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John Pogacnik Great Day at Lake Erie Bluffs

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  • May 2018
  • Great Day at Lake Erie Bluffs

Great Day at Lake Erie Bluffs

  • ​Posted May 21, 2018

By Andy Avram, Interpretive Manager

We are now on the back half of May and migration is happening at a frenzied pace. To capitalize on the birds, we paired our final Sunday Morning Bird Walk with the 100 Birds at the Bluffs challenge. We wanted to see if everyone birding at Lake Erie Bluffs on the morning of May 20 could identify 100 species of birds in the morning.  

photo by Erin Allen

Spotted sandpiper

The day started out overcast and drizzly, which kept the participation lower than hoped. Sixteen participants broke up into three teams to visit and bird different areas of the park. Each group saw many of the same birds, but each group also found unique birds for the list. By the end of our outing, we saw a total of 92 bird species--just shy of our goal of 100. However, 92 species of birds in one morning in one park is nothing short of incredible and highlights just how important Lake Erie Bluffs is for migrating and breeding birds.  

photo by Erin Allen

Cedar waxwing

My group had one additional highlight. A participant found a long-tailed weasel carrying an Eastern chipmunk at Chagrin River Park the day before. We were discussing how lucky it is to get a glimpse of a weasel, when not long after another long-tailed weasel ran across the trail! We were able to spend about five minutes observing the tiny carnivore as it hunted for food near the bank swallow colony. Sorry to the birds, but this was the best find of the day!  

photo by Erin Allen

Long-tailed weasel

The complete list of birds found is as follows:

  • Canada goose
  • Wood duck
  • Mallard
  • Red-breasted merganser
  • Common loon
  • Double-crested cormorant
  • Great blue heron
  • Great egret
  • Green heron
  • Turkey vulture
  • Cooper's hawk
  • Bald eagle
  • Red-tailed hawk
  • Spotted sandpiper
  • Ring-billed gull
  • Herring gull
  • Mourning dove
  • Chimney swift
  • Ruby-throated hummingbird
  • Belted kingfisher
  • Red-bellied woodpecker
  • Downy woodpecker
  • Northern flicker
  • Eastern wood-pewee
  • Willow flycatcher
  • Least flycatcher
  • Eastern phoebe
  • Great crested flycatcher
  • Eastern kingbird
  • Philadelphia vireo
  • Warbling vireo
  • Red-eyed vireo
  • Blue jay
  • American crow
  • Northern rough-winged swallow
  • Tree swallow
  • Bank swallow
  • Barn swallow
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Tufted titmouse
  • White-breasted nuthatch
  • House wren
  • Marsh wren
  • Carolina wren
  • Ruby-crowned kinglet
  • Veery
  • Swainson's thrush
  • Wood thrush
  • American robin
  • Gray catbird
  • Brown thrasher
  • Northern mockingbird
  • European starling
  • Cedar waxwing
  • Ovenbird
  • Northern waterthrush
  • Black-and-white warbler
  • Tennessee warbler
  • Common yellowthroat
  • American redstart
  • Cape May warbler
  • Northern parula
  • Magnolia warbler
  • Blackburnian warbler
  • Yellow warbler
  • Chestnut-sided warbler
  • Blackpoll warbler
  • Black-throated blue warbler
  • Palm warbler
  • Black-throated green warbler
  • Canada warbler
  • Wilson's warbler
  • Grasshopper sparrow
  • Field sparrow
  • White-crowned sparrow
  • White-throated sparrow
  • Savannah sparrow
  • Song sparrow
  • Lincoln's sparrow
  • Eastern towhee
  • Yellow-breasted chat
  • Scarlet tanager
  • Northern cardinal
  • Rose-breasted grosbeak
  • Bobolink
  • Eastern meadowlark
  • Orchard oriole
  • Baltimore oriole
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Brown-headed cowbird
  • Common grackle
  • American goldfinch

photo by Erin Allen

Scarlet tanager

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