This afternoon we found a lot of hawks at Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area in Wyandot Co. Of 17 Northern Harriers, 5 were in or near adult male plumge. Of 12 Red-tailed Hawks, one immature near the Sportsmans' Center was a little pale. We also saw a light phase Rouh-legged Hawk, an adult Bald Eagle and 8 American Kestrels. In the owl woods we tried to minimize the effects of our presence but still saw 2 Long-eared Owls though no Northern Saw-whet Owl. We didn't stay late enough for Short-eared Owls to be about.

Waterfowl was limited by frozen and partially frozen ponds. At pond 27 most of the open water was at the east end where birds were congregating all afternoon. 11 Tundra Swans were close enough to make study of the yellow markings on their bills interesting. Canada Geese and Mallards were numerous and there were also American Black Ducks, Northern Pintail and 6 Green-winged Teal. Pond 3 had geese and bay ducks: Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck and Lesser Scaup plus one Commn Goldeneye. There were more Redheads and a Red-breasted Merganser on the upground reservoir.

Just before we left we found a Northern Shrike along CH 71 a half mile west of CH 115. We first saw it flying from roadside bushes going away from us with its white rump prominent. It then perched up in a tree allowing study of its plumage. 5 meadowlarks were around the small burned field and we counted 8 Northern Flickers, all in late afternoon.

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The Sharp-shinned Hawk remains in the neighborhood and this afternoon made a pass up our driveway going to land in a tree on the next street. Later a Cooper's Hawk flew out of Lake View Cemetery into the neighborhood south of Mayfield Road. When we got down to Wade Chapel and the Lake View ponds, we found a perched Merlin, not the first time we've seen one in that location. When we returned to the ponds from a loop around the cemetery, the Merlin was gone, but two Red-tailed Hawks were close by, together in a tree. Four hawk species seems quite good for a bit of afternoon in the suburbs.

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We pulled into our driveway this afternoon to find an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk busily plucking the carcass of a Mourning Dove. We had not seen this hawk in the neighborhood before, only an immature Cooper's Hawk. After watching what seemed a long time, we slipped into the house. A little later it was disturbed and carried the remains to several locations before we lost sight of it. The feathers still in the yard verified our identification of the prey. Yesterday, despite the cold rain, the Northern Mockingbird was at its favorite perch opposite the Gordon Park boat basin in Cleveland. The basin was gull-free and the only ducks were Mallards and about a dozen Bufflehead.

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After spending the morning in the town of Delaware, we needed to make a stop near the Delaware Reservoir, so we took the opportunity to see a place completely new to us, Delaware State Park and Delaware Wildlife Area. The water levels of the reservoir looked to be low and the waterfowl were concentrated at the southern end, near the dam. There were a lot of Canada Geese and Mallards, 30+ American Black Ducks and one Gadwall and one Ring-necked Duck visible as well as a few Ring-billed and Herring Gulls. The scrub and woods in the park looked inviting, but the the only passerines we saw were American Tree Sparrows. Further south along the Olengangy River we had seen a Great Blue Heron.

Heading east from the area it was instructive to see a Ring-necked Pheasant strutting through a grove of small trees while three hunters combed the fields on the other side of the road from this prominently posted land. A flock of 5 Eastern Bluebirds on a wire were nice to see. Red-tailed Hawks and American Kestrels were both highly visible along the highways.

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We checked on the "snow belt" to see if anything was stirring around LaDue Reservoir in Geauga Co. The water is still frozen hard enough for a little ice fishing, so there wasn't much there. Around Auburn and Bartholomew Rds. we found a flock of 8 Eastern Bluebirds and 7 American Goldfinch feeding in a weedy cornfield, so the bluebirds either survived the ice and snow or came back quickly with the warm weather.

Fairport Harbor by contrast was completely open and had a scattering of water birds: 1 Horned Grebe, a few Mallards, 2 Canvasbacks, scaup, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, 2 Hooded Mergansers and 1 Red-breasted Merganser. Gulls were sparse with no Bonaparte's and only 2 Great Black-backed.

The boat basin at Gordon Park is still ice covered and both Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls were feeding there. A Northern Mockingbird was again opposite the exit of this area.

Larry Rosche reports two Merlins in Bath this afternoon at the usual Kemmery and Banning Roads area.

Earlier this month most of our birds have been at home where an immature Cooper's Hawk keeps things lively, but we have finally been graced by the presence of an Eastern Screech-Owl. The owl called three times around midnight in late December, then at dusk on Jan. 7 it called and then appeared outside a hole in a tree across the street. It was heard again about 1:00 AM on Jan. 14, so we don't know why we miss it the rest of the time, but it still seems to be around.

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At Eastlake the barrels were up prohibiting entrance to the parking area, but with so few gulls visible we didn't stay to watch the thousands of Red-breasted Mergansers. Back in Cleveland we found rough water on the lake with few ducks at Sims Park (Euclid), but found marinas such as Wildwood and E. 55th St., the lee of the MUNY landfill (behind the whale mural) and around the police dock to harbor various puddle and diving ducks and Pied-billed Grebes. The presence of Ring-necked Ducks, Hooded Mergansers and Ruddy Ducks, all of which prefer inland areas to Lake Erie, suggested the freezing of inland water may have driven some to protected areas of Lake Erie. We wonder what might have been in the new impoundment off of Burke Airport. Other ducks present at MUNY and the police dock were Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Redhead and Common Merganser. There was also an immature Double-crested Cormorant. We were surprised at the low level of the lake, exposing objects we ! haven't seen in years.

The tree by the Inner City Yacht Club at Gordon Park is now about stripped of fruit and neither Northern Mockingbird was visible.

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Today was the annual Cleveland Christmas Bird Count, sponsored by the Kirtland Bird Club. In January we will have the official report from count compiler Tom LePage of this count on Cleveland's east side and eastern suburbs.

Our part in the count began this morning in Lake View Cemetery with Kent Starrett. We weren't sure how the cutting of part of the (formerly) major wooded area would change the count, but with the abnormally pleasant weather this year it will be hard to say. Woodpeckers were less numerous, but so were most of the common birds because of the nice weather. Sparrows seemed to be finding plenty of food in and around the cut area and here we found a very unusual count bird, a Fox Sparrow. We were all able to observe it several times and admire the handsome bright red-brown tones of this large sparrow. This is only the fifth time in 59 years that Fox Sparrow has been recorded on this count, one of them also in this area of Lake View Cemetery. We had what is now the annual Northern Mockingbird along with American Robins, Cedar Waxwings, a Brown Creeper plus a Cooper's Hawk and the Great Horned Owl.

In the afternoon we visit a variety of spots working our way from Cleveland Heights to the Cleveland Greenhouse and parts of Gordon Park for land birds. The only surprise here was finding three different Northern Mockingbirds around Gordon Park. An adult Cooper's Hawk nicely perched near the greenhouse.

November sightings of less common to highly rare gulls had not been repeated recently and our intrepid lakefront counters could only find the usual Bonaparte's, Ring-billed, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls, but at Eastlake they had a great find of Pomarine Jaeger.

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We had a nice time at Headlands Beach State Park this afternoon with Ray Hannikman where we all had a personal first December American Pipit fly by, but not much else. This morning Ray had been able to find a Purple Sandpiper by scope from Fairport Harbor, the bird feeding out on the outer breakwall, but we couldn't relocate it. There was no sign of yesterday's find of Northern Gannet. Today's highlight of course, the amazingly warm high of 70.

Back in Cleveland there were two Northern Mockingbirds in a fruiting tree near the entrance to Inner City Yacht Club at Gordon Park where there was a small build-up of Bonaparte's Gulls. Down by the police dock the barge is gone giving a clear view of the trees where the night-herons roosted, but none were visible.

Dick checked Horseshoe Lake for the pelican, but it wasn't there. There was a vocal Carolina Wren near the pines. Now that the lower lake has been drained, it is completely fenced off and inaccessible. A stop at the nature center turned up a male Red-winged Blackbird.

In hopes of Wilson's Phalarope in December we started off at Sheldon Marsh, but found no shorebirds at all. From the old Cedar Point causeway we counted 7 Killdeer, but probably missed the other shorebirds in the large expanse of flats and vegetation. At Medusa we counted 32 Killdeer and 6 Common Snipe, but again couldn't find the goodies. There were Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, American Coot and Pied-billed Grebes. Red-tailed Hawks were numerous and a Cooper's Hawk nabbed something at Sheldon where several Northern Flickers were calling.

Stopping at Lorain we saw numbers of gulls but didn't find the unusual ones or the reported gannet.

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Archived: Mar 2, 1999