A walk at the Shaker Lakes Regional Nature Center this morning found a singing Alder Flycatcher in willows bordering the marsh. A Carolina Wren was also singing and a Swainson's Thrush was heard. A few warblers were present, a female Black-throated Blue, 3 Blackpoll, an American Redstart and a singing Canada Warbler.

Yesterday a few warblers and vireos were heard in our residential neighborhood despite the cool, damp weather. Common Nighthawks have been heard the last few evenings in Cleveland Heights. A Gray-cheeked Thrush visited our yard and sang a little on May 17.

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It was a cold breezy morning at Headlands Beach State Park, but warmed quickly as migrants became more noticable. The honeysuckle attracted at least 5 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and there were many flycatchers seen and heard. Eastern Wood-Pewees were present, at least a dozen Least Flycatchers, half that many Willow Flycatchers, a possible Alder and more unidentified silent birds. Eastern Kingbirds added their displays. Blue Jays continued their eastward movement and a few Cedar Waxwings were there. Thrushes were there in small numbers, all but Hermit. 3 Scarlet Tanagers were all females. Yellow Warblers and American Redstarts were common, but there were not a lot of other warblers. On the north side of Shipman Pond we found male Mourning and Hooded Warblers. There were several Lincoln's Sparrows, 2 White-crowned, but we found no White-throated. Baltimore Orioles were abundant, possibly up to 30!

We had no Tennessee Warblers at Headlands, but driving home in the afternoon we heard several singing.

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A warbler singing in our yard this morning was a good sign for the day. At Headlands Beach State Park the grass east of the parking lot was filled with White-throated, White-crowned and Lincoln's Sparrows, Wood and Hermit Thrushes and Gray Catbirds. Blue Jays were still moving when we arrived at 9:45 as were a few Eastern Kingbirds and quite a few [male] Baltimore Orioles. Warblers were not so numerous and we only found 8 species, but there was a large increase in birds from May 1 there.

Some other migrants new for us today were Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-headed Woodpecker [also seen along M L King Blvd], Least Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, Swainson's Thrush, Blue-winged Warbler, Magnolia Warbler and Indigo Bunting. All of about 10 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks were females. The southerly winds and really warm, humid weather were a startling change from May 3 when we regretted not having jackets along Lake Erie.

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The posssibility of seeing a large group of golden plovers reported near Metzger Marsh WA for several days was irresistible since no change of weather was expected. We estimate there were about 300 American Golden-Plovers along Park Colony north of Corduroy Road (Lucas Co.) in partially wet fields. Most of them flew up and around changing locations for a time, then returned, once turning in front of us so we could hear the sound of the wind through their wings. As we do not see their spring migration in eastern Ohio, it was most impressive, especially with most of them well into alternate plumge. With them were about 100 Dunlin, 20 Lesser Yellowlegs, 12 Killdeer, 10 Pectoral Sandpipers, 1 Black-belliedPlover and 1 Greater Yellowlegs.

Continuing with shorebirds, we saw and heard 2 displaying Upland Sandpipers over Krause Road and heard 2 more and saw Woodcock along the birdtrail and near the Ottawa NWR parking lot. A Spotted Sandpiper was on Stange Road.

Warblers were thin, mostly Yellow, Yellow-rumped and Palm. We also saw Nashville Warbler, Veery and a Lincoln's Sparrow. It was nice, the weather beautiful, but change will be slow until the winds change.

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Continuing east winds seem to have birds on hold along Lake Erie and we saw mostly the same birds today that were at Headlands on April 26. Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, White-throated Sparrows and Northern Flickers were the most common. A stop at Mentor Lagoon found Great Blue and Green Herons, a flyby of a Black-crowned Night-Heron and two Bank Swallows.

At Eastlake there were around 50 cormorants, a few Red-breasted Mergansers and four species of gulls, though most are sub-adults. At Gordon Park in Cleveland a Northern Mockingbird was nest-building in a shrub.

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We made a brief stop at Lorain harbor this afternoon and found good numbers of gulls. The east winds had the outer breakwalls awash and the large gulls seemed to be sitting in the landfill while the Bonaparte's Gulls (maybe 4,000) were in the marina and at the "hot waters". Double-crested Cormorants were thick, perhaps 700 in those areas. A Common Tern, a few Caspian Terns, Barn Swallows and Chimney Swifts were around.

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Early this afternoon we checked Headlands Beach State Park. The wind off the lake was cool and we didn't find the large numbers of species that have been reported recently, but we did have Yellow-rumped and Black-throated Green Warblers and good numbers of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Northern Flickers. Also present were Winter Wren, Brown Thrasher and Eastern Towhee. On the lake were a few gulls, mergansers, cormorants and Caspian and Common Terns.

Swallows were moving along the lake and over Shipman Pond and we saw Purple Martins, Tree, N. Rough-winged and Barn Swallows. There may have been a small movement of hawks and we saw 2 Red-shouldered, one probable accipter and one Sharp-shinned Hawk. Also at Shipman Pond a Sora was out feeding.

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This afternoon we enjoyed brief birding in the sunshine, anticipating more snow from the forecasts. At Fairport Harbor we were disappointed to find the harbor frozen and hundreds of ducks mostly invisible just outside the outer breakwall. But on the ice were 9 Tundra Swans a few Bonaparte's Gulls in with many Ring-billed and Herring Gulls and one Glaucous Gull. Though many interesting ducks have been seen recently, Harlequin Ducks and White-winged Scoter, we did not try the beach at Headlands.

From Gordon Park to Burke airport on the Cleveland Lakefront there was also ice in the harbors and many gulls favoring the ice edges and in the E. 55th St. Marina, but nothing unusual. There were 35+ Lesser Scaup, a pair of Northern Pintail, a Gadwall and 4 Hooded Mergansers scattered along the area with Bufflehead, Canada Geese and Mallards. We saw no hawks today in this area but had a Sharp-shinned Hawk fly over the freeway in Euclid.

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We drove around Lake View Cemetery looking for the Merlin this afternoon but only found an immature Cooper's Hawk and a displaying Red-tailed Hawk plus two more adults. Song birds were conspicuous by their absence.

On the Cleveland lakefront at Gordon Park the Northern Mockingbird was, as usual, across from the exit where there is still a generous supply of rose hips. We found two more Red-tailed Hawks and two American Kestrels from Gordon to Burke Lakefront Airport along with about 50 Lesser Scaup and a few Redhead, Greater Scaup and 3 male Green-winged Teal and a Mute Swan near the police dock. As we headed back east from the Burke overlook, we saw a large, dark bird circling farther east over the lakefront. As it came closer we could see it was a sub-adult Bald Eagle with white head, pale tail with brownish markings and some mottling to the wings. This was our first eagle for this stretch of the lake, continuing the good hawk sightings we've had recently.

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Send mail to: Dick & Jean Hoffman (djhoff@ix.netcom.com)

Archived: July 23, 1999