April 22, 2007

Earth Day, and a beautiful day it is. The high was 81° and the sky was clear all day. a beautiful warm day.

I wore a coat and tie for my bird walk at the Arboretum this morning. To honor the old bird walk leaders from back in the 1930’s and 40’s when such attire was the norm.

The walk was very good. 16 participants. More than I have had in a while. A very nice Northern Goshawk flew over and everyone got a nice look. I could not believe it. I kept trying to make it into a Sharp-shinned Hawk, because it was a heavy bodied accipiter, but it was too big and not flying right. Heavy powerful wing beats. Then there was the pale gray chest, the black cap and the supercillium! the first time I have seen that on a Gos. What a great bird. My second spring sighting at the Arboretum in the past 4 years. None the less this is an an extremely rare bird. This is only the 9th I have seen in Lake County in all my years of looking at birds. This species has never been photographed in the Cleveland Region. But neither had Golden Eagle until I got a picture in December of 2000. Someday I’ll have a camera handy when I spot a Gos. It took more than 15 years to get a picture of a Golden Eagle. It was fun to discuss that sighting with some of the participants because they wondered why the bird was not Broad-wing or Red-Shouldered? Good questions because a Gos can look a lot like a buteo. What a great bird!

Later in the walk I made a really stupid call. Around Corning lake a bird popped up out of the alder thicket on the edge of the lake. It had a wingspan of about 14 -16 inches light brown with dark wing tips. I could see a long beak and it was trailing its’ legs behind it as it climbed and flew north. I called it a Least Bittern because of the color, size, and dark wing tips. I put it down on the list as such. Well I got home and saw the early record for this species is April 29. I started to think about what I saw. I drew a picture then consulted a field guide. Well, It might have been a juvenile Least Bittern had it been July through October. But an adult Least Bittern would have had a dark pattern on its’ back this bird did not have. Probably a Rail. My experience with flying rails is the same as most birders, almost zero. What was it? I have no idea at this point. What a dumb mistake. At least I recognize and admit it was a mistake. Everyone makes them, but it is amazing how many people wont admit it.

The rest of the walk was productive. We rescued a Song Sparrow from the “Observation Blind”. I heard the distinctive tapping of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker on Beech knoll and we were able to follow the sound and find the bird. A pair of Hermit Thrushes gave everyone great looks after we pointed them out. Everyone got a lesson on separating Pine Warbler from Chipping Sparrow by voice in the Ponderosa Pine plantings. We first picked them out by sound then followed their songs to actually find them. Pine Warblers are such a pretty yellow green.

I was hoping for 50 species but we ended up with 45. Notably absent were Cedar Waxwing, Dark-eyed Junco, White-Throated Sparrow, and Towhee. Had my friend Roger been able to get a Red-headed Woodpecker for us, we would have maxed the picaformes. But no luck there.

Back at home the Juncos were everywhere in the yard. Up on the summit another beautiful clear day, but little change form yesterday and very few birds in the woods. Lots of people walking so no sign of the Barred Owl.