Migrant Ducks Rest in Small Pond on Way North

Mixed migrant flock resting on small pond near Apple Valley includes a male scaup (black-and-white, second or third from left) and canvasback ducks (flock on right, males red-white-and-black).  (Photo by Don Comis)

In the middle of the flock of canvasback ducks, I spotted a probable male northern shoveler, distinguished by the rufous color on his side.  (Photo by Don Comis)

A male northern shoveler takes flight, likely with his mate, while a male mallard and male northern shoveler swim peacefully.  (Photo by Don Comis)

Before going grocery shopping in Mt. Vernon this afternoon, I stopped by Apple Valley Lake and took another look at some of the interesting waterfowl showing up there lately--loons, pie-billed grebes, horned grebes, and hooded mergansers.  My friends, Debbie Hurlbert and Jon Minard, could name more.

They happened by on their bird patrol as I was taking photos the other day at the Lake's dam and spillway and identified the horned grebes for me. Jon, a long-time eagle watcher, also told me he's been seeing an adult pair of bald eagles on the lake, sounding like he thinks they'll build a nest next year nearby.  Although there are plenty of eagles in the area and some that frequent the lake, there aren't any nesting along the lakeshore.

They also alerted me to a mixed flock of migrant ducks at a small pond near a strip mall just outside of the entrance to the Apple Valley development.  The ducks include redheads, canvasbacks, and scaups.  The redheads and scaups are headed back to the the western United States, Alaska, and northwestern Canada; and the canvasbacks are going to Canada and northwestern United States.

I checked out that pond again today, too.  The flock was much smaller than the 65 I counted days ago, but there was still diversity.  I'm pretty sure I saw four northern shovelers, the first I've seen, at least by myself, three males and one female. I also counted 8 canvasbacks (5 males and 3 females) and 3 scaups (2 males and 1 female).  I think the canvasbacks are more strikingly beautiful than the redheads.

The northern shovelers are resting on their journey back to America's West, Alaska, and northwestern Canada.

As I neared home, I saw what I think was a Great Blue Heron flying overhead, which would be my first heron sighting in a long time.

Vultures are Latest Arrivals in Central Ohio

Turkey vulture.  (Photo by Debbie Hurlbert)

This robin has been in my yard just about daily.  Usually he's on the ground under my side yard feeders so I can't tell if he's eating seeds or finding worms and bugs in the dirt.  But on Feb. 28 I saw him on our wooden deck definitely eating seeds dropped from numerous feeders.  He's pretty bossy too with other birds and so tame and unafraid of people that I'm beginning to think he really is a too-early spring arrival.  (Photo by Don Comis)

Today on a warm day before a predicted storm, when I parked at the Brown Family Environmental Center at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, I saw a male red-winged blackbird singing for a mate from the very top of a tree near my parking space.

The sight of me didn't deter him, nor did the coming storm.   This bird does seem to go by the calendar and not the weather, so it shouldn't surprise me that if this blackbird arrived on February 23, he knows the ladies will arrive the first week of March, so why not start right away on March 1, at least he'll be well practiced.

I also saw my first vulture this season, a turkey vulture soaring near the Center.  The talk at the Center is of the arrival of red-winged blackbirds and vultures.  Later in the day, the talk at the seed store was of robins and red-winged blackbirds.

I've seen recent "OHIO-BIRDS" e-mail postings about sightings of sandhill cranes.  One e-mail even reported chipmunks stirring out of their partial hibernation.  They're not true hibernators, but I've yet to see one in winter.

Much as I love winter, I do look forward to joining chipmunks in sunbathing in our yard!

Right now the only mammals I'm seeing are deer, opossums, skunks, raccoons, and one mouse that ran out of my garage.

I saw a skunk in the neighborhood on my way home this evening and an opossum when I pulled in my driveway.  My wife saw a deer across the street.  I can't help but wondering if it was the warm day or a sense of the pending storm that got these animals moving around earlier than usual--or am I not outside enough at 7:30 p.m. to see them?


As I wind down about 1 a.m., I checked outside--no snow, just a raccoon on the front deck, with no concern for the flashlight I shine on him or her.  The predictions of snow starting at 10 p.m. seem to have changed to overnight snow, with snow totals down from about 5 to 10 or 12 inches to 5 to 7 inches by Sunday night.