HOFI Streak Comes to Sad End

     Well I am sad to say that my streak of avoiding House Finches in Ohio has come to an end. :( What a real bummer. Why, oh why did I look at that stupid bird. Of course I looked, I can't not look at a bird. That's something JB taught me, check everything that moves. Never know. Anyways, that was only part of my birding for the day.

The (Pretty) Culprit

      Today started innocently, wake up, get some work done, go to classes, pack my stuff and start heading south to Dayton to spend the weekend with my family. Of course I would be passing through Columbus with a few hours of daylight left so I would be stupid not to stop and bird some. Right? So naturally I had a little idea of where I wanted to stop and what I wanted to look for. Not much is worthy of a stop in these months. 'Rare' birds in Feb are common in April and May so why go out of my way to see them? Something I learned from last year. I figured I'd make a quick run through Blendon Woods MP and see if I can spot the Turkeys that hang out there. Normally you see them just by driving around a little. This was not normal and I didn't have any luck coming in so I got out to check the feeders for a few minutes. On my way is when I spotted the culprit that ruined my streak. A little, bright red male HOFI. Bastard. Oh well at least I can get it off my needs alert now and thats all that really matters anyways. Man was that thing getting annoying being on there. The drive back out didn't produce any Turkeys either. Dang. On to the next, more important spot.

Look at ME!!

     I figured I would give the Long-Eared Owl thats been hanging around SE Columbus for a few months now a try. When I got there I couldn't remember exactly where to go to look for the owl. After wandering around in the woods, a few nice cuts from thorns, and a little help from Chris I get to where I want to be. I was a little pissed I couldn't remember how to get back into those pines on my own. Finally I get back there, look up, and boom! A cute little LEOW sleeping away. Doesn't even look at me once. He just kept his head turned and tucked a little. Awesome! A few minutes later a Barred Owl calls off in the distance, bonus! Today made 2 ABA year birds and a 3 Ohio birds putting me at 106 in Ohio now. Not too shabby. Time for a little family time this weekend!

    A quick note: I am still working on getting photos of every ABA bird I see this year (or most of them at least). I have a lot of catching up to do still and I am slowly but surely getting there. Here is a link to my flickr album containing all the pics so far.  2015 ABA Photos 180/262 Please keep in mind that some pics are terrible and likely the first pic I took of that species so keep judging to a minimum.