Cincinnati Statebirding, June 2011

With a brief business trip to Cincinnati in early June 2011, I was able to squeeze in a few hours of birding one morning to fill gaps in my Ohio state list.  I decided to focus my birding efforts on the west side of Cincinnati as there seemed to be quite a number of possible targets in the area based on some excellent advice and directions from several local birders.  But it would mean rather quick stops at a number of nearby locations, and it would require some pretty cooperative birds. 

Started at 6 AM at Miami-Whitewater Wetlands to try for both bitterns that had been reported there recently.  As I approached the gazebo at the edge of the marsh I realized that the marsh was just alive with starlings and blackbirds, each one seemingly trying to be louder than the next.  At one point I was able to hear 2 calls of a Least Bittern (statebird #1), but I was lucky that the bird was close enough to hear it over all the blackbirds.  I may have also heard an American Bittern, but I wasn't sure with the distance to the bird and all the blackbird noises.  A family of Wood Ducks and a nest-building Cedar Waxwing were notable.

At 6:30 I headed to nearby Miami-Whitewater Forest.  I was able to get a new statebird at each of 3 stops along Dry Fork Creek - a singing Yellow-throated Warbler, a singing Parula Warbler, and a singing Louisiana Waterthrush (#2 - #4).  Later stops along the park road did not result in any other statebirds, but I was amazed at the number of singing Cerulean Warblers in the park.  Finding a nest-building Summer Tanager was a bonus.  What a tremendous location!

At 8:00 I headed over to Fernald to try for Blue Grosbeak as suggested by local birders.  Unfortunately I had neglected to ask for specific directions, so I was a bit concerned about finding it in such a big park and with limited time.  My first stop was at the overlook to the ponds just north of Willey Road.  Within seconds of getting out of my car I heard a Blue Grosbeak singing on the west side of the road (#5).  That was easy!

Then on to the Kilby Road gravel pits to try for the Bell's Vireos that had been found there recently.  Arriving at 8:30, I followed the perfect directions - walked behind the shed and to the south end of the row of trees and heard one singing non-stop (#6).  Another quick and successful stop.  A Kestrel was in the trees as well.

I was now ahead of schedule, and headed down to Shawnee Lookout to try for Prothonotary Warbler.  Along the way I came up to a large pond/flooded field on the west side of Lawrenceburg Road before crossing the Great Miami River.  With some extra time on my hands, I decided to make a stop and look for late shorebirds.  In addition to several Killdeer, there were 8 Semi Plovers, 5 Semi Sandpipers, and 1 Dunlin (an unexpected #7).

At 9:15 I arrived at the Shawnee Lookout boat ramp, and within about 5 minutes heard a singing Prothonotary Warbler (statebird #8). 

By 9:30 I had 8 of 10 realistic targets, which was only possible with the excellent advice and directions I got from local birders.  The only other species that I had realistically hoped for were American Bittern and Hooded Warbler (though of course I had remote chances for several others).  And 75 species in 3 1/2 hours was a pretty good total.  My Ohio statebird total of 210 is now just 1 shy of the ABA reporting threshold, so just a little more work to go to reach threshold in another state.

I've copied in below the map of states where I've seen Bell's Vireo.  With the exception of the accidental bird in NH, the map is now pretty similar to the Bell's Vireo range maps in the field guides.