Wayfaring Pelican

If you enjoyed the last post from the Cleveland Lakefront, I hope you will enjoy this as well.

 There is a bit of a birding celebrity hanging out at Wendy Park at Whiskey Island, and no, I don't mean Greg Miller.

Enjoying the Tall Ship Festival- he was a gate-crasher.

 A Brown Pelican, a most seaworthy bird, has become the newest avian rarity to land in Ohio.  You know it is a "good bird" when Jim McCormac chases it!  The excitement has been hard to contain, even for those of us who have seen Plenty O'Pelican (sounds like an upcoming James Bond movie co-star.)

His resounding  "yawp."

 We all know that a pelican's beak can hold more than his belly can.  But we do worry if the fish this fellow is getting will be adequate for a sea-born bird.

We are used to the occasional White Pelicans in Ohio, and even expect them annually. However, a Brown Pelican is a very different thing.  This bird was the happy find of Jen Brumfield, uber-birder and Cleveland mega-lister. We know not what strange winds brought him (or her) to our shores, nor how long it will stay.  But we do know this is a rarity of the first order for Ohio.

So, if you keep an Ohio list, make haste for the city and see this bird. And while you are at it, put in a few good words to your higher power that this young bird makes it back where it belongs, to tell tales of tall ships and sky scrapers on Ohio's North Coast.

 Special "Thanks" goes out to Cleveland's top-notch bird (and plane) photographer Chuck Slusarczyk, Jr for allowing me to share all of these wonderful photos!  It is a major feat to photograph a bird at these distances, and we appreciate Chuck's ability to help us see this wonderful bird that has captured Cleveland's heart.

NOT about Bobolinks!

Bobolinks at Byers Woods. This events just keeps getting better and better each year- but as I recently told the Ashland County Commissioners- this is NOT about the Bobolinks.

This event is about conservation, education, eco-tourism and that feel-good-feeling one gets when you show a kid (even the ones aged 50 or so...) their very first Bobolink.

It is food, displays, crafts, vendors, native plants, bird walks, butterflies and dragonflies! Dragonflies?

Oh, and yeah. Maybe... Bobolinks, too.

Two of the stars of our show were Jen Brumfield and Greg Miller. (If you think these two look "normal" remind me to show you my favorite photos of them!)

Jen is a fabulous talent in her own right, a crack birder, butterflier and dragonfly expert. And her art work- simply amazing! Greg is the most lovable guy around- and popular character of the book- about to be released as a movie- The Big Year! Greg is never too busy to help someone find a bird in his scope or help us sort out a call. We're glad he is a GMAS member!

And here are Hugh and Judy Kolo-Rose and other friends from BSBO just getting off the bus! Black Swamp Bird Observatory is the busiest bird banding station in the USA, but they took time and showed tremendous support for our little event. Mark Shieldcastle even drove the bus down - woot, woot!!! (or is that toot-toot?)

Tim Leslie, long-time guide at Byer's Woods gathered the people with a brief history of the past-landfill and the birds found there. The local Friends of Ashland County Parks were right there working shoulder to shoulder. This event would not happen without their support!

Guy Denny, retired from Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources, promotes Jen Brumfield's work in the Dragonflies of NE Ohio. Guy led an afternoon walk (with Jen's assist). It was a little windy for butterflies, but some dragons were found so folks loved it. Besides, Guy could just talk about dirt and make it interesting!

Julie Davis, Jen Sauter, Sue Evanoff .. and Cheryl Harner (aka Weedpicker)

My peeps from Ohio Ornithological Society showed up to lend support and get their first of the year BOBOLINK! Even great birders have to schedule trips to see this bird- they are becoming rarer each passing year.

Crafts! Food! Mowing and weeding the butterfly garden! Ashland County Park District is all volunteers- and some of the nicest people you'll ever meet! A special thanks to them for the work they do, not only for this event- but for all their educational events hosted throughout Ashland County all year long!

Gary Cowell, (center) chief tent pitcher and bird-whisperer, and Don and Diana Plant (far right) have forgot more about bats and bluebirds than I will ever know- and we greatly appreciated their display.

And Bobolinks. Did I mention Bobolinks? A male perched on his landfill-vent pipe, giving the what-for to everyone who passed by their nest. Deep in the grass Mrs. Bobo must have been silently brooding some eggs, as he was ever vigilant!

And this year, those baby bobolinks have until July 10th to clear out safely. Let's hope it is enough time: cross your fingers for successful fledging. Wouldn't it be great if Ashland county could be #1 in Ohio Bobolink exports!?

Again Special Thanks: to Tim Leslie, Jen Brumfield, Guy Denny and Greg Miller for guiding folks to bobolinks and interesting insects.

KUDOS: to Black Swamp Bird Observatory and Ohio Ornithological Society for all of their support in this effort to conserve bobolinks.

And to all of those people from both ACPD and GMAS: Sam W., Jack and Lolle L., Tom K., Louise F., Gary C., Jan K. and Annette M., Bianca D., Don & Diana P., and Miss Paula- Go Team Bobolink!

Lakefront on the News

The Cleveland lakefront may not be your number one spot for winter sight-seeing, but somehow, it has an irresistible pull- especially for Lariphiles.




And since I was a scant 5 minutes away from 55th St. today, I could not resist stopping by to see the lake, the gulls, the ice, and luckily- one of my favorite Lariphiles (bird watcher who is fixated on larids/gulls.)

Who other than Jen Brumfield- birder renown and guide for Local Patch Birding and Tropical Birding would be scanning the waters in search of some rarity? Slaty-backed Gull anyone? Sorry, not today.

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Although the number of gulls was down a bit, the light was particularly good for sorting the those difficult-to-ID "shad snatchers" and we had numerous Great Black-backed Gulls.

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Unfortunately, I had promised only to "look at the ice a bit," but you know I simply had to get out the the car and gawk at just a few of the 2-thousand-plus gulls flying by on this brisk morning.

The lake had decorated the shoreline and all of its trees with a translucent icing. It has a breath-taking quality to it- or maybe that was the 17 degree temps and wind that made it difficult to breath?

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Either way, Cleveland got a bit of good press on a national scale today when Al Roker from the MSN-TV Today Show commented about our lighthouse which was also "Erie"ily encased in ice. Go right here* to watch the video.

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* If that video link doesn't work- now you can see it on BBC The video has gone viral!