Hi all,

I have never reported a bird via this listserv. I always report birds to eBird and also post unusual ones to Facebook's Birding Ohio page. I tend to forget that there are still some folks in the state who do neither.

I discovered Fish Crows at the Plaza at Chapel Hill, Cuyahoga Falls, Summit County, on November 14 at 3 pm. I included a video with my eBird checklist that was limited in quality by the amount of traffic driving through the plaza. Just as a silly aside, I had birded all day, and I had to stop to use the restroom and was getting a text from another birder that he had found a Red-Necked Grebe nearby. All I wanted to do was go potty and head to see the grebe, but suddenly I heard Fish Crows and thought no way, can't be. But that nasally call is so distinctive, I had to follow up before going to the grebe. Moral of the story--when you get mad that you have to cut into your birding time for mundane things like potty breaks, it could turn into gold! :-)

Anyway, I returned on November 20 at 12:53 pm and got a couple pretty good videos for supporting documentation.

I also returned on November 21 at 7:52 am, thinking with less traffic I could get really good videos; alas, the birds were very quiet and the ones I could hear I couldn't get close enough to for a video.

I returned today at 10:14 am and found 5 Fish Crows, all very active. Usually they are mixed with a large flock of American Crows, but I saw and heard no Americans this morning. I got several really good videos of the birds in full sunlight while sitting on light stanchions. They will be uploaded shortly to eBird and Facebook's Birding Ohio. A birding friend also found them around 3 pm this afternoon.

Several people have visited and seen/heard the birds since I first discovered them, and that fills me with joy. If you decide to go try to see them, they can be anywhere in the parking lots on either side of Howe Avenue. I have seen them from Bob Evans, Harley Davidson, McDonalds, Steak and Shake, and Eat'N Park; however, most often I see them near the Chick-Fil-A and Jared, or in the parking lot between there and the now-closed h.h.gregg store. For whatever reason, they seem to stay somewhat close to the few dozen Ring-Billed Gulls. Also, they seem most active during meal times and I have seen them near the drive-thrus of McDonalds, Wendy's, and Chick-Fil-A looking for dropped food. I think there are dumpsters too that they may be visiting.


Susan Carpenter
Stow, OH

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