My weekly grassland sparrow survey was wet but interesting. GRSP and SASP still common with 7 and
17 respectively. Last Henslow was 9/20, few FISP around, last Vesper 9/17.
Approx 250 TRSW were slowly working the fields at weed top level. THey would periodically land or
hoover and pick the torpid grasshoppers off the weeds. I saw one bird grasping a large grasshopper
in its beak by a rear leg. It flew 50 ft up and dropped the insect swooping down and re-catching it.
She did this three times until she caught it in a position it could be swallowed on the wing.
Only other birds of note were an American Golden Plover- a first county record for me- and three
Harriers.
______________________________________________________________________
Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.
You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]