weather
Pirate name: Poncy Henry Goodfellow
A very frustrating day. The weather appeared to want to rain all day, but I decided I wanted to go on a twitch, and when my mind's made up, it's made up. I saw on a list serve here in Ohio, that an Arctic tern may have been seen in the area of Old Woman Creek. Apparently a very rare bird in Ohio.
First my mate crapped out on me. He had to get ready for a concert he was going to see with the missus.
Undaunted, despite the clouds and being alone, I proceeded with little hope of finding anything.
Old Woman Creek is an enigma for birders. The habitat is lush, marshy, and right on the lake Erie shore line. The only thing missing is birds. I can't figure out why there aren't more birds. You can see the random Bald Eagle and Great Egret, but that's about it. Sam has wrote this off of our weekly birding trips completely, but I decided to give it one more chance.
I proceeded to the beach area, since this was the most logical habitat the gull would be at. Even this beach is strange. It has this moving sandbar, so every time you go there, it's different. It was still drizzling when I arrived, so I decided not to risk getting my camera wet, and left it in the car. I was armed with just my trusty bins and field guide (Yes, I'm an American. I take my field guide.) I walked through the short thicket path to the beach. There....look...beyond the beach...on the sandbar. It's birds! The sandbar had attracted about 20 or so gulls, terns and even a little Sandpiper that I couldn't ID before it took off; followed by a Great Blue Heron. I guess they weren't to happy with my presence. The rest of the birds were a little skittish, but stayed where they were. I waited for them to settle down a little, and raised my bins. Looking for orange bills, I found one...a beautiful Caspian Tern...to big for my Arctic. Aha! A small tern....could this be? Damn, just a little to far to tell. I needed to see if the bill was completely orange, as in the Arctic, or had a black band on the tip, as in the Common Tern. It sat a little to low to tell by the tail length too. I had to go back and get the scope.
On the way I saw a truck with "Natural Sciences" or something similar. I retrieved my scope and made my way back.....I couldn't believe it! The driver of the truck was walking right on the beach, and headed toward my birds. Before I could say anything, the birds took to the air, because he came in to close. Unbelievable! He was wearing these huge bright orange waders. I have know idea what he was up to. He had no bins, so he wasn't there to bird. He then went back up the beach , and out of sight. I waited for about 30 minutes, hoping the birds would return, but they never did.
Maybe I'll drive out again tomorrow!
Old woman creek
8/20/04
Location: Old woman creek
--------------------------------------
21 birds in 6 species.
•Beach area:-------------------------
5 Caspian Tern (Sterna caspia)
8 Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)
1 Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
1 Great Egret (Ardea alba)
3 Bonaparte's Gull (Larus philadelphia)
Mike
First my mate crapped out on me. He had to get ready for a concert he was going to see with the missus.
Undaunted, despite the clouds and being alone, I proceeded with little hope of finding anything.
Old Woman Creek is an enigma for birders. The habitat is lush, marshy, and right on the lake Erie shore line. The only thing missing is birds. I can't figure out why there aren't more birds. You can see the random Bald Eagle and Great Egret, but that's about it. Sam has wrote this off of our weekly birding trips completely, but I decided to give it one more chance.
I proceeded to the beach area, since this was the most logical habitat the gull would be at. Even this beach is strange. It has this moving sandbar, so every time you go there, it's different. It was still drizzling when I arrived, so I decided not to risk getting my camera wet, and left it in the car. I was armed with just my trusty bins and field guide (Yes, I'm an American. I take my field guide.) I walked through the short thicket path to the beach. There....look...beyond the beach...on the sandbar. It's birds! The sandbar had attracted about 20 or so gulls, terns and even a little Sandpiper that I couldn't ID before it took off; followed by a Great Blue Heron. I guess they weren't to happy with my presence. The rest of the birds were a little skittish, but stayed where they were. I waited for them to settle down a little, and raised my bins. Looking for orange bills, I found one...a beautiful Caspian Tern...to big for my Arctic. Aha! A small tern....could this be? Damn, just a little to far to tell. I needed to see if the bill was completely orange, as in the Arctic, or had a black band on the tip, as in the Common Tern. It sat a little to low to tell by the tail length too. I had to go back and get the scope.
On the way I saw a truck with "Natural Sciences" or something similar. I retrieved my scope and made my way back.....I couldn't believe it! The driver of the truck was walking right on the beach, and headed toward my birds. Before I could say anything, the birds took to the air, because he came in to close. Unbelievable! He was wearing these huge bright orange waders. I have know idea what he was up to. He had no bins, so he wasn't there to bird. He then went back up the beach , and out of sight. I waited for about 30 minutes, hoping the birds would return, but they never did.
Maybe I'll drive out again tomorrow!
Old woman creek
8/20/04
Location: Old woman creek
--------------------------------------
21 birds in 6 species.
•Beach area:-------------------------
5 Caspian Tern (Sterna caspia)
8 Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)
1 Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
1 Great Egret (Ardea alba)
3 Bonaparte's Gull (Larus philadelphia)
Mike
