Visiting More Winter Visitors, Both Urban and Rural

Many people wouldn't think of downtown Cleveland as an exceptional birding destination, but lately it has been absolutely phenomenal. With the extreme cold temperatures this winter, Lake Erie is almost completely frozen and the wintering birds are concentrated wherever there is open water, including the Cuyahoga River through downtown Cleveland. Many associate the river and the city with water and air pollution, but thanks to mid-'70s environmental legislation, the river is far healthier and the air is much cleaner than it used to be. At the same time, the city still supports a busy port and steel production. This progress has been truly remarkable.

For the past few days we had been reading very enticing reports about large numbers of ducks and gulls in the city, including some rare ones, so this weekend we headed north to see what all the excitement was about.

Here is what we saw as we approached the river--at this point things didn't look all that promising:

But soon we started to see lots of gulls and ducks, with Quicken Loans Arena (LeBron James' former workplace) in the background:

And then the full impact of the huge flock was quite evident:

One of the main attractions was a bird called the pomarine jaeger which had been seen in this area for the past few days. True to its name, which means "hunter" in German, this bird is a fierce predator. It will eat just about any animal, which it obtains by hunting, scavenging, and stealing from other birds. We were extremely fortunate--as we got out of our car people were pointing at the bird. We got great looks at it as it circled close by and even landed not far away. Then off it flew north along the river and as far as we know it wasn't seen the rest of the morning. (For a photo of the jaeger taken at the same time we were there head over to Weedpicker's Journal.) Then our attention turned to the hundreds of other birds present along the river.

As we were wondering how on earth we would distinguish some of the rarer gulls we were relieved to see some other birding friends and acquaintances, who were very helpful with gull ID. This area along the river (known as Scranton Flats) is in the process of being developed into a small park, and we really appreciated the new and conveniently located observation platform:

We were excited to see this Iceland gull which was a new bird for us:

There are usually a few of these in the winter along the lake, but this year there have been more than usual. These birds breed far to the north.

Most gulls that we see in Ohio are either ring-billed or herring gulls, so just about anything else is exciting to see. Here is a great black-backed gull:

In addition to large numbers of unusual gulls, the past few days have brought an unprecedented number of red-necked grebes to the state. Here is one that we saw on the Cuyahoga River:

From this spot we headed east to another lakeside area that has a bit of open water, thanks to an adjacent power plant. Here at Eastlake we saw several white-winged scoters, which are typically sea ducks (the upper one in the photo; the lower one is a female common merganser):

Eastlake had another special bird, a glaucous gull. This is another gull that breeds far to the north. In the photo below it is the one in back with completely white tail feathers and wing tips:

Here it is expressing its opinion to the other gulls:

At both these locations large numbers of a wide variety of ducks were present. Here are photos of several of them:

This is probably the most unusual of the ducks that we saw on this trip--the long-tailed duck:

After enjoying great views of the birds at these urban locations we switched gears completely and drove south and east through lovely Amish farmland to look for the long-eared owl that has been spotted near Mosquito Lake State Park. At one farm we noted a grove of maples being tapped for syrup using buckets instead of the plastic tubing that is often used:

We found the long-eared owl (with help from expert birders) and were able to photograph it with a telephoto lens but unfortunately the view wasn't great. It is interesting to note, though, that this bird was employing some good camouflage techniques, finding a place that is its same color and staying perfectly still.

This year has been quite notable for the presence of snowy owls all over the state and, in fact, all over the eastern U.S. At least one has turned up in Florida this winter! Despite being out a lot, we hadn't seen one this year so we made an effort to check for one that had been reported from a farm in Geauga County. These incredible owls come from way north on the tundra, so they are usually seen on the ground or on a low fencepost, or on a higher perch overlooking an open area where they can hunt for rodents. At first we couldn't find the bird at the location that had been reported, but then we went around the corner to get a view from another angle and we weren't disappointed! We got a good clear view, albeit from a distance:

What an exciting day of winter birding! It was great to see these visitors from the far north, and it was especially nice to see several very helpful Ohio birders. We were also impressed by the efforts underway in Cleveland to improve the waterfront with parks and pedestrian access. To top it all off, we were treated to a spectacular sunset on the drive back to Columbus:

More Winter Walks in the Hocking Hills

On a cold overcast day in late February, we traveled to the Hocking Hills with our friend Jim, who introduced us to two winter walks that were new to us.

On the first hike we had a distant view of an active bald eagle’s nest in a high sycamore tree located adjacent to a swamp and a large creek.  Below is a long telephoto view showing the head of one parent eagle in the nest and the other parent to the right.

From the same site as the previous photo, we cranked the telephoto lens to maximum to obtain a photograph of this huge eagle nest, constructed of large twigs and branches. Think of how heavy it must be!

A few hundred yards from the eagle’s nest was a great blue heron rookery (photo below).  The herons apparently used to nest at the bald eagle site, but were pushed out by the eagles several years ago. In a couple of months these nests will be active with noisy pairs of herons!

Later on the walk, Jim showed us a hillside seep with some emerging skunk cabbage, generally the first wildflower of the year in Ohio.  Skunk cabbages generate heat, which allows them to bloom earlier than other wildflowers. Even skunk cabbage is delayed this year due to the cold weather.

While looking for the skunk cabbage we chanced upon another distant view of a bald eagle, presumably one of the parents away from the nest.

As we returned to the car we heard the cheerful sounds of eastern bluebirds and were able to observe a pair perching on low branches, dropping to ground, and returning to low branches.

In the afternoon, we went on a hike down into a deep hollow.  The going was a bit dicey due to snow, ice and the primitive nature of the trail; in some areas we were only able to find the trail by following footprints in the snow.  We eventually found a frozen waterfall and a lovely stream lined with hemlock trees:

There is always something interesting to see in the Hocking Hills!

Looking Back at Some Spectacular Winter Scenery

As faint signs of spring are starting to appear, I thought I'd take a look back at a wonderful mid-February day that convinced me that I love winter hiking. That is a real revelation since we have never done much of it before and I always figured that winter was the off season for such activity. Not so! Despite frigid temperatures and lots of snow we've had a great time this winter exploring Ohio roads and trails. I've concluded that the best way to deal with a tough winter like this one is to get out into it.

So on a sunny day and with clear roads we headed with a group of friends to Conkle's Hollow State Nature Preserve in the Hocking Hills south of Columbus. In spring this valley, rimmed on both sides by high cliffs, is blanketed with a variety of wildflowers and is livened by the songs of warblers newly arrived from the south. At first glance, the winter scene appears lifeless, but closer inspection reveals all sorts of animal activity. Here a coyote ambled across a frozen stream:

A mouse emerged from its hiding place to run across the snow:

Here a small bird, a sparrow perhaps, left a wingprint:

One of our winter visitors, a northern junco, filled up on poison ivy berries:

Here is a hermit thrush, with its cinnamon-colored tail. These birds are among the first spring songbirds to reach Ohio.

The hermit thrush seems to be questioning the wisdom of a bath in the frigid stream:

A deer graced the hillside:

Sandstone cliffs line the sides of the hollow and this scene might be mistaken for Colorado:

Each turn in the trail revealed frozen waterfalls:

At the end of the hollow the ice formations were quite impressive:

After these breathtaking sights we had lunch and headed over to the short walk to Ash Cave. The "cave" is not a typical limestone formation but instead is a huge overhanging sandstone ledge. Curtains of ice lined the adjacent cliffs:

At the cave, a waterfall pours over a cliff. Still flowing, it has formed a truly spectacular ice formation. Our friend Jan, just over 5 feet tall, stood by the huge ice tower and provided some perspective: 

Here is a view from another angle:

And a close-up of the ice:

I absolutely loved this outing and was sorry when it ended. The next day we headed south for a road trip to Florida--what a contrast!

Visiting Some Winter Visitors

While many familiar birds leave Ohio in the fall and head south, for other birds this IS the south! For example, many of our winter robins breed north of here, and most local backyard feeders host white-throated sparrows and northern juncos from the north during the winter. Other winter visitors rarely appear at suburban feeders, but instead stay out in the open fields that closely resemble their summer homes in the tundra. A farm north of Delaware, Ohio has fed and hosted such field birds for the last 20 winters, and this year the flocks are truly remarkable. Recently we checked it out with a group of friends.

This is the sight that greeted us when we arrived:

Looks a lot like the tundra! The birds that you see in the picture are a very small fraction of the thousands of birds that were taking advantage of the 50 pounds of cracked corn that the property owner distributes every day. Most of them were snow buntings, with substantial numbers of lapland longspurs and horned larks mixed in:

On the left on this picture is a snow bunting, and on the right is a lapland longspur:

Below is a horned lark, staring at the camera. There isn't much doubt as to how it got its name! Horned larks comb Ohio fields for seeds and other food all year, but snow buntings and longspurs breed far to the north.

Here is a sight that not many folks have seen--snow buntings high in a tree! These field birds simply don't often leave the ground to look for food, but these snow buntings appeared to be eating silver maple flower buds:

Here are a few more pictures from this icy morning:

For excellent pictures and more information about this remarkable flock, head on over to Ohio Birds and Biodiversity.

A Cold, Snowy, Rainy, Fun Weekend in Northeast Ohio

We haven't done much exploring in northeastern Ohio, so when friends suggested that we join them for the weekend at an inn near Chardon we readily agreed. They were hoping to spend time cross-country skiing, while we planned to do some hiking in area parks and preserves. Steady rain on Saturday meant that we ended up with a great group of 10 hikers and despite the weather all had a good time.

Our adventure began on Friday afternoon with a hike at The West Woods, a 900 acre park managed by the Geauga County Park District. We were quite impressed with their park system--many nice and varied nature preserves, a wonderful pocket-sized brochure for each park with an excellent trail map, and lovely nature centers. West Woods features hemlock groves and many large ledges of Sharon Conglomerate

that in one area make a formation called Ansel's Cave, which purportedly was used during the Civil War for munitions storage and to shelter runaway slaves.

Note that the icicles here go both up from the ground and down from the ceiling of the cave--icy stalgmites and stalactites! 

According to park signage, Sharon Conglomerate was deposited about 320 million years ago, but the sand and pebbles in it are 1.1 billion years old and their nearest source is in Canada. Some people call the rounded pebbles "lucky stones":

After our hike we warmed up in the nature center, which featured windows looking out onto a very active bird feeding area. Tree sparrows, mourning doves, white-throated sparrows, white-breasted nuthatches, downy, hairy and red-bellied woodpeckers and many more were feasting on the seeds and suet. Pretty soon along came a Virginia opossum to get in on the action, eating the seeds that had been dropped by the birds:

In addition to their cuteness, 'possums are interesting mammals that we don't see very often except as roadkill. They are mainly nocturnal but obviously can also be active during the day, and they are the only native North American marsupial. They don't hibernate so even in a cold winter they have to find food whenever and wherever they can. Their coats are relatively thin, and their feet, nose and ears are bare, making them quite vulnerable to frostbite. Although they don't live much longer than two years, they are able to make it through the winter by storing fat in their tail and under their skin. Love those pink feet!

Saturday was pretty much all about hiking in the rain (and having a really good lunch and dinner). We visited two preserves, Big Creek and Penetentiary Glen. We loved the hemlock groves and a tiny frozen waterfall

and had a laugh at this sign:

While we didn't see many animals, evidence of wildlife was all around us including tracks in the snow and these pileated woodpecker holes:

These huge birds drill into tree trunks to get to carpenter ants, among other insects. 

Sunday we woke up to steady snow and falling temperatures. Our friends headed for some skiing while we drove west to Cleveland to meet Jen Brumfield, one of Ohio's most experienced, fun, and informative birders, who was scheduled to lead a walk along the lakefront. We hadn't been to this area in many years so we were pleased to have the opportunity to check it out; it is typically one of the most productive and exciting winter birding areas in the state. Extremely uncomfortable weather typically adds to the "excitement", with snow, ice, and wind creating pretty miserable conditions. Fortunately, this time we just had 2 out of 3 since the wind was pretty quiet.

This is the scene that greeted us at our first stop, a park at the end of East 72nd Street:

Wherever there is open water along the Lake Erie shore, ducks from the north tend to congregate in large numbers. Often they are accompanied by huge number of gulls, and sometimes very rare ones can be found among the ring-billed and herring gulls. In a cold winter like this one, open water near the shore is hard to find, except where a power plant discharges the warm water that has cooled its turbines. This is the power plant that provides the discharge at this spot; an added benefit of it was that it is a favored perch of peregrine falcons and we were fortunate to see one!

While we didn't see any rare gulls, we did see a lot of ducks, including all three North American merganser species. Here is the male hooded merganser with a female red-breasted merganser,

the spiffy male red-breasted merganser

and the elegant common merganser with a female of the same species.

Notice how their bills are hooked, and if you could see the bill close up you'd see that it has tiny teeth or serrations, characteristics that are quite helpful for catching fish. They were joined by mallards, both lesser and greater scaup, and these redheads that are in the foreground:

At another spot along the lake, but beyond photography range, were huge numbers of canvasbacks and some common goldeneyes. As we were scoping these ducks a gorgeous adult bald eagle flew by. 

With dropping temperatures and increasing ice formation we were ready after a couple of hours to head south to central Ohio. Although the weekend weather was uncomfortable at times and we never saw the sun (obvious from these pictures!), we were well-prepared and able to enjoy beautiful winter scenes like this: