Dick & Jean Hoffman - the local bird sceneto Nov. 15, 2009 to Nov. 8, 2009 to Oct. 12, 2009 to Oct. 3, 2009 |
|
Birding Site Guide |
|
Can you believe another lovely day in November? It was mostly sunny and fairly warm (mid-50s). At Sims Park in Euclid the wind was fairly strong and the waves on Lake Erie made it interesting scoping for ducks. The highlights were one White-winged Scoter and two Black Scoters, but we also saw a few Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Ruddy Duck, and Horned Grebe. There were quite a few Red-breasted Mergansers here and there and in flight.
We did not see a Merlin in Lake View Cemetery at midday but on our way home there it was! Again in the tree in section 2, it was present at 3:29 pm. We didn't want to disturb it, so Dick's photo was taken from the car at some distance. | 
|
|
While overcast, we had good visibility on the second Lake Erie boat trip this month. The boat headed past 5 Black-crowned Night-Herons, straight out the river and east outside the breakwall. A Peregrine Falcon (Dick's photo at left) was seen perched on the breakwall and later a Purple Sandpiper was seen moving from rock to rock. We continued out past the Northeast Yacht Club (next to the old White City) and further east. An adult Bald Eagle was perched along the shore and a White-winged Scoter was spotted. Again we saw a jaeger. The boat headed back toward Cleveland with one Great Black-backed Gull seen with the many Bonaparte's, Ring-billed and Herring Gulls. This week we saw lots of Red-breasted Mergansers along with a few Common Loons and Horned Grebes. We checked the inside of the breakwall to the west of the Cuyahoga counting about 50 Double-crested Cormorants and 4 Snow Buntings. Another jaeger was seen in the area.
At this point the trip had an unplanned extension. The lift bridge at the mouth of the river was stuck and the boat could not enter the river to reach its dock. Edgewater Yacht Club allowed us to dock there and transportation was arranged. And we all got good looks at a Merlin perched atop a mast nearby! |
 |
We stopped in Lake View Cemetery on the way home to check for the Merlin which we had not seen yet this fall. There was no sign of it around the ponds, but slightly uphill atop a tall tree in the center of section 2, there it was! Interestingly, we think that is where we last saw one in the spring. Hopefully we now have our winter resident Merlin back. |
| The weather for the Lake Erie excursion was incredible! It was sunny and Cleveland recorded a high temperature of 71. We didn't see many waterfowl, but there were some Common Loons and Horned Grebes. A Black-legged Kittiwake was spotted and land birds on the 5-mile Crib were identified as Snow Buntings. Just east of Dike 14 a jaeger harrassed the gulls. The trip leaders believe it was a non-juvenile Parasitic Jaeger. Along the landfill west of E. 55th St. we saw a White-winged Scoter really well (see Dick's photo). Burke Lakefront Airport had perched Red-tailed Hawks. When one took to the air, it was chased by a Peregrine Falcon that even dove at it. It was a really good time with about 50 birders. We're looking forward to this coming Sunday and doing it again. Below are photos of the day in a layout by Jean | 
|
Back home we had sparrows in the yard, three White-throated Sparrows and one White-crowned. As the first actually in the yard, they seemed a sure sign of fall, but at least there wasn't a junco to herald the winter to come.
|
Dick was surprised this morning when looking for the return of a Merlin in Lake View Cemetery to instead find a Red Phalarope on the upper pond. Jean also got to see it in the afternoon. It fed actively always remaining away from the shore. The plumage is not well illustrated in the guides, looking more like that of a Red-necked Phalarope. Notice though in Dick's photo the relatively thick and blunt bill. It is the first phalarope we've seen or known of in the cemetery in the nearly forty years we've birded there. |
This page accessed times
since Aug. 5, 1999
[new URL: 9,479 visitors to prior]
URL:
http://pw1.netcom.com/~djhoff/cur_bird.html
Send mail to: Dick & Jean Hoffman
(djhoff@ix.netcom.com)
Last updated: Nov. 17, 2009