And off we go for another round of
BirdChasers!! A new show, a new location, which produces new birds!! Thanks to the Ohio listserv, from Sept 9th-16th, a rare thrush(Family Turdidae) from the Arctic circle somehow got lost on his way back to Asia, and decided to make a stop at Headlands Beach SP near Mentor, Ohio right on the shores of Lake Erie.
Northern Wheatear!! Code 2
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| Life Bird #556 |
The
northern wheatear is a
migratory insectivorous species breeding in open stony country in
Europe and
Asia with footholds in northeastern
Canada and
Greenland as well as in northwestern Canada and
Alaska. It nests in rock crevices and
rabbit burrows. All birds winter in
Africa. In the case of the
wheatear, it refers to these birds' return to Greece in the spring just as the
grapevines blossom. Breeds in Alaska and parts of northern Canada; also Eurasia. Eastern
Canada birds migrate east (
BINGO!!) through Greenland and Europe, and winter in
Africa. Alaska and northwestern Canada birds cross the Bering Strait and
make a long westward flight across Asia, also wintering mostly in
Africa. Found in grasslands, rocky tundra, and barren slopes.
A group of
wheatears are collectively known as a
"bowl" and a
"shaft" of
wheatears.
This was only the
4th state record of a
Northern Wheatear in Ohio;
Jan 1988(near Magee Marsh),
Nov 1998(Big Island),
Sept 2009(Holmes cty) and
Sept 2014(Lake Cty). Interesting that the 2009 sighting was the same September dates at the 2014 sighting.
Gambill Family Archives:
My father Buddy first saw the bird on
June 2, 1980 in Gambel, Alaska. Can you believe it!?! And the birder who discovered the bird here, Ray Hannikman from Elyria, Ohio was with Buddy on Attu Island, Alaska in
May 1980. BAM!! Another reason I'm doing this blog,
to retrace the steps of my family and birding.
Red and Louise, my grandparents, reported seeing this life bird on
June 4, 1991 in Nome, Alaska as their
ABA#757, just after they saw a
Bluethroat #756 lifer earlier that day. They also saw the
2009 bird here in Ohio.
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| American Pipit |
Not to be out done, but in the same picture frame as the Wheatear, there was a pair of
American Pipit's foraging on the beach. Hey, I just got a life bird and FOY, cha-ching!!
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| FOY |
This puts my #BIGYEAR2014 number at #328 for the year!!
#327 Northern Wheatear--9/12
#328 American Pipit--9/12
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| 8:40am arrival |
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| Ohio has a Lighthouse?? |
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| "Just walk down and on the right" |
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| Lake County . . .Surf Ohio |
Next up: Wilderness Road time . . . again
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