/records/), and the Plain Dealer. The names heading Review Species accounts Elliot Tramer commented on the dearth of are underlined. In a departure from my previ- shorebird habitat in the Lake Erie marshes, and ous practice, some sightings are attributed to the many other usually reliable locations also provid- reporters though the OBRC hasn’t yet voted on ed only ephemeral mudflats. This phenomenon the documentation. The Records Committee is an unfortunate repeat of several recent fall sea- and this editor urge birders to formally report all sightings of Review List species, of Core List spe- 1 Vol. 39 No. 1 cies found at unusual times, of nesting by birds Trail which originates at Magee previously not known to nest in the state, and Chapel Drive = a road off Ohio 83 south of Cum- of course sightings of birds never before found berland in Noble which traverses grasslands in Ohio. Information on how to document rar- Clear Creek = Clear Creek Metro Park; the east- ities is available at http://www.ohiobirds.org/ ern 2/3 is in Hocking, the rest in Fairfield records/documentation.php. Clear Fork = Clear Fork Reservoir (or Lake), Data for the following Species Accounts come partly in Morrow but most of the birding is from reports submitted directly to The Cardinal done in the larger Richland Section. and The Bobolink, the latter courtesy of its pub- CLNP = Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve lisher, Robert Hershberger; eBird (http://ebird. (the former Dike 14), Cuyahoga org/content/ebird); the Ohio-birds listserv CMM = the trio of Jon Cefus, Greg Miller, and (http://birding.aba.org/maillist/OH); rarebird. Ben Morrison org (http://rarebird.org/forum/default.asp); CNC = Cincinnati Nature Center, a non-govern- and the Cincinnati Bird Sightings Log (http:// mental entity whose Long Branch Farm and cincinnatibirds.com/goodbird/sighting.php). Rowe Woods units are in Clermont Taxonomic order and nomenclature follow Conneaut = the mudflats to the west of Con- the Check-List of North American Birds, 7th Edition neaut Harbor, Ashtabula (1998) as updated through the 56th Supple- CP = County Park ment (2015). This document is published by the CPNWR = Cedar Point National Wildlife Ref- North American Classification Committee of the uge, Lucas American Ornithologists’ Union and is available CVNP = Cuyahoga Valley National Park, at http://www.aou.org/checklist/north/print. Cuyahoga and (mostly) Summit php. County names are in bold italics. Loca- Darby Creek = Battelle Darby Creek Metro tions whose counties are of the same name, for Park, Franklin example Ashtabula (city) and Delaware Wildlife Deer Creek = the State Park is in Pickaway, the Area, usually do not have the counties repeated. Wildlife Area is in Fayette, and Deer Creek County names for sites described in Cincinnati, Lake is in both but mostly Pickaway Cleveland, Columbus, and Dayton are also omit- East Fork = East Fork State Park, Clermont ted. Shortened names and a few sets of initials East Harbor = East Harbor State Park, Ottawa are used for locations and organizations which Edgewater = the Edgewater unit of Cleveland occur repeatedly; these abbreviations are listed Lakefront Metroparks, Cuyahoga here. The term “fide” is used in some citations; it Fernald = Fernald Preserve, Butler and means “in trust of ” and is used where the report- Hamilton er was not the observer. Findlay Reservoirs = several contiguous water bodies east of town in Hancock Abbreviations: Funk = Funk Bottoms Wildlife Area, Ashland Alum Creek = Alum Creek Reservoir, Dela- and (mostly) Wayne ware, unless otherwise noted GLSM = Grand Lake St. Marys. The State Armleder Park = a Cincinnati city park on the Park, state fish hatchery, and the eastern 20% Little Miami River, Hamilton of the lake itself are in Auglaize. The rest of Berlin Lake = Berlin Lake (or Reservoir), Ma- the lake is in Mercer. honing and Portage Great Miami WMB = Great Miami Wetlands Big Island = Big Island Wildlife Area, Marion Mitigation Bank, Montgomery Blendon Woods = Blendon Woods Metro