October 23, 2011   Buck Creek State Park

We looked around Buck Creek State Park for a little while on Sunday morning. Sparrows are really starting to move through the area. We saw lots of White-throated Sparrows plus a few White-crowned Sparrows, a Swamp Sparrow, a Fox Sparrow, a Dark-eyed Junco, Song Sparrows, and a couple Field Sparrows. There are finally extensive mudflats at the north end of the lake. They are attracting a number of shorebirds. We saw over 300 Killdeer, a few Dunlins, a few Pectoral Sandpipers, three Greater Yellowlegs, three Wilson's Snipe, a Least Sandpiper, two Semipalmated Sandpipers, and a Baird's Sandpiper. On the beach there was a Sanderling.

Baird's Sandpiper by Larry Jeanblanc

October 9, 2011     Big Sit

    I left the house at about 6:30 this morning and headed to our Big Sit
    site. We moved the site to the end of the lane because the old site
    is so overgrown. The weather was very pleasant today with lots of
    sunshine and gentle southery breezes and quite warm. Unfortunately
    because the wind was from the south, nothing changed during the day
    and our list was fairly short. As I walked out to the site I heard
    a few birds. Fortunately all of them continued to call. I recorded
    the first bird at 6:52, a Great Blue Heron. I quickly added a few
    more birds and had 8 species by 7:00. It was a little foggy over the
    lake early this morning. I had a lot of trouble keeping my scope
    clear of fog but we picked up more common species and had 24 species
    by 8:00. At 8:39 we got a brief look at a Peregrine Falcon that flew
    by but disappeared behind some trees. Later in the morning it flew by
    again and we got a much better look. It almost flew over us and wasn't
    very high. After 10:30 things slowed down quite a bit but at 11:10 a
    young Bald Eagle flew by. It wasn't a great look but it was easily
    identifiable. We had very few birds in the trees along the lake. We
    really did poorly on small migrant passerines. We did reach 50
    species by the time I left for Doug Abner's memorial service in John
    Bryan State Park. Rick Asamoto stayed to watch the site while I was
    gone. The memorial service was nice but I headed back to the reservoir
    to continue the sit. Rick didn't add any species or have anyone show
    up while I was gone. He stayed with me until about 5:00 when I gave
    up. We did see three swallows fly by. We didn't get a very good look
    at them but I was sure they were Tree Swallows. We ended up with 51
    species which is our lowest count. We had 52 species on our first Big
    Sit in 2002. After leaving, I drove down to Yellow Springs and met
    Julie's family for dinner. I had a good time although we didn't get
    around to playing cards. It was a hectic day.

Participants

Doug Overacker
Larry Jeanblanc
Tom Cathers
Mike Hatfield
Sam Rockwell
Ivan Spar
Brian Menker
Rick Asamoto

The birds recorded and the times first seen are listed below.

Looking West from Big Sit Site

Looking North from Big Sit Site

Looking South from Big Sit Site

October 3, 2011

Larry Jeanblanc visited the beach this morning and recorded a couple interesting birds. Below are a couple pictures that he took.

Franklin's Gull by Larry Jeanblanc

White-rumped Sandpiper by Larry Jeanblanc

October 2, 2011

Larry Jeanblanc, Julie Karlson, and Doug Overacker took a walk at Buck Creek State Park this morning. There were 4 Sanderlings on the beach with Ring-billed and Bonaparte's Gulls. An Osprey also flew by. We walked some trails at the north end of the lake looking for warblers. We recorded 9 species of warblers for the morning including an Ovenbird, a Cape May Warbler, a couple American Redstarts, and the first Yellow-rumped Warblers of the season. We also had a few sparrows and other migrants. There were several Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. We also recorded both species of kinglets.

October 1, 2011

We went to Battelle Darby Metro Park this morning. We had a nice walk along one of the trails seeing a few warblers, some woodpeckers, and a number of other species. Then we took another walk at a new area of the park. We walked along the bike trail and then out to one of the ponds. Here we found a number of ducks including pintails, shovelers, both teal species, a wigeon, a Lesser Scaup, and lots of coots. There were a few shorebirds including a White-rumped Sandpiper and an American Golden Plover flew over. We saw three Northern Harriers flying at one time. The highlight was a Peregrine Falcon that flew over.

September 18, 2011

Three of us visited Buck Creek State Park on Sunday and found some interesting species. First we found a Cackling Goose with the Canada Geese on the beach. Some of the smaller races of the Canada Goose were reclassified as a different species a few years ago and called Cackling Goose. They look like Canada Geese but are much smaller with short stubby bills. They nest far to the north and only occur here in the nonbreeding seasons. This is the ealiest fall record we have. We also found a Baird's Sandpiper on the beach. At the horsemen's area off Grant Road we found 9 species of warblers and several other migrants. We are still seeing a few Indigo Buntings but now they are brown although the males could still show a little color on their wings and tails.

Baird's Sandpiper by Larry Jeanblanc

Cackling Goose by Larry Jeanblanc

September 3 - 5, 2011

The weather wasn't ideal this weekend but we did find a few birds. Saturday was extremely hot and Sunday it rained. Monday was a little better but it was very windy. There were a few shorebirds on the beach over the weekend including a Stilt Sandpiper and a Sanderling. They were joined by 4 Common Terns and a Forster's Tern on Sunday. On Monday, an Osprey flew over.  At the horsemen's area off Grant Road a few warblers showed up on Monday including Tennessees, Chestnut-sideds, Magnolias, Black-throated Greens, and a Blackburnian. Hummingbirds and Red-eyed and White-eyed Vireos also put in an appearance. 

Osprey by Larry Jeanblanc

May 20, 2011

We took a walk at Buck Creek State Park this morning. There are still some migrants passing through although they are getting harder to see with the leaves being out. Some of the flycatchers are just showing up. We found 4 species of small flycatchers (Willow, Alder, Least, Acadian) that look almost the same. At this time of year they are singing and easy to identify that way. A few warblers are still passing through and we found Blackburnian, Blackpoll, Black-throated Green, Canada, and Wilson's. Many breeding birds are singing and defending territories. Warblers that nest in the area included Common Yellowthroat, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Yellow-throated Warbler, and Northern Parula. There are Boboliks on Yeazell Road east of Hodge Road. These hayfield nesting birds are very strikingly colored and entertaining to watch as they fly over the fields singing. It can still be interesting to get out and look at the birds during the summer.

May 12, 2011

The Bell's Vireo is back at the same location in Springfield as the last two years just east of Linden Avenue and East Washington Street along the bike trail. There was also an American Avocet on the beach at Buck Creek State Park.

May 6 - 8, 2011

We had a great trip to Magee Marsh and Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge this weekend. Friday was great with about 20 species of warblers on the bird trail at Magee Marsh. The highlight of the day was a Barn Owl that sat in a tree all day in view from the boardwalk. Much of the day someone had a scope on the owl and people were lined up to look at it. Other highlights were a woodcock, a Whip-poor-will, and an Eastern Screech-Owl all seen from the boardwalk. As always we got great close up looks at many warblers on the boardwalk. At least three male Prothonotary Warblers had territories along the boardwalk and everyone had great looks at them. On Saturday the auto tour was open at Ottawa National Wildlife. We took the drive and even though it rained some we had great looks at a Least Bittern someone had found and showed it to us in their scope. Then we got great looks at a male Yellow-headed Blackbird. On Sunday there was a Virginia Rail along the boardwalk.

Black-throated Green Warbler by Doug Overacker

American Woodcock by Doug Overacker

May 3, 2011

There was a report of a Franklin’s Gull at the beach today. I rode out there this afternoon and saw the gull plus a couple Forster’s Terns. The sight of the day though was the swallows. They were flying everywhere. Hundreds and hundreds of swallows, over the lake, over the fields, and over the streams. Barn Swallows were the most common but all six species were represented.

May 1, 2011

This is one of those days that happen only once in every few years. Three of us took a walk up to the Crabill House and around the woods along Buck Creek just below the dam. We ended up looking around Old Reid Park for a few minutes. During this approximately 3 hour walk we recorded 19 species of warblers, 4 vireos and at least 75 species. Below is a list of some of the highlights.

Least Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue-winged Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Palm Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Kentucky Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Scarlet Tanager
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Purple Finch

Then in the afternoon I got a call from Brian who reported Marbled Godwits and Willets on the beach at the state park. I drove out to check them out. I saw both of the reported species plus some Forster’s Terns and a Spotted Sandpiper. It was a great day of bird migration.

Willets, Marbled Godwits, and Forster's Terns by Larry Jeanblanc on beach at Buck Creek State Park on May 1st 2011

Marbled Godwits by Larry Jeanblanc

April 30, 2011

We had our trip to Davey Woods this morning. It was a very pleasant walk and we saw several interesting birds but several other birds were only heard. We had great looks at a Wood Thrush. Most of us also saw a Hermit Thrush and a Veery. Some of us got a brief look at a Yellow-throated Vireo when it landed right over our heads. Looking straight up is not the easiest task. We found several warblers but only heard most of them. One or two Cerulean Warblers sang but we didn’t get to see one. We also heard Ovenbirds, Black-throated Green Warblers, and a Louisiana Waterthrush. Some of us got a look at a Northern Parula and an American Redstart. We found a White-breasted Nuthatch feeding young at its nest Cavity and a pair of Blue Jays building a nest.

Northern Parula by Larry Jeanblanc

April 24, 2011

I birded at Buck Creek State Park for a while this morning. I found several warblers including Yellow Warbler, Northern Parula, Yellow-throated Warbler, Palm Warbler, and Common Yellowthroat. The highlight of the morning was a Prairie Warbler. A couple species of vireos have arrived including a Blue-headed Vireo and a Warbling Vireo. A few Gray Catbirds have arrived along with both orioles.

April 23, 2011

We had our trip to John Bryan State Park this morning. We found a few warblers including a Louisiana Waterthrush and some Yellow-rumped Warblers. We also heard Ovenbirds, a Hooded Warbler, and a Northern Parula. Other highlights included a Pileated Woodpecker and a couple Broad-winged Hawks.

Yellow Warbler by Larry Jeanblanc

April 16, 2011

 I looked around Buck Creek State Park for a little while this morning. Most of the ducks and other waterfowl are gone. Double-crested Cormorants are still around. The Ruby-crowned Kinglets were singing in the woods today. Several Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were also singing. Near the Crabill House I had my first House Wren of the season. I recorded five species of warblers today including Yellow-rumped, Palm, Pine, Yellow-throated, and Northern Parula. The Pine Warbler was in the white pines at the northeast corner of the woods along Buck Creek just below the dam. The Palm Warbler was just a little ways from the Crabill House. An Eastern Bluebird is staying the area near the marsh below the spillway. Within the next couple weeks many more migrants should be arriving

April 3, 2011

This morning there were about 25 Wilson's Snipe along Baldwin Lane just south of Route 4 on the east side of the road in a wet field. There are lots of Bonaparte's Gulls on the lake at Buck Creek State Park along with a few ducks including Red-breasted Mergansers. Both Horned Grebes and Pied-billed Grebes are on the lake but the Eared Grebe seems to have moved on. The Ross's Goose remains on the ponds at Old Reid Park.

April 2, 2011

We saw a few birds at Spring Valley this morning. The first Northern Rough-winged Swallows I've seen this year were flying over the lake. There were also several Swamp Sparrows and Yellow-rumped Warblers. There was a large flock of coots on the east side of the lake and a few ducks remaining including Ring-necked Ducks, Buffleheads, and Blue-winged Teal. Several Wood Ducks flew over. We saw a Red-shouldered Hawk and a couple Black Vultures.

March 25 - 27, 2011

We had some exciting birds at Buck Creek State Park and Old Reid Park this weekend. The highlight was an Eared Grebe that was hanging out right next to the tower at the southwest corner of the lake. There is also a Ross's Goose that spends some time in Old Reid Park. The American White Pelicans are also still around but they have been moving around some and so may be seen almost anywhere on the lake. The American Pipits are still present in the field on the east side of Grant Road just north of the horsemen's area. Most of the ducks have left the lake but there are still a few around mostly at the north end of the lake in the shallow areas around the islands.

Eared Grebe by Larry Jeanblanc at Buck Creek State Park

Ross's Goose by Larry Jeanblanc at Old Reid Park

March 19 – 20, 2011

We had a field trip on Saturday and I birded Sunday at Buck Creek State Park. The highlight was 5 American White Pelicans at the north end of the reservoir. They were first reported on Thursday. They were then seen on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday morning I saw them early but couldn’t find them later in the morning. There are still hundreds of ducks on the lake. The most common are Lesser Scaup and Red-breasted Mergansers but I saw 18 species for the weekend. Other species seen were Wood Duck, Gadwall, American Wigeon, American Black Duck, Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-necked Scaup, Greater Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, and Ruddy Duck. There are also Common Loons, Pied-billed Grebes, and Horned Grebes on the lake.

Along Grant Road just north of the horsemen’s area in the grassy field on the east side of the road I saw about 200 American Pipits.

On Sunday I also saw my first Greater Yellowlegs of the year.

American White Pelicans at Buck Creek State Park by Larry Jeanblanc

March 6, 2011

I looked around Buck Creek State Park this morning. The highlight of the morning was a Common Redpoll. I saw it along the northern most access to the lake off Grant Road. It was feeding on the north side of the gravel lane with some Song Sparrows and American Tree Sparrows. We only see redpolls every few years in Clark County. I also saw some Wild Turkeys on the west side of the lake near the cemetery on Route 4. There are still lots of diving ducks on the lake. They are scattered around the lake along with Pied-billed and Horned Grebes. The best viewing changes based on the wind and sun. I saw 9 of the 10 common diving duck species this morning. There are a few dabbling ducks but they are concentrated in the shallow water at the north end of the lake. The most common species this morning was Green-winged Teal but there were also a few Northern Shovelers, American Wigeon, and Gadwalls.

February 26, 2011

We had a great walk this morning at Buck Creek State Park. We started out at the north end of the reservoir where we had a couple thousand geese including 28 Greater White-fronted Geese. We also spotted 10 species of ducks here. Then we moved to the access off Route 4 across from the cemetery. We walked down to the lake and looked over hundreds of ducks. There were quite a few Common Goldeneyes along with many Lesser Scaup and a couple Greater Scaup. There were a few Red-breasted Mergansers, Redheads, and several Canvasbacks. Our next stop was the overlook at the southwest part of the reservoir. Again we could see quite a few ducks. Here we spotted a single Long-tailed Duck. This is the first one I've seen here since December 2000. In all we saw 2 species of geese, 17 species of ducks, plus Pied-billed and Horned Grebes and American Coots.

December 24, 2010

There were 4 Greater White-fronted Geese with a flock of Canada Geese on Neer Road just west of Mahar Road this morning. Just down the road there were 2 Wilson's Snipe in the creek west of the Neer Road bridge.

November 13, 2010

We had a field trip to Buck Creek State Park this morning. There were a few ducks on the lake including 4 Redheads, 7 Canvasbacks, a female Green-winged Teal, Horned Grebes, Pied-billed Grebes, and a couple Common Loons. At the north end of the lake on the mudflats were a few Killdeer, over 20 Dunlins, 5 Wilson's Snipe, and a few American Pipits. Then we checked out Old Reid Park and found 6 Cackling Geese. I am assuming these are the same birds that Brian Menker reported last week. Below are a couple pictures of the geese.

Cackling Goose at Old Reid Park by Larry Jeanblanc on 11/13/10

Cackling Geese with Canada Goose at Old Reid Park by Larry Jeanblanc on 11/13/10

November  6 - 7, 2010

We had some great birds at Buck Creek State Park this weekend. On Saturday we spotted 9 Tundra Swans on the lake as we drove across the dam. Then as we walked on the beach an adult Bald Eagle flew by. Then next to the small marsh next to the Prairie View parking lot we found a couple Fox Sparrows. On Sunday we found a Red-throated Loon on the lake with some Common Loons. On the beach we found lots of Killdeer and a Baird's Sandpiper. Then a few American Pipits flew over. Later at the mudflats at the north end of the lake we saw Killdeer, Dunlins, and Wilson's Snipe. We also found a couple more American Pipits walking around on the mudflats.

Baird's Sandpiper by Larry Jeanblanc

October 10, 2010

We were joined by a couple birders from Darke County this morning for our walk at Buck Creek State Park. An American Golden Plover was at the beach along with the usual Ring-billed and Herring Gulls. A few Bonaparte's Gulls flew by but didn't land. On a walk at the horsemen's area off Grant Road we saw a few warblers including a couple Orange-crowned Warblers. Several sparrows were along the trails including Field, White-throated, White-crowned, Chipping, and a Lincoln's. Most of them sat right in the trail giving us good looks at them. We also saw White-eyed and Blue-headed Vireos, Cedar Waxwings, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and some other birds. A few butterflies are still flying including Common Checkered Skippers and Common Buckeyes.

October 6, 2010

Larry Jeanblanc checked the beach this morning and found an estimated 1000 Tree Swallows.

Tree Swallows at beach at Buck Creek State Park by Larry Jeanblanc

October 2 - 3, 2010

We visited Buck Creek State Park this weekend. The last warblers are migrating through and we found several species including Black-throated Green, Cape May, Tennessee, Nashville, Magnolia, Blackpoll, and Common Yellowthroat. Yellow-rumped Warblers are now the most common warbler around. Both kinglets are also migrating through the area. We have also heard a Red-breasted Nuthatch in the white pines along Grant Road in recent trips. Sparrows are showing up. We are still seeing many Field Sparrows and White-crowned and White-throated Sparrows are passing through. Blue-headed Vireos are moving through the area and we saw a Philadelphia Vireo on Sunday. A few ducks have been seen including a pair of Redheads. Wood Ducks are easy to see in Old Reid Park right now and some of the males have their bright colors.

Field Sparrow by Doug Overacker

September 18, 2010

We had our trip to Buck Creek State Park this morning. We started at the beach and saw a Semipalmated Plover and a Black-bellied Plover. The trail near the horsemen's area was good again. We saw White-eyed, Blue-headed, and Philadelphia Vireos, Tennessee, Nashville, Magnolia, Blackpoll, Black-and-white, and Wilson's Warblers plus American Redstart and Common Yellowthroat. There were also other migrants. We have seen a Red-breasted Nuthatch here this fall.

Brown Thrasher by Larry Jeanblanc

September 12, 2010

Doug, Larry, and Julie spent the morning at Buck Creek State Park this morning. The birding started out great with a Lesser Black-backed Gull on the beach. A Sanderling was also there. Next on a trail near the horsemen's area off Grant Road they found 10 species of warblers including Tennessee Warblers, Nashville Warblers, Cape May Warblers, Magnolia Warblers, Black-throated Green Warblers, a Bay-breasted Warbler, Blackpoll Warblers, American Redstarts, Common Yellowthroats, and a Wilson's Warbler. Other highlights included a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, a Red-breasted Nuthatch, and White-eyed Vireos.

September 11, 2010

We held our trip to Oakes Quarry park in Fairborn this morning. The birding was fairly slow but we did get great looks at a couple Blue Grosbeaks. Unfortunately both of the birds were brown. One appeared to be a young bird and the other one looked like an adult female.