PASSENGER PIGEON. Program: An Accidental Big year. facebook CINCINNATI BIRD CLUB to head up the US operations of the biotechnology

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1 CINCINNATI BIRD CLUB PASSENGER PIGEON VOLUME 53, ISSUE 4 APRIL 2017 Program: An Accidental Big year. Date: Thursday, April 20, 2017 at 7:00 pm Location: Sharon Centre in Sharon Woods. Speaker: Neil Hayward In 2013 Boston birder Neil Hayward suffered a devastating bout of the Big Year. The temporary insanity resulted in almost 250,000 miles of travel, taking him to the remote corners of this continent: Barrow in the frozen north; the Dry Tortugas, dangling off the Florida Keys to the south; Newfoundland, poking out to the east; and tiny Adak, adrift in the volcanic Aleutian chain of the west. And a place they call New Jersey. By the year's end, he'd netted 749 species of bird and set a new ABA Big Year record. In this talk, Neil will take a Big Year and apply cutting-edge high pressure technology and condense it into a Big facebook The Cincinnati Bird Club is now on facebook at Hour. Come hear about exotic birds, remote places, volcanoes, polar bears, Aleutian plumbing and more! Government health warning: Big Years can be contagious. High pressure technology not previously tested. Bio: Neil Hayward grew up near Oxford, England, where, at a young age, he first became obsessed with birds. After a PhD in genetics at Cambridge University he moved (permanently) to the US in cincinnatibirdclub Like our page and follow it for information about upcoming meetings, 2005 to head up the US operations of the biotechnology company Abcam. He left in 2011 to pursue a consulting career as owner of Cambridge Blue Consulting. Neil is currently the Field Trip Coordinator and a director of the Brookline Bird Club. He is the author of Lost Among the Birds (Bloomsbury, June 2016), a memoir of his accidental big year. He lives in Cambridge, MA with his wife Gerri, son Henry and two cats, Sally and Khiva. field trips and other bird club information. SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST Meeting Field Trips Field Trip Notes Quiz Birds Yard Birds INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Field Trip: Middle Creek Park Field Trip: Hueston Woods State Park Field Trip Notes: East Fork State Park Field Trip Notes: Brookville Calendar 5 Correction 5 March Quiz Bird 6 April Quiz Bird 6 Yard Birds 7 Yard Birds 8 Raptor Open House

2 PAGE 2 Field trip: Middle Creek Park PASSENGER PIGEON Theme: Spring Migration and Woodland Breeding Birds Location: Middle Creek Park, Burlington, Kentucky Time & Date: 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 26 Meet at: The parking lot at Middle Creek Park, off of Kentucky State Route 18, near the Dinsmore Homestead. The address is 5700 Burlington Pike, Burlington, KY Check it out on google maps/google earth. The parking lot is easy to find! Trip Leader: Ann Oliver dition to being a good spot for catching spring migrants on their way north. Late April is an excellent time to find Worm-eating Warbler, Yellowthroated Warbler, American Redstarts, Scarlet Tanager, and a number of other species as they set up on territory and begin breeding and nesting activity. Since Boone County Cliffs is currently closed, the next best stop is Middle Creek Park. This will be a walking trip: Middle Creek Park has unpaved trails ranging from "moderate" to "difficult," according to their website. ( departments/parks/ middle_creek_park.aspx), so wear "sensible shoes" as they say! There should be good opportunities for those interested in photography as well as those who want to get an opportunity Join Ann Oliver for this mid-week trip to an excellent natural area in Northern Kentucky. Middle Creek Park is a 230-acre forested natural area that hosts a number of species of breeding woodland birds, including warblers, vireos, flycatchers and cuckoos, in adto work on their listening and song-id skills. Middle Creek Park is also an excellent area for wild flowers, and hopefully some good butterflies and other insects will be out and about for viewing! Ann Oliver is a long-time conservationist and birder, a past president of the Cincinnati Bird Club, and a volunteer for a number of local and state organizations. Her interests range from natural history to travel to Flamenco dancing, and she and her husband are avid music fans and supporters of local and regional musicians and artists. You will never run out of things to talk about when you're birding with Ann! We're pleased to have Ann as a leader of this mid-week trip to Middle Creek Park. ~Mike Busam Field Trips Field trip: Hueston Woods State Park Theme: Spring Migration Location: Hueston Woods State Park Time & Date: 8:00.am Saturday, April 29 Meet at: Hueston Woods State Park, Park Office, near the marina and nature center. Check it out on google maps. Information and directions can be found on Hueston Woods web site. Trip Leader: Sam Fitton Hueston Woods State Park needs little to no introduction to Cincinnati area birders, but if you're new to town or haven't had a chance to check it out, this roughly 3,000 acre park built around Acton Lake (which was created by damming Four Mile Creek) attracts a variety of migrating and breeding birds. The park straddles the Butler County and Preble County lines. In addition to the open water habitat of Acton Lake, there are large wooded areas, including Hueston Woods State Nature Preserve, a 200-acre virgin forest located on the south side of Acton Lake. The shallow waters near the field trip meeting spot, where Little Four Mile Creek enters Acton Lake, attract a variety of waders, dabbling ducks, and other waterfowl, and shorebirds if conditions are right. Pine Warbler, Prairie Warbler, ought to be easy to find; possibly gulls, terns, Osprey, Bald Eagle, and both vulture species will be found as well. This is also an excellent place to find Pileated Woodpecker. Other highlights will include wildflowers and, if the weather cooperates, butterflies and other insects. This field trip will involve some driving to different viewing spots, as well as hiking over unpaved trails. We've been eager to have Sam Fitton lead a Bird Club field trip, and are happy to have him available to lead a trip to one of Sam's "local patches." Originally from Hamilton, Sam now lives near Oxford. As a professional field biologist, Sam has worked for the Bureau of Land Management, and has volunteered as a habitat surveyor with the Three Valley Conservation Trust. (Continued on page 3)

3 VOLUME 53, ISSUE 4 (Continued from page 2) Sam was an important advocate on behalf of the effort to preserve the grassland habitat at the Voice of America Park. He has personally mowed and helped clear honeysuckle patches at Gilmore Ponds in an effort to open up habitat for edge-loving birds and to aid the bird banding migration station at the preserve. Additionally, Sam is an experienced bird bander and an excellent and knowledgeable field birder. We are happy to introduce Sam to the PAGE 3 Cincinnati birding community, and look forward to this Hueston Woods field trip. ~Mike Busam Field Trips Field Trip Notes: East fork state park On Saturday, March 25, 2017 twenty eight people showed up for the Cincinnati Bird Club/Ohio Audubon Society field trip to East Fork State Park. We started the trip at the beach with a Common Loon and several species of ducks. While we were at the beach two Bald Eagles and several Tree Swallows flew over. Swallows are sure sign that spring is here and more migrants will follow. We left the beach and explored areas on the south side of the lake. A Brown Thrasher was proclaiming its territory by belting out the songs of other birds in rapid succession and Field Sparrows were singing their ping pong ball songs. When we arrived at the twin ponds we scared out a pair of Wood Ducks, more summer residents that had arrived. We ended the morning with a stunning male Purple Finch feeding high in the top of a tree. Ebird check lists can be found here: East Fork SP--South Beach East Fork SP--South Side Number of Species 38 Canada Goose 35, Wood Duck 2, Northern Shoveler 4, Lesser Scaup 18, Bufflehead 8, Common Merganser 1, Common Loon 1, Pied-billed Grebe 6, Great Blue Heron 3, Turkey Vulture 18, Sharp-shinned/Cooper's Hawk 1, Bald Eagle 3, Red-shouldered Hawk 2, Red-tailed Hawk 1, American Coot 200, Killdeer 6, Bonaparte's Gull 20, Ring-billed Gull 50, Northern Flicker 2, Pileated Woodpecker 1, Blue Jay 20, American Crow 6, Tree Swallow 5, Carolina Chickadee 2, Tufted Tit- mouse 9, Golden-crowned Kinglet 1, Eastern Bluebird 1, American Robin 8, Brown Thrasher 1, Yellow-rumped Warbler 2, Field Sparrow 15, Darkeyed Junco 12, Song Sparrow 2, Swamp Sparrow 2, Eastern Towhee 5, Northern Cardinal 12, Common Grackle 40, Purple Finch 1 Wood Duck found on the East Fork trip. Photo by Dennis Meyers

4 PAGE 4 Field Trip Notes: brookville lake PASSENGER PIGEON On Sunday, March 26 th the Bird Club had a field trip to Brookville Lake. A rainy morning kept many away, but we (Joe Bens, Steve Bobonick, Dave Helm, and Jay and Jack Stenger) were rewarded with sun later in the day. Brookville Lake had few ducks, but Common Loons were present at most stops. Temperate songbird migration was evident and highlighted by good looks at a Vesper Sparrow along the roadside in Mounds State Park. At our traditional gourmet-gas-station-friedchicken stop in Liberty, Indiana, we were successful in finding one Eurasian -collared Dove. On our way back to Cincinnati we stopped at Hueston Woods State Park, which was slow, but we had a group of three Horned Grebes swim within a stone s throw of the shore. This was particularly neat because one was nearly in breeding plumage, one was in winter plumage, and one was transitioning between the two. We also stopped at Fernald Preserve s Lodge Pond and added Gadwall and wigeon to our day s list. On the day we saw 79 species. Below is a cumulative list of our 16 ebird checklists corresponding to each stop. It was a great day to be out, especially with such good company. morant 4, Great Blue Heron 89, Black Vulture 211, Turkey Vulture 230, Cooper's Hawk 1, Bald Eagle 4, Redtailed Hawk 4, American Coot 95, Killdeer 9, Wilson's Snipe 1, Bonaparte's Gull 18, Ring-billed Gull 35, Rock Pigeon 11, Eurasian Collared- Dove 1, Mourning Dove 45, Barred Owl 1, Belted Kingfisher 1, Redbellied Woodpecker 6, Downy Woodpecker 2, Hairy Woodpecker 3, Northern Flicker 10, Pileated Woodpecker 1, American Kestrel 3, Eastern Phoebe 6, Blue Jay 10,American Crow 30, Horned Lark 23, Northern Roughwinged Swallow 3, Tree Swallow 135, Carolina Chickadee 13, Tufted Titmouse 13, White-breasted Nuthatch 2, Brown Creeper 1, Carolina Wren 6, Golden-crowned Kinglet 5, Eastern Bluebird 9, American Robin 161, Brown Thrasher 6, Northern Mockingbird 1, European Starling 195, American Pipit 1, Louisiana Waterthrush 2, Yellow-rumped Warbler 2, Chipping Sparrow 19, Field Sparrow 18, Fox Sparrow 1, Dark-eyed Junco 58, White-throated Sparrow 12, Vesper Sparrow 1, Savannah Sparrow 4, Song Sparrow 21, Eastern Towhee 24, Northern Cardinal 42, Red-winged Blackbird 36, Eastern Meadowlark 5, Common Grackle 83, Brown-headed Cowbird 13, House Finch 4,American Goldfinch 3, House Sparrow 51 ~Jack Stenger President Canada Goose 90, Mute Swan 2, Wood Duck 4, Gadwall 68, American Wigeon 2, Mallard 5, Blue-winged Teal 2, Northern Shoveler 11, Redhead 4, Ring-necked Duck 48, Lesser Scaup 24, Greater/Lesser Scaup 2, Bufflehead 3, Red-breasted Merganser 14, duck sp. 20, Wild Turkey 2, Common Loon 18, Pied-billed Grebe 3, Horned Grebe 7, Double-crested Cor- Horned Grebes. Photo by Jack Stenger

5 VOLUME 53, ISSUE 4 PAGE 5 Birding Calendar APRIL 2017 April 8...Cincinnati Nature Center Bird Walk. CNC April 20 Program. An accidental Big Year April 22...Cincinnati Nature Center Bird Walk. CNC April 22...Oxbow Field Trip. April 26...Field Trip. Middle Creek Park April 29...Field Trip. Hueston Woods State Park April 30...Raptor Inc. Open House Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat The Oxbow Birdathon is coming up on May 12 and 13. So get your team together and start planning. Details can be found on the Oxbow web site. UP AND COMING EVENTS Correction: Last month this Red-breasted Nuthatch was miss labeled as a Whitebreasted Nuthatch. Had this been a quiz bird I would have failed. Red-breasted Nuthatch photo by Dennis Meyers.

6 PAGE 6 March Bird Quiz answer Thanks to Joe Bens for providing the photo for last month s quiz bird. All respondents correctly identified it as a warbler due to its dainty stature, yellow plumage, and thin bill. After that, there s not much to say about it. It is non-descript with no obvious field Orange-crowned Warber Photo by Joe Bens April Quiz bird Rules Rules: Anybody is welcome and all are encouraged to participate. However, only paying members (it s only $12 per year) are eligible for prizes and unadulterated bragging rights. To participate send your answers to me (jackstenger@gmail.com) by April 25. All responses must be the official common English names used by the American Ornithologists Union check-list (Link). This means they must be correctly spelled, capitalized, and hyphenated or else they are counted as wrong. Mind your plovers and quails. Also include any comments you have about the quiz bird, such as how you arrived at your ID, or how you felt about the picture. Venting is welcome. Any bird that is on the state list for Ohio, Indiana, or Kentucky is fair game. Whoever has the highest number of correct answers by the end of marks: no wingbars, no tail spots, no prominent face markings. Only five warblers match these criteria: Tennessee, Orange-crowned, Mourning, Connecticut, and Common Yellowthroat. The bright yellow undertail coverts that contrast with the drab olive-yellow of the rest of the underparts eliminates all but Orange- Crowned. Tennessee Warblers have white undertail coverts. The other species would have yellow undertail coverts too, however they would be similar in color to the rest of the underparts, or the throat in the case of Common Yellowthroat. This identification can be confirmed by the ever-soslightly visible incomplete eye-ring typical of orange-crowned. the Bird Club season (May) wins. Any public discussion of quiz birds will result in a trap door opening up beneath the violator. Prize: To be determined. Answers: I will post the answer with a brief analysis in the next Bird Club newsletter. This will include a list of PASSENGER PIGEON Joe took this picture of an Orangecrowned Warbler in the Florida panhandle in January Dave Helm, Bill Hutchison, John Leon, Bill Stanley are this month s correct respondents. Also, kudos to James Lundberg who correctly responded to last month s challenging quiz along with an excellent description. I errored in overlooking his . ~Jack Stenger President all those who guessed correctly. Don t worry, wrong guesses will not be published, so fire away: it s better to get a CBC quiz wrong than to have never participated. I think Alexander Wilson said that. ~Jack Stenger President

7 VOLUME 53, ISSUE 4 Patch and Yard Birds PAGE 7 Northern Cardinal, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Whitebreasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Dark -eyed Junco, Cooper s Hawk, Tufted Titmouse and Canada Geese Photos by Bob Ireton.

8 PAGE 8 Patch and Yard Birds PASSENGER PIGEON American Pipit, Rusty Blackbird, Redhead, Redheaded Woodpecker, Green-winged Teal and Bluewinged Teal. Photos by Dennis Meyers Your photos can appear in the Passenger Pigeon too. If you have bird photos that you want to share send them to the Passenger Pigeon Editor at tyrannus58@gmail.com

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10 CINCINNATI BIRD CLUB c/o Newsletter Editor 3491 Bootjack Corner Rd Williamsburg, Ohio President Jack Stenger: Program Chair Brian Wulker: Treasurer Lois Shadix: Field Trips Mike Busam: Newsletter Editor Bill Stanley: Park VIP John Stewart: WE RE ON THE WEB! CINCINNATI BIRD CLUB FACEBOOK Bird Club Membership Name Address Phone Individual $12.00 Family $15.00 Student (under 18) FREE Make your check payable to Cincinnati Bird Club, and mail to our Treasurer: Lois Shadix 2928 Saddleback Dr, Cincinnati, OH DUES: IF YOU HAVEN T SENT IN YOUR DUES YET FOR THE SEPTEMBER MAY 2017 BIRDING SEASON, PLEASE FILL OUT THE FORM AND MAIL IT IN ALONG WITH YOUR MEMBERSHIP FEES