Unexpected Surprise +2

       Well the last 2 days were a couple of awesome ones! It started on Saturday. Chris, Jeremy and I planned our trip up to Lorain to see the Common Redpoll flock that had been hanging out there for a few days. We met up with Alex E at about 8:20 or so at the Lorain Impound. The snowy owl was out on the docks where its been hanging out for a few days now, absolutely gorgeous bird! Little too far for my camera to reach though. So we walk the impoundment to look for the redpolls. We wait and we listen. After about 5 min, I hear them and say "they're coming guys!!" Everyone turns to look to the right and the entire flock comes zooming right over our heads!! We almost got hit in the face by redpolls! It was incredible, some even landed on the ground within 10 feet of us for a few brief moments before they scattered again. Great way to get a life bird and another bird for my Ohio big year! #309 We spent the next few hours staking out areas trying to get pictures of the redpolls in the low light conditions we had that morning.

Me creeping up on a redpoll. (Photo Credit: Chris Collins) I was pretty excited...

     After Lorain, we decided to start heading back south towards home (Dayton) with a quick stop in Columbus at a secret location to check on some Long-Eared Owls. Well sure enough, we find 2 on the same exact branch! I have never seen more than one at a time before and they have always been obstructed views where you only get to see an ear or an eye through the tangles. These birds gave amazing views. At first they were a little stressed but quickly became relaxed again and one even went back to sleep. We took a few pictures and then departed quickly to leave the owls in peace. 

   Both of these birds returned to relaxed states quickly. 100's of pellets were seen all around the pines. I suspect there are more birds in the area and that these 2 have been there for a while. See Chris Collin's flickr page for more photos:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/roguephotoohio


     That ended a great Saturday and what I thought was going to be my last bird of the year. Boy was I wrong! Sunday afternoon I get a message from Shawn Collins about a Loggerhead Shrike in Ohio. My first thought was, "really? yeah right!" But I started investigating who the reporter was, if was reliable, where the bird was, could I chase it, all that jazz. 30 min later, Greg and I were in a car headed to Adams County! (Dang it, I was hoping to take a nap today). I was still not liking our chances on finding this bird even if it was real, with our quickly diminishing daylight. After 2 hours on a long and very winding road that felt like a roller coaster ride, we get to the location. The bird was sitting on a wire right where Ned told me it would be! Sure enough, Loggerhead Shrike, unbelievable! Such a great bird, it is much cuter than Northerns and the small bill really stuck out to me. I couldn't believe that I added LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE to my Ohio list on December 28th!! At 1 pm that day, I didn't even know about it. 5 hours later at 6 pm, I was back at my house with LOSH checked off. I still can't believe it! Great way to end my Ohio year!

Loggerhead Shrike, Ohio 2014 #310