Bob,

I am sure that there are thousands of photos better than the 300 that I
took of the Limpkin at Ottawa NWR, Ohio. Looking over some of them, I have
images of perhaps a half-dozen different molluscs that it ate while I was
observing it. To me, they all appear to be shaped like the snail on this
page on the iNaturalist website:

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/82170-Pleuroceridae

I also have photos of the Limpkin probing into two different areas for
these snails, and hammering on them on the ice (in one photo the snail is
seen flying away after being whacked). Also, at one point, the Limpkin
consumed a chunk of ice, also by whacking it on the icy surface of the
pond.

Allen T. Chartier
Inkster, Michigan
Email: [log in to unmask]
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mihummingbirdguy/collections/
Website: www.amazilia.net
Blog: http://mihummingbirdguy.blogspot.com/




On Mon, Dec 9, 2019 at 8:20 PM robert lane <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> To Ohio Birders,
>
> On Saturday, I did the posting below to Florida BRDBRAINS. I then received
> the following questions from an interested individual in Florida. If anyone
> can answer any of his questions, feel free to respond to him and share what
> you know.
>
> Bob Lane
>
> -------- Forwarded message --------
> From: DANA BRYAN <[log in to unmask]>
> To: robert lane <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Saturday, December 7, 2019, 6:50 PM -0500
> Subject: Re: [BRDBRAIN] Limpkin Continues In Northern Ohio
>
> Hi, Bob!  I am the author of the BNA limpkin account and have some
> questions about the Ohio bird(s).  Do you know of a contact up there who
> can tell me exactly what species the bird has been eating.  The account
> says freshwater snails; if so, what species?  The prey in the video I saw
> looked like a mussel (but I'm not sure), so I would like to know whether
> there are mussels where it has been hanging out.  Are there photos from the
> various places it has been seen to try to figure out if it is all the same
> individual?  Has anybody heard it calling?  Stuff like that...  Thanks -
> DCB
>
> Mr. Dana C. Bryan
> 2894 Hadley Road
> Tallahassee, FL 32309
> h) 850-668-3346
> c) 850-339-4257
>
> Figuring things out with science is always better than making stuff up.
>
> On December 7, 2019 at 4:49 PM robert lane <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> As of this morning, the Limpkin previously reported to BRDBRAINS back on
> August 26th, appears to still be enjoying its visit to northwestern Ohio at
> The Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. With the thirty degree temperatures,
> the healthy looking mysterious visitor from the south seems to have figured
> out how to retrieve the large freshwater snails from along the edge of the
> ice, sometimes standing in the snow!  Florida birders have to be amused
> to know that one of there own, the Limpkin, has been wandering around
> northern Ohio since early July, the past five months. Obviously Ohio's
> first Limpkin record, it was first detected on July 6 in Wayne County in
> northeast Ohio, as a one day wonder, and then sporadically found at several
> locations, seemingly working its way, north and west. At the present site
> on the south edge of Lake Erie, the Limpkin can sometimes be seen on the
> freshwater ponds eating the numerous freshwater snails. To anyone who has
> visited The Biggest Week In American Birding in May, you know right where
> the Limpkin is. The big question, has it been the same Limpkin being found,
> or is there more than one. One had also earlier been reported in Illinois
> at the same time. Why is a non migratory bird eleven hundred miles north of
> its probable home, and when will it head back to southern, warmer environs?
> Just recently in Ohio was a Tropical Kingbird. Black-bellied
> Whistling-Ducks are now found annually. Mississippi Kites are nesting. A
> Gray Kingbird and a Painted Bunting were a highlight a year ago. Is the
> changing weather the reason for the out of place bird sightings? It seems
> anything can show up at the most unexpected location. Having a Limpkin on
> both your Florida and Ohio Lifelists, is pretty remarkable.
>
> Bob Lane / Clearwater-Pinellas County & Mahoning County, Ohio
>
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