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Recent Sightings in
the Oxbow - 2010
Date: Sunday, February 28, 2010
Location: Western Hamilton County
Reporter: Mark Gilsdorf
Other Birders: 9 Bird Club field trip participants
The Cincinnati Bird Club field trip hit a number of spots in western
Hamilton County and south-eastern Indiana today. Beginning at the
Shawnee Lookout boat ramp, we stopped off at Lost Bridge, the Oxbow,
Hidden Valley, the Kilby Road gravel pits, Campbell Lakes Preserve, the
fields along Simonson Road, and ended the day at Fernald. While we
didnt turn up any signs of any large movement of ducks northward, we
did have a few good finds. Highlights included a group of 19 Common
Mergansers and a Double-crested Cormorant on the river at Lost Bridge,
several flocks of Horned Larks along Simonson Rd., a Rough-legged Hawk
and a male Northern Harrier at Fernald. One thing we noted was the
significant number of breeding pairs of Red-tailed Hawks along the
valley. Most of the 20 Red-tails we saw where perched in pairs.
Trip list: Canada Goose 700, Mute Swan 3, Gadwall 5,
American Black Duck 8, Mallard 200, Canvasback 6, Redhead
11, Ring-necked Duck 300, Lesser Scaup 2, Bufflehead 3,
Hooded Merganser 5, Common Merganser 19, Wild Turkey 15,
Double-crested Cormorant 1, Great Blue Heron 2, Black Vulture
6, Turkey Vulture 3, Northern Harrier 1, Coopers Hawk
1, Red-tailed Hawk 20, Rough-legged Hawk 1, American Kestrel
2, American Coot 5, Killdeer 9, Ring-billed Gull 3, Rock
Pigeon 30, Mourning Dove 20, Belted Kingfisher 1,
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3, Downy Woodpecker 1, Blue Jay 3,
American Crow 100, Horned Lark 30, Carolina Chickadee 20,
Tufted Titmouse 10, White-breasted Nuthatch 3, Golden-crowned
Kinglet 1, American Robin 15, Northern Mockingbird 1,
European Starling 1000, Song Sparrow 5, White-throated Sparrow
1, Dark-eyed Junco 2, Northern Cardinal 15,
American Goldfinch 1
Date: Saturday, February 20, 2010
Location: Oxbow, Lawrenceburg to Lost Bridge
Reporter: Jon Seymour
Other Birders: 4 Oxbow Walkers
Trip List: Canada Goose 1000, Mallard 75, Ring-necked Duck 4, Common
Goldeneye 2, Hooded Merganser 2, Common Merganser 20, Great Blue Heron
10, Bald Eagle 2, Red-tailed Hawk 2, Ring-billed Gull 8, Mourning Dove
2, Red-bellied Woodpecker 5, Downy Woodpecker 4, Northern Flicker 1,
American Crow 100, Carolina Chickadee 3, Tufted Titmouse 7, Northern
Mockingbird 1, European Starling 75, American Tree Sparrow 40, Song
Sparrow 1, Dark-eyed Junco 2, Northern Cardinal 30, Red-winged Blackbird
300
Location: Oxbow, Lawrenceburg
Reporter: Jon Seymour
A short walk in the snow revealed about 350 Canada Geese in the wildlife
crop stands in the Oxbow. Also saw 2 Turkey Vultures and a Great Blue
Heron.
Date: Saturday, February 13, 2010
Location: Lost Bridge
Reporter: Joe Kappa
Other Birders: Paul Krusling
Paul & I ran into Alan Clayborn at the Lost Bridge on Saturday and
admired the four jeuv. Bald Eagles and two Mute Swans (see Alan's post
on the message board). In addition to the Eagles, Paul and I saw a
Harrier searching the field near the bridge. We then drove to the
Shawnee boat ramp where saw an adult Bald Eagle fly overhead. On the way
home we drove over the Lost Bridge again just in time to witness a
Peregrin Falcon fly in front of our car and land at the top of a tree
next to the river. The area also produced Tree Sparrows, Song Sparrows,
Wh-Th Sparrows, Carolina Wrens, Chicadees & Titmouse, Hooded
Mergansers, Black Ducks, Mallards, Canada Geese (in the hundreds), two
Red-tailed Hawks, one Kestral and several Great Blue Herons.
Date: Saturday, February 13, 2010
Location: Lost Bridge
Reporter: Allan Claybon
There were 4 immature Bald Eagles North of Lost Bridge today between
12:30 and 1:30. In addition, someone drove by and said he saw 2 mature
eagles in a tree further South of the bridge. Managed to capture some
pics of 2 engaging as 2 more looked on in the same field of view. 2 Mute
Swans were there when I arrived, flying North soon after.
Date: Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Location: Oxbow, Lawrenceburg, Indiana
Reporter: Jonathan Frodge
Other Birders: slightly out of area
At the Oxbow, late afternoon, things picked up a bit. There's a pond or
flooded field that's accessed by driving straight in to the chain and
walking past the chain (south?) into the corn stubble fields. All
sightings were thru a scope: 10 N. Pintail, 4~ Gadwall, 200 Mallard, 50+
Black Duck, 100's Ring-billed Gulls, 6~ Herring Gulls, 1 suspicious
large,2nd year Gull, still probably Herring, 1000's Canada Geese, 25
Great Blue Heron, and NO 'white' geese (although I scanned more than
thrice through everything). The cool part was how so many birds were
concentrated on this back pond. My guess is that as water recedes it
creates nice feeding conditions in the shallows.
Date: Sunday, January 17, 2010
Location: Lost Bridge
Reporter: Jay Lehman
I headed west to the Lost Bridge area. There I found the Common
Goldeneye-8 (1 m the rest f or imm.), Ross Goose-1, Northern
Pintail-1 (m) and Common Merganser-18. There was a second smaller white
goose, but I could not get a good look at its bill. I kept its head
tucked, and when it un-tucked its head, it was actively preening and
moving too fast to see the bill well. There was a large white domestic
goose, with bright orange bill, legs and feet and bigger than the Canada
Geese. Hopefully, this was not previously reported as a Snow Goose. The
N. Pintail appeared when some shooting flushed a large flock (+300) of
Mallards and Black ducks off the river. The Common Mergansers were on
the river, south of the bridge (scope necessary). Other birds while I
was there were one adult Bald Eagle, perched in a tree north of the
bridge in back of the gravel operation, one Northern Harrier, hundreds
maybe 1000 Canada Geese and at least 20 Gadwall, a few American Coot and
at least one female Ring-necked Duck. I checked the cornfield to the
south, but there was no flock of Horned Larks, longspurs, etc. visible
while I was present.
Date: Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Location: Lost Bridge
Reporter: Joe Kappa
I arrived at the Lost Bridge last night shortly after 4:00 and found one
white phased Snow Goose swimming with approximately 1,500 Canada Geese.
The Snow Goose left the water by 4:30 and flew across the road to the
corn field. In the 90 minutes I was there I observed approximately 2,500
Canada Geese fly over from the East. The earlier geese flew into the
Western horizon, approximately 1/3 of the later arrivals landed in the
field with the Snow Goose. There were also nearly 500 Mallards and
Blacks circling the field while I was there. The lake itself had one
Bald Eagle on the ice eating a fish and one dead duck also on the ice (I
suspect from a local duck hunter).
Other observations on the river from the bridge: Common Merganser 16,
Gadwall 4, Lesser Scaup 1, Mallards 40, Great Blue heron 2
On the pond, in the air or in the field: Snow Goose 1, Canada Goose
3000-4000 (mostly fly-overs), Gadwall 5, American Black Duck 23, Mallard
900, Ring-necked Duck 14, Bufflehead 1, Common Goldeneye 18, Hooded
Merganser 1, Great blue Heron 3, Bald Eagle 1, American Coot 5, Mourning
Dove 4, Belted Kingfisher 1, Crow 14, Starling 22, Song Sparrow 14,
White-crowned Sparrow 3, Cardinal 3, Large mixed flock of Rusty
Blackbirds and Grackles 700 1000, American Goldfinch 1
Date: Sunday, January 10, 2010
Location: Elizabethtown bridge, Hamilton Co., OH
Reporter: Neill Cade
Other Birders: Kim Cade
From 4:30-5:30 PM, there were lots of geese and ducks moving to and
from the gravel pit next to the bridge. There appeared to be 1,800-2,000
Canada Gesse, 2 or 3 Cackling geese, 1 Snow Goose, and 1 Greater
White-fronted Goose. There were 3 interesting geese that left with a
large flock of Canada Geese before I had my scope set up. Binocular
views showed 2 probable Greater White-fronted Geese and 1 possible
Ross's Goose...but that's probable and possible, not certain.
There was also an interesting goose that
remained the whole time I was present. Virtually as large as the Canada
Geese, it had bright pink legs and a pink beak with a dark tip. It also
had a fairly pale belly and pale areas on the face. In some lights, the
facial area looked outlined, like the cheek patch on a Canada Goose.
There was a nice assortment of ducks onsite: Mallard, Black, Gadwall(3),
Northern Pintail(1), Rehead, Ring-necked, Greater Scaup(1), Common
Goldeneye, and Bufflehead. American Coots, 1 Pied-billed Grebe, and 3
Great Blue Herons rounded out the birds on the pond (and ice).
2+ Lapland Longspurs and 40-50 Horned Larks were also in the area.
Date: Saturday, January 9, 2010
Location: Lost Bridge Gravel Pit Pond
Reporter: Joe Kappa
Other Birders: Paul Wharton & several unknown birders
Snow Goose 1, ROSS'S GOOSE 1, CACKLING GOOSE 3, Canada Goose
2,500 , Greater White-fronted Goose 2, Redhead Duck 3, American Black
Duck 25, Common Merganser 1, Great Blue Heron 3, Ring-billed Gull 2,
Rock Pigeon 35, Mourning Dove 9, Belted Kingfisher 1, Northern Flicker 1,
Horned Lark 100+, Lapland Longspur 40, Bald Eagle 1, Harrier 1,
Coopers Hawk 1, Red-tailed Hawk 2, Kestral 1, Song Sparrow 20, Tree
Sparrow 30, Cardinal 4, Crow 23
Date: Thursday, January 7, 2010
Location: Lost Bridge
Reporter: Joe Kappa
Other Birders: 2 unknown duck hunters
Arrived at 4:30 this evening and watched thousands of geese fly from
both the gravel pit pond and from fields East of the gravel pits to the
field on the other side of the road. We estimated 10,000 plus geese
Total list identified: Canada Geese 10,000, Gr Wh-fronted Geese 2, Snow
Geese 1 (blue phase, white phase seen two days earlier), Mallard 800, Am
Black Duck 45, Am Merganser 2, Gr Blue Heron 3, Bald Eagle 1 (jeuv)
Date: Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Location: Lost Bridge
Reporter: John Hill
700+ Canada Geese, 15 Herring Gulls, 1 RedtailHawk
Date: Sunday, January 3, 2010
Location: Lost Bridge
Reporter: Joe Kappa
Greater White-fronted Goose 2; Goose 1, Canada Goose 2500,
Ring-billed Gull 20, Herring Gull 1, Mallard 500, American Black Duck 5,
Lesser Scaup 1, Red Head Duck 3, Ret-tailed Hawk 1, Tree Sparrow 15,
Date: Sunday, January 3, 2010
Location: Lost Bridge / Gravel Pits 2:30 p.m.
Reporter: Bruce Leonhardt
The gravel pit pond closest to Lawrenceburg road Was loaded with
Canadian Geese, and more continued to stop in. Spotted 1 Peregrine
Falcon along the SW bank of the river. 5 Red-tail Hawks circling above
the cornfield across the road from the beehives. 2 Mature Bald Eagles
perched near the red crane on the gravel pit property. They took flight
circling the sky as they made their way south towards the Ohio River. I
have photos in my eagle gallery for those that have my gallery web
address.
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