JAHAYES@MIAMIU.BITNET (09/20/90)
I went for a walk day before yesterday in Hueston Woods State Park, in Preble County, figuring that on a weekday I would pretty much have the place to myself. The birding was excellent. Here's a more or less chronological account. On the five-mile drive up there from Oxford, Ohio, I saw one lonely Eastern Meadowlark on a fence, and one field later, four bluebirds on a phone wire. Mourning Doves are less apparent than they were a couple of weeks ago before hunting season began in Indiana. I might almost call them "crafty" -- almost :-). Still, I saw a handful on the way up. Startled up four Turkey Vultures who were considering a flattened raccoon within the park boundary. After parking and letting the dog go bounding off, I walked ten feet into the woods and saw, in rapid succession, a YelLow-Bellied Sapsucker, a Hairy Woodpecker, and a Red-Bellied Woodpecker. Chickadees and Titmice were numerous, and the yank-yank of the White-Breasted Nuthatches was also commonly heard (and seen). A bit further in the woods, I saw two Downy Woodpeckers squabbling over something and heard the characteristic drumming of a Pileated Woodpecker. PW's were heard three times, but never spotted on this trip :-(. There's a little marsh down by Acton Lake, which forms the center of the park. I eased up on it just in time to flush four Great Blue Herons and two Great Egrets, a Belted Kingfisher, and three Mallards. A Song Sparrow ignored me and continued to twitter. A pair of Marsh Wrens noticed me and came over to give me a piece of their collective mind. I could hear lots of peeps in the trees above the marsh but they were too high in the canopy to see, so I circled up the bluff so I could look down on them. After twenty minutes of sitting quietly, a flock of warblers came by and I was able to positively identify a Canada, Magnolia, Yellow-Throated (2), Yellow-Rumped, and Black- and-White warbler; there were about thirty unidentifiable (by me, at least!) LGJs (little green jobs). Working over to a power cut I heard several Bobwhites calling and saw a Broad-Winged Hawk swoop away as I came into view. On the loop back to my truck I saw another clutch of warblers and identified a Yellow-Throated, Mourning, and a probable Black-Throated Blue. My dog had a good time, too, flushing several deer and treeing (though not seeing) a woodchuck....I didn't know they could climb trees, but apparently they can when they have sufficient provocation. None of this is particularly fascinating, but it was such a nice day and so pleasant to be wandering in the woods for the morning. I hope you folks get the opportunity to do so, too. Josh Hayes, Zoology Department, Miami University, Oxford OH 45056 voice: 513-529-1679 fax: 513-529-6900 jahayes@miamiu.bitnet, or jahayes@miamiu.acs.muohio.edu And what do you think you'll do, all alone with an old fish?