We generally use this space to focus on birds that we commonly see in and around Logan County, especially those at our backyard feeders. But each year, millions of birds trek across the entire northern hemisphere in their annual migration to warmer climes with winter fast approaching the upper latitudes. The autumnal mass bird migration in the Heartland has begun.
CornellLab’s BirdCast says that 1,831,500 birds crossed Logan County in the overnight hours of Sept. 26 and 27, averaging about 30 miles per hour, flying at altitudes of up to 10,000-feet.
Almost 17 million birds crossed the entire state that night. We can expect to have about 400 million birds fly over the Buckeye State on their way south through the end of October. They fly overnight to take advantage of cooler temperatures, calmer winds and fewer predators. The commute can continue through November, based upon the availability of local food sources.
One particular family of birds that are making their way south over Logan County this week are the warblers, including the Magnolia, Wilson’s black-throated green, bay-breasted, and blackburnian, joining dozens of other species such as the Eastern wood-pewee, the American redstart and the semipalmated plover, all of which are passers-by to Logan County.
Keep your eye out as some of these out-of-towners may stop by your bird feeder or pond for a free meal as they load up for the arduous trip south. This is also the time of year when rare or “accidental” birds often make their way into Ohio.
There have been two unconfirmed sightings of a Laughing gull at Indian Lake and two more, also unconfirmed, at Hoover Nature Preserve in Delaware County. Rare birds sightings in Ohio tracked by a website called eBird.org, which records (and verifies) sightings of species even experienced local birders have never heard of, i.e. the Eurasian Collared-dove and the Greater scaup.
Should you see a rare or “accidental” bird in Logan County – areas around Indian Lake are hotspots for them – the Ohio Ornithological Society (ohiobirds.org) wants to know about it. Grab a photo or video of the feathered visitor with your phone (pics go a long way toward confirmation) and make note the date, time and place you saw before submitting it to the O.O.S.
For you local birders, the keep an eye out for the Laughing gull, which has been reportedly sighted at Indian Lake and would certainly qualify as a very rare visitor to this area. The Laughing gull has an unmistakable loud, high-pitched call that sounds like human laughter. Field marks include a prominent all-black head, a showy red bill, gray wings with black tips and a white underbelly.
