After doing a county big year in 2017, I had planned to travel more around the state and finally see many of the shorebirds that I have not been able to find in Summit County. Those plans changed after having an excellent spring for ducks, warblers, and other songbirds - a spring so good that I had already broken my old personal record by May. I was also motivated by some friendly competition from Susan Carpenter, who was doing her own big year for the county. Last year I thought my high count of 201 was difficult to attain, but this year I blew way past that, as did Susan and at least a couple others. I ended up with 216 total species, which as far as I can tell may be a new county record.
Thanks to everyone who got the word out about rarities, especially Joanne Priest who found both the Black Tern and Purple Gallinule at Nimisila Reservoir this summer, but also thanks to: Susan Carpenter, Doug Vogus, Dwight Chasar, Jon Cefus, George Novosel, Woody Stover, Kathy Mock, Jeff Wert, Jen Brumfield, Kent Miller, Betsy MacMillan, Patrick Coy, Ken Andrews, Ben Morrison, Dennis Mersky, and several others who helped point me in the right direction when I was looking in the wrong tree.
A few self-found highlights this year:
eight Long-tailed Ducks together on Springfield Lake; three Red-necked Grebes together at Long Lake; a pair of Short-eared Owls barking and chasing eachother at close range at the Akron-Canton Airport; and various unexpected Red-throated Loons, Surf and White-winged Scoters, and Long-tailed Ducks found around Portage Lakes and Springfield Lake. My biggest miss this year was probably the Black-billed Cuckoo. I saw two of them last year, and this spring Joanne found one at the CVNP Beaver Marsh that I missed. Some other species that would have been nice to find: Black Scoter, Orange-crowned Warbler, Northern Harrier, Rough-legged Hawk, American Pipit, and many, many shorebirds.
Here's a record of my complete list of 216 for the year. I've included locations and dates for the less common species. I also included info on a couple rare subspecies that were found: "Yellow" Palm Warbler, and "Audubon's" Yellow-rumped Warbler. Two species on this list that I believe the OBRC doesn't currently accept for our area are Trumpeter Swan and Northern Bobwhite.
Snow Goose - Seasons Rd & Rt 8 (4/9)
Ross's Goose - Silver Springs Park (1/1)
Cackling Goose - Summit Lake (3/15), Wilbeth Rd trailhead (3/19) - same bird
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Trumpeter Swan
Tundra Swan
Wood Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
Eurasian Wigeon - Nimisila Reservoir (3/17)
American Wigeon
Mallard
American Black Duck
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Surf Scoter - Nimisila Reservoir (3/17), Turkeyfoot Lake (11/2), Springfield Lake (12/5)
White-winged Scoter - Summit Lake (3/4, 3/6, 3/7), Nimisila Reservoir (3/30, 11/19, 11/20)
Long-tailed Duck - Springfield Lake (3/13, 3/27, 4/6, 11/18, 12/4), Turkeyfoot Lake (4/6, 11/18)
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Northern Bobwhite - Springfield Bog (5/27)
Wild Turkey
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Common Nighthawk
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Virginia Rail
Sora
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Purple Gallinule - Nimisila Reservoir (5/30)
Sandhill Crane - Nimisila Reservoir flyover (3/3)
Semipalmated Plover - East Reservoir mudflats by Portage Lakes Dr (9/8)
Killdeer
Dunlin - Seasons Rd & Rt 8 (5/14)
Least Sandpiper
American Woodcock
Wilson's Snipe
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs - Seasons Rd & Rt 8 (5/13)
Bonaparte's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull - Silver Creek Metropark (12/23)
Caspian Tern
Black Tern - Nimisila Reservoir (6/15)
Common Tern
Forster's Tern - Nimisila Reservoir (6/28)
Red-throated Loon - Long Lake (3/30), Springfield Lake (4/4), Firestone Metropark reservoir (4/20, 4/23)
Common Loon
Double-crested Cormorant
American Bittern - Akron-Canton Airport field (4/15)
Least Bittern - CVNP Beaver Marsh, Nimisila Reservoir (May-Jun)
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron - Portage Path Wildlife Area (4/24), North Reservoir Myers Island (10/26)
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Sharp-shinned Hawk - Richfield Coliseum Grasslands (3/23)
Cooper's Hawk
Bald Eagle
Red-shouldered Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Eastern Screech-Owl
Great Horned Owl
Barred Owl
Short-eared Owl (2) - Akron-Canton Airport fields (12/24)
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Merlin - Greenlawn Cemetery (1/17)
Peregrine Falcon
Olive-sided Flycatcher - CVNP Wetmore valley trail (5/21)
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Acadian Flycatcher
Alder Flycatcher
Willow Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Western Kingbird - Bath Nature Preserve (8/18)
Eastern Kingbird
Northern Shrike - CVNP near Jaite trailhead (1/20), Bath Nature Preserve (12/28, 12/30)
White-eyed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow - year-round on Howe Ave, Cuyahoga Falls
Horned Lark - year-round at skate park at Akron-Fulton Airport
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow - CVNP Beaver Marsh (4/25)
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
House Wren
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Veery
Gray-cheeked Thrush (2) - CVNP Kendall Lake trail (5/4), CVNP Wetmore trail (5/7, 5/21)
Swainson's Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird - east of Indigo Lake (9/15)
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
House Finch
Purple Finch (2) - CVNP Hale Farm (5/19), CVNP Beaver Marsh (10/5), CVNP east of Indigo Lake (11/14)
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
Lapland Longspur (2) - Skate park by Akron-Fulton Airport (Jan-Feb)
Snow Bunting (up to 15) - Skate park by Akron-Fulton Airport (Jan-Feb)
Grasshopper Sparrow - Global Gateway and Akron-Canton Airport fields (5/27, 6/24)
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
American Tree Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow (2) - Bolanz Rd in CVNP (4/7, 4/8)
Savannah Sparrow
Henslow's Sparrow (up to 6) - Bath Nature Preserve (4/27-8/18)
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Yellow-breasted Chat - CVNP Stanford House (5/23), Tallmadge Meadows (6/8), Southgate Park (6/25)
Bobolink
Eastern Meadowlark
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Rusty Blackbird
Common Grackle
Ovenbird
Louisiana Waterthrush
Northern Waterthrush
Blue-winged Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler - CVNP Beaver Marsh (5/3)
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Connecticut Warbler - CVNP Wetmore valley trail (5/21)
Mourning Warbler - Firestone Metropark (5/11, 5/13, 5/16, 5/17)
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
American Redstart
Cape May Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Palm Warbler (Western)
- Palm Warbler (Yellow) - CVNP Beaver Marsh (4/19, 4/20)
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)
- Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) - CVNP Beaver Marsh (4/20)
Yellow-throated Warbler
Prairie Warbler (3) - CVNP Kendall Hills area (5/10, 5/16), CVNP Wetmore trail (6/8)
Black-throated Green Warbler
Canada Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Dickcissel (2) - Barberton Lime Lake south of Vanderhoof Rd trailhead (6/7, 6/14)
House Sparrow
If you would like to see any of the photos I've taken around the county this year, they're uploaded to the Macaulay Library. Here's a shortened URL:
http://goo.gl/gKKY7M
Happy birding in the new year!
Brian Tinker
Cuyahoga Falls