This afternoon a warbler was chipping in our Cleveland Heights yard, but at the store two Barn Swallows were perched on a wire and being fed by another, a reminder of the overlap of breeding and migration. Our trumpet creeper continues to bloom, though not as much as it did earlier. Yesterday we saw a hummingbird there for the first time in nearly a week.

The last two nights we have seen small groups of Common Nighthawks moving past the house or nearby. Last night they were moving just following a rain shower with storm clouds still moving across the sky near dusk.

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After non-birding business in Toledo, we returned along SR 2 this afternoon and drove back into Metzger where we found phragmites and purple loosestrife abundant near shore and "the forest", after inundation, with dead or dying cottonwoods, but healthy looking willows. Best birds were two adult and 9 juvenile Common Moorhens. We saw very little driving back at Ottawa NWR or out to the beach at Magee Marsh.

At Medusa Marsh the water was somewhat replenished by rain but the shorebirds and egrets still were down from Aug. 1. New was one Black-bellied Plover with very little black.

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The shorebirds at Sheldon Marsh are down in both numbers and species. Especially missed were the reported Wilson's Phalaropes. Though 100 Bonaparte's Gulls were reported, we found only one off shore, but that was a juvenile bird. There is a nice collection of swallows perching on wires along the flats.

As expected, the water is down at Medusa, a big change in two days. The egrets and yellowlegs are concentrated into an impressive looking group with 159 Great Egrets and 13 Snowy Egrets counted this afternoon. But none of the unusual shorebird species were there and we only saw 1 Short-billed Dowitcher and 2 Stilt Sandpipers. Hopefully there will be rain tomorrow to maintain this good location.

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A quick check of the Cleveland Lakefront at the E. 55th St. Marina, Gordon Park and Wildwood Park revealed no new arrivals, but we did see scattered signs of Saturday's storms in the form of snapped off small trees and branches. At Gordon Park there were more than 100 Bank Swallows, in the air, perching on wires in the impoundment and perching on the outer wall of the marina. And Yellow Warblers are still moving along the lake.

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Always drawn by reports of shorebirds, we greeted the new weather front with a trip to Medusa Marsh in Erie Co. The reported marsh birds were present: 100+ Great Egrets, 9 Snowy Egrets, Pied-billed Grebe (at least 10 large juveniles), American Coot, Common Moorhen. Also exciting were an adult and immature Bald Eagle and an Osprey perched along Sandusky Bay.

The shorebirds were excellent. A few were in an area along the tracks east of Barrett Road [btw. Bayview & US 6], but most were in an extensive area on the west side. There were good numbers [our estimates undoubtedly low] of Greater Yellowlegs (~30), Lesser Yellowlegs (60-80), Pectoral Sandpiper (~60), Stilt Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher and of course Killdeer. There were also Semipalmated Plover and Semipalmated Sandpiper and 2 Solitary Sandpipers. Shorebird highlights were a mottled, molting American Golden-Plover that was still black to the vent; a big, gray Willet and a fading Red Knot. Vic Fazio also reported big numbers at Sheldon Marsh where he had Wilson's Phalaropes.

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have continued to be of interest in our Cleveland Heights yard. The adult female began driving off others from feeding at the trumpet creeper, one day at least two different ones. Now we have a resident that is duskier on the underparts with a more pronounced white "collar". All this without even a feeder.

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We visited the extensive mudflats at Conneaut harbor this afternoon and saw a selection of adult plumaged shorebirds: 4 Semipalmated Plover, 2 Greater and 2 Lesser Yellowlegs, ~10 Semipalmated Sandpipers, ~20 Least Sandpipers, 2 Pectoral Sandpipers and 16 Short-billed Dowitchers. The dowitchers were showing a few gray feathers in the coverts as their molt progresses. It was good to see these adults before the brighter juveniles begin to appear. Summering Killdeer (~40) and Spotted Sandpipers (10) were among them. There were at least 8 Caspian Terns and a few each Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls on the flats along with about 400 Ring-billed Gulls.

Perhaps most impressive on the mudflats was the "roost" of about 300 Bank Swallows out near the breakwall. We were also reminded that July on the lakefront means the movement of Yellow Warblers and we saw and heard several, one group of three moving overhead.

Back at our Cleveland Heights yard, an adult female Ruby-throated Hummingbird has been in residence the last four days feeding at the trumpet creeper. As the flowers only set pods when pollinated by hummingbirds (in our experience), the five pods present indicate that there has been earlier activity here.

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

Archived: Sep 6, 1999