I submit the following, partly to illustrate the diversity one can find in
the dead of winter on any ol' piece of rural property. Members of this
enlightened community will find nothing startling in the list that follows,
but non-birders probably will find such diversity surprising, if they care.

The habitat: (A list is below, for those who want to cut to the chase,
although there is nothing anyone would really want to chase.)

For those who know me, have heard me talk, or seen my posts about our
property in Muskingum County, this narrative will seem familiar. While
others try for a January 100 in Ohio, I mostly stay at home, but maintain
an awareness of wildlife on our small farm in Hopewell Township, Muskingum
County, near the western edge of the county. We sit a few kilometers (or a
few miles if you prefer) into what is usually thought of as the hill
county, the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau region of southern and eastern
Ohio. This is not the wide open heavily mined and reconstructed/reclaimed
part of Muskingum County, such as the terrain and habitat around The Wilds,
with which many of you are familiar. It's just 57 acres of average Ohio
Appalachia, comprised of 30 acres of upland pastures and successional
fields, sloping off into 27 acres of forested ravines, with plenty of edge
habitat surrounding the fields. We sit atop Flint Ridge, a little east of
the Licking County "Park", on the drainage divide between tributaries of
the Muskingum and Licking Rivers. The coal strata here are not thick, and
so they were never mined, except perhaps some small scale, low-tech
stripping of the #6 (Middle Kittanning) from the very top of the highest
elevation, a long, long time ago. There are no conifers to speak of (a
couple very stunted cedars,) and no pond or wetlands of any extent, only
some seasonal standing water and marshy ground, numerous seeps and springs.
I do have a small borrow pit a couple meters across where I dug some
fireclay a few years ago. It now resembles McElligot's Pool, with a few
cattails and tadpoles in season. The dominant soil in the fields is
clay-based, and it stays muddy and wet for days following any significant
precipitation. The water table is undisturbed from mining/blasting, and so
we have a reliable, fairly shallow well, very unusual for an upland setting
in these parts. In the olden days, 60 and more years ago, a small dairy
farm occupied this spot. Nowadays we keep 20 sheep for their wool, and four
old horses we used to ride but are now simply retired pasture pets.

This January I have seen or heard 29 species of birds here. In addition to
subsistence offered by natural sources, we feed black oil sunflower, nyger
and suet.

The list:

- Canada goose - fairly regular overflights
- ring-billed gull - half a dozen in an overflight on January 9... an inlet
of Dillon Reservoir just a couple kilometers away, as the gull flies
- red-shouldered hawk - occasionally seen and frequently heard
- great horned owl - a couple of cold, clear nights, I have heard hooting
from the northeast
- turkey vulture - a few individuals soaring overhead on a couple days
- American crows - lots of them, in typical winter mobs
- blue jay - quite a few around, both in the forest and visiting the feeders
- common grackle - On January 20 there was one on the ground under a
feeder, another single bird at the feeder January 30
- American robin - fair numbers in the forest, presumably persisting on the
various fruits, including the ubiquitous multi-flora rose hips
- eastern bluebird - Bluebirds always make me smile, particularly in
winter. Probably about a dozen (at least eight) around the property...
- northern mockingbird - I was delighted to find our first winter
mockingbird in three years on Friday, January 23, along the field edge,
near "bluebird" box #3.
- Carolina wren - the loudest small bird of the forest, heard most days
- downy woodpecker - numerous, in the forest and at the feeders
- hairy woodpecker - a few individuals, probably a half dozen
- red-bellied woodpecker - common, in the forest and at the suet
- pileated woodpecker - heard often and seen often enough in the forest
- Carolina chickadee - frequent and populous, both at feeders and in the
forest
- tufted titmouse - common and feeders and in the forest
- white-breasted nuthatch - common at feeders and in the forest
- mourning dove - half a dozen come to the feeders
- American goldfinch - abundant at the feeders, and in the weedy fields
- northern cardinal - seen frequently at our feeders, and often enough in
the forest
- house finch - abundant at the feeders, maybe our most populous species
this January
- song sparrow - common visitors to the feeders on snowy or icy days
- American tree sparrow - one or two at a time visit the ground around the
feeders, small numbers in the forest and fields
- eastern towhee - at least one male below the feeders fairly often
- dark-eyes juncos - these have been around since late October, but only
recently have become abundant on the ground around the feeders
- Euro-starlings - a few impressive flocks around, more often in smaller
groups at the feeders, or raiding the dry catfood on the back porch
- house sparrows - around the feeders and horse barn, not as numerous as
the house finches, interestingly enough

Comments - There are a few noteworthy absentees, birds we might expect:

We see white-throated and white-crown sparrows most autumn-winter seasons,
but none have been seen this January. There were more when we had the big
uncleared brush pile a few feet from the feeders following the substantial
tree fall and chaos of summer 2012 (the derecho left quite a mess here.)

On nearby wires and trees I have seen both kestrels and red-tailed hawks
this January.

I see or hear flickers around often enough, but none this past month.

Average, but always interesting.

Bob Evans
Geologist, etc.
Valhalla Acres Fiber Farm
Hopewell Township, Muskingum County

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