Birding here and there

So, originally for the past weekend, I had planned to hit the Wilds for Golden Eagle. However, I got invited to go birding with a couple of pals, and birding with friends always takes priority over birding alone. We ended up hitting three southern reservoirs because of the amount of ice on central and northern reservoirs and lakes has concentrated the better birds to the south. Plus, there was a chance we could get Jeff's 300th Ohio bird on the trip.

We hit Caesar Creek Lake, Cowan Lake and Deer Creek Lake. It was a pretty productive trip. I added 12 year birds, including a couple of the more difficult birds to see in Ohio: Purple Finch and White-winged Scoter. The scoter turned out to be Jeff's 298th Ohio bird, as close as he would get to 300 that day. I also added Common Merganser to my Ohio year list (I had seen them in Michigan in January), as well as Killdeer, Belted Kingfisher, Red-winged Blackbird, Red-shouldered Hawk, Horned Grebe, Northern Shoveler (for Ohio, had it in New Mexico in January), Barred Owl, Northern Pintail and White-throated Sparrow. We dipped on birds others reported at the same locations that day, such as Cackling Goose and Greater White-fronted Goose, but I may be able to swing by a good spot on my way back from checking out a project area for work and pick up the Greater White-fronted Goose tomorrow.

Yesterday was the first nice day of the spring (didn't last), so I took advantage of the weather and hit Greenlawn Cemetery at lunch. I missed the Merlin yet again, but did pick up Pine Siskin for the year list. I also had Pine Warbler, which made me think that if only a Pine Grosbeak would show up, I'd have a fine pine trifecta. Alas, it was not to be.