More dreary day birding

Another cloudy, chilly, misty day.

Outside in the yard this morning, I heard Pine Siskins and looked up to see 3 flying from a sweetgum tree in the neighbor's yard. FOS (First Of Season) for me. Since I had the day off and the birds seemed to be moving, I decided to head to East Fork State Park.

I arrived at about 11 am at the beach. Scanning the gulls, I was able to pick out 5 Herring Gulls. Many people would probably not think that much of five Herring Gulls, however in SW Ohio they are not often encountered in this number. One was a very dark juvenile bird, one was an adult, and the other 3 were in various stages of plumage.

Adult Herring Gull with Ring-billeds

The gulls starting vocalizing and took flight. I saw an Osprey, but they usually don't react much to them. I then looked over my head and saw this immature Bald Eagle flying in from behind.

Immature Bald Eagle

I then decided to take a walk in the woods up on the hill from the beach. The land birds were moving away from the wind. I had a mixed flock of Cedar Waxwing, many Black-throated Green Warblers, Yellow-rumped warblers, a Common Yellowthroat and one Nashville Warbler.

Moving on to the ponds, I spotted this male Wood Duck with some females. He was displaying to one.

I continued on to find my FOS White-throated Sparrows. I missed their call.

White-throated Sparrow

The Blue Jays were raising a ruckus in the trees ahead, and I later found out why. A Barred Owl took flight in front of me heading for cover from the harassing jays.

Before leaving the park, I decided to check the beach/lake to see if anything new came in. I am glad I did as I quickly spotted my FOS Bonaparte's Gull. It was constantly pruning and looked kinda rugged. Must have just migrated in.

Winter plumage Bonaparte's Gull