Shawnee State Forest in the spring

Last Saturday's Avid Birders trip was to Shawnee State Forest in Scioto County, with a few visits to places in Adams county afterwards.

Overlooking the Ohio River from Shawnee State Forest.

Shawnee State Forest, or just "Shawnee" for short, is a favorite place for many Ohio birders for early spring migrants. This is a great place to tick off the arriving warbler wave, and Saturday was no exception, with 20 species of warblers sighted or heard by the group (I myself only had 17 species in Shawnee, with an additional species sighted in Adams County). Highlights included great views of Broad-winged Hawks, Orchard Oriole, Scarlet Tanagers, White-eyed Vieroand of course, the warblers. The best warbler of the day was an obliging Cerulean Warbler, who came down and foraged just above eye level for us (on a side note, after getting back and taking Henry the Pug for his walk, I had even better looks at a Cerulean Warbler in Walhalla Ravine!). Shawnee is gorgeous in the spring, with all the dogwoods and redbuds blooming, imparting a palette of pastel whites, pinks and greens to the landscape - a perfect background to the boldly colored birds! I took a lot of photos, but only a few really came out. The best ones are below.

Cerulean Warbler

Worm-eating Warbler, living up to its name

Prairie Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

In all, I saw 81 species on Saturday, a pretty awesome day of birding! I added 30 new birds for the year, so I'm now at 191 species for the year and 168 for Ohio. My first of year birds from Saturday include (species followed by location of first sighting):

Green Heron (Shawnee Marina [SM])
Broad-Winged Hawk (Shawnee State Forest [SSF])
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (SSF)
Great Crested Flycatcher (Edge of Appalachia Preserve, Adams County [EA])
White-eyed Vireo (SSF)
Warbling Vireo (Pike County)
Red-eyed Vireo (SSF)
Bank Swallow (SM)
Cliff Swallow (Pike County)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (SSF)
Gray-cheeked Thrush (Walhalla)
Wood Thrush (SSF)
Gray Catbird (EA)
Blue-winged Warbler (SSF)
Northern Parula (SSF)
Blackburnian Warbler (SSF)
Prairie Warbler (SSF)
Cerulean Warbler (SSF)
Black-and-white Warbler (SSF)
American Redstart (SSF)
Worm-eating Warbler (SSF)
Ovenbird (SSF)
Kentucky Warbler (SSF)
Common Yellowthroat (EA)
Hooded Warbler (SSF)
Yellow-breasted Chat (SSF)
Scarlet Tanager (SSF)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (SSF)
Indigo Bunting (SSF)
Orchard Oriole (SM)

Awesome birding day on Saturday, 4/28/07

I went down to southern Ohio with my birding group, the Avid Birders, on Saturday. We left Columbus at 5:30am and started birding at the marina/golf course just outside Shawnee State Forest in Scioto County. This was my first birding trip to this location, which is a forested set of Appalachian foothill-type ridges.

I picked up a life bird on this trip, Yellow-Throated Vireo (#346), which isn't actually all that rare but is one of those birds that just eludes you for a while. I'm sure now that I've seen one, I will now see them everywhere, like I did with Blue-Headed Vireo last year. I also picked up a state bird, American Bittern, at a little wetland northwest of the Pickaway County Airport on the way back.

I had 18 species of warbler, pretty good list. I only heard Black-throated Greens, Ovenbirds, and Northern Parulas. In addition, I missed a couple warblers that others saw: Golden-winged Warbler (@#$%%@#!!!) and Yellow-breasted Chat.

Besides the birds, we had a good day for wildflowers and reptiles, too. After the main group split up, 7 of us went over to a nature preserve in Adams county which features lots of rare plants, like Indian paintbrush and Pink Lady's Slipper orchids, and I saw a fence lizard and the snake guy in the group found us a couple of Black King Snakes, which were pretty friendly. I took a couple pictures on my camera phone.

Pink Lady's Slipper

Black King Snake

In all, I had 71 species and birded for about 12 hours (including drive time). I added 31 species to my year list and 34 to my state year list, for totals of 165 for the year and 160 for Ohio.

Here's my list for the day (year birds in bold, Ohio year birds in italics):

Wood Duck	2
Blue-winged Teal	2
Ring-necked Pheasant	1
American Bittern	1
Great Blue Heron	1
Turkey Vulture	12
Broad-winged Hawk	2
Red-tailed Hawk	1
Killdeer	1
Greater Yellowlegs	2
Lesser Yellowlegs	5
Solitary Sandpiper	1
Wilson's Snipe	5
Chimney Swift	2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird	1
Red-bellied Woodpecker	1
Downy Woodpecker	1
Northern Flicker	1
Pileated Woodpecker	1
Eastern Phoebe	2
White-eyed Vireo	2
Yellow-throated Vireo	1
Red-eyed Vireo	10
Blue Jay	2
American Crow	1
Horned Lark	10
Purple Martin	10
Tree Swallow	3
Northern Rough-winged Swallow	1
Barn Swallow	6
Carolina Chickadee	2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	3
Wood Thrush	3
American Robin	10
Gray Catbird	1
Brown Thrasher	1
European Starling	X
Blue-winged Warbler	11
Northern Parula	2
Yellow Warbler	2
Chestnut-sided Warbler	3
Yellow-rumped Warbler	1
Black-throated Green Warbler	6
Blackburnian Warbler	1
Yellow-throated Warbler	2
Pine Warbler	3
Prairie Warbler	6
Cerulean Warbler	1
Black-and-white Warbler	1
American Redstart	15
Worm-eating Warbler	1
Ovenbird	12
Louisiana Waterthrush	1
Kentucky Warbler	1
Hooded Warbler	2
Scarlet Tanager	5
Eastern Towhee	15
Chipping Sparrow	1
Song Sparrow	2
White-throated Sparrow	1
White-crowned Sparrow	1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak	1
Blue Grosbeak	1
Indigo Bunting	1
Red-winged Blackbird	X
Eastern Meadowlark	1
Common Grackle	X
Brown-headed Cowbird	2
Orchard Oriole	2
Baltimore Oriole	1
American Goldfinch	2