The
last time I birded in OH was May 2013 when I added 12 birds to my statelist bringing
my total to 226. That put me 15 over the
old ABA reportable threshold of 211 (defined as half of the total state list) –
exactly meeting my goal to be at least 15 over the threshold. However, since that time, an amazing 12 new
birds have been added to the OH list, meaning the new threshold has increased
by 6 to 217. Although you wouldn’t think
the OH statelist would continue to grow at that pace, if it did, I would drop
below the new threshold in just a few years.
So when a short business trip to Cleveland came up, I certainly looked
forward to a rare opportunity to do some statebirding in OH.
As
always my first step was to set up an OH Needs Alert in eBird. And since my OH list wasn’t too large, quite
a number of possible statebirds popped up statewide. But my spare time would be limited to just
one early morning, so I would need to restrict my search to the immediate
counties around Cleveland. Luckily 3
targets were still possible – Broad-winged Hawk, Virginia Rail, and Hooded
Warbler. And all 3 were being reported reasonably
reliably at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park which was
just 25 minutes from my hotel. Although
not surprisingly there was no specific site for the Broad-wing, the Rail was
reported from one marsh in the park, and Hoodeds were reported from multiple
sites throughout the park. So it seemed
like I could make a quick stop for the Rail, ride through the park a bit
keeping my eyes and ears open for the Broad-wing and Hooded, and still get back
in time for the start of my meetings.
Unfortunately that plan began to unravel
when I woke up that morning and checked the forecast - heavy thunderstorms most
of the day starting in the early morning.
The radar showed that the leading edge of the rain was just a few miles
west of the city, so I had at most a small window of good birding weather. I first considered just cancelling my birding
altogether, but I figured I could still squeeze in quick stops for at least a
couple species before the rain hit. So I
stuck with my plans, and was out of the hotel an hour before dawn, reaching the
park at first light.
The first area I targeted was Chippewa
Creek Drive which appeared to be in the center of the area where multiple
Hooded Warblers had been reported this year.
My plan was to drive along slowly, with my windows down listening for my
target birds. There was quite a lot of
early morning song in the woodlands, especially featuring good numbers of
singing flycatchers – including Pewee, Acadian, Phoebe, Great Crested, and
Kingbird. Then I reached an area that
looked really nice for Hooded Warbler - a heavily wooded area with thick
undergrowth where the road paralleled a stream.
I stopped the car and almost instantly heard the clear whistled song of
a Hooded Warbler. Then I heard another,
and another – there were 3 Hoodeds singing in the same spot. I thought it looked like a nice spot!
Adding Hooded Warbler in OH fills in one of
my last gaps in my statebird map (see below); I still need it in AR and NY
within its regular range. I’ve also seen
it in CA and throughout northern New England as a rarity.
Next I was off to try for the Virginia Rail
at the nearby eBird hotspot called Station Road Railroad. There had been just one report of the Rail
here this year but it was in the last week.
Plus there were several reports of one bird at this spot last year. So although I would have preferred to see
more reports of the Rail here in 2017, I was still optimistic the bird could be
reliable at this spot. (Besides – why wouldn’t
you find a Rail at a railroad?) With the
help of comments included in a few posts, and some GoogleMaps satellite
searches, I was able to figure out that the bird was in a wetlands about a
third of a mile south of the Station Road parking lot along a set of railroad
tracks. Within a few minutes I arrived
at the parking lot, and with umbrella in hand, began my walk down the
tracks. (By the way the tracks were
active so I would have to be mindful of oncoming trains.) Within a few minutes I had reached the
wetlands and almost instantly heard a Virginia Rail giving it’s kid-dik calls
from the reeds at the back of the marsh.
Good thing I heard it when I arrived because that was the only time it
called during the 20 minutes I was at the marsh.
I just need this species in 4 more states in
the Lower 48 to fill in my statebird map for this common wetlands species.
Later I would hear and see a most
attractive Prothonotary Warbler at the marsh.
And on my way back to the car I also heard a singing Cerulean Warbler – it’s
always great to encounter this declining species.
As I returned to my car it had just started
to rain, but I thought I’d be able to make one more stop to try for the
Broad-winged Hawk. There had been
sporadic reports at the nearby Oak Grove picnic area, perhaps of birds nesting
in the area, or birds that might be visible passing overhead at this clearing
in the woodlands. But soon after I
arrived it started to rain heavily, and I called it quits. Though I was surprised to find a Junco here
in June, and another singing Hooded Warbler was a nice find as well.
That gives me 228 for my OH statelist, now
11 over the newly calculated threshold.
OH birders would have to find 23 new birds for the total statelist
before I’d fall below the threshold – hopefully that holds me at least for a
while.
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