Urban Birding in the CLE

Urban Birding - Ducks and Construction

     Sunday I decided to try my hand at a little Urban Birding and hopefully make my way out of Dip City. The whole Urban Birding concept is a good one to attempt an increase of birders in more urban, big city (not dip city) areas. It has been a great movement so far and my good friend Jen Brumfield has been a fantastic ambassador and leader for it, especially in her town of Cleveland. Unfortunately Jen is now serving the people even more by working tirelessly for the Cleveland MetroParks which means less birding for her. Chuck Slusarczyk (yes I know that name is impossible) has been following Jen's lead and been a very active member for the Urban Birding effort in the Cleveland area. His spot of choice recently has been Scranton Flats, a nice urban area full of construction along the mighty (less polluted) Cuyahoga River. He has been birding there putting in many hours of work to improve his gull skills. Not an easy task and I think he has gotten better but of course he will be the first to tell you that he still has a long way to go. I believe that hard work should be recognized from time to time, good work dude and keep working. (Jen is still the zen master of gulls though haha). Ok shout-out complete, back to birds. Ducks have been good there recently and gulls have been even better. Rare/uncommon gulls were my "targets" of the day but really the goal was to have fun and just enjoy the birds again.

We have lift-off!

     I made the 45 min trip north and met up with Chuck to bird along the river. The morning brought some clouds but the temp was WAY higher (33 degrees F, scorching!) than the previous few weeks combined! The number of Red-Breasted Mergansers along the river was quite impressive. I'd say 5,000+. There were a few other species mixed in the bunch, Canvasbacks, Redheads, the other 2 Mergs, both Scaup, and even a cute little Buddy Duck (Jen's term). Gulls seemed scattered along the river which would make things a bit difficult to find the ones we were looking for. Chuck and I walked along the river to where the action was and start sorting. The gulls started to feed and come in closer, awesome. Then 2 uhhhh, guys (word choice here should be more vulgar) arrive and jump on some paddle boards and make their way down the river. Of course this flushes everything just when it started getting good. I guess that's the risk of Urban Birding, never know what's gonna happen. It did make for an impressive sight of RBME flights and flight shot opportunities so not all was lost.

I guess Thayer's is a thing...

     Since the "guys" kinda ruined the birding at this spot along the river, Chuck and I decided to check out a few other spots and check out Almighty Erie to see if anything is going on. Not much at Jefferson Rd. except my FOY Horned Grebe. Nice. The Lake didn't show much, still pretty frozen but we did cruise by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame which was cool and quite 'Urban' of us. In a last ditch effort we decided to head back to Scranton with the thought the birds would have returned by now. We were right! Back to the gull watching platform, which in reality is a construction thing of some sort but hey, urban birding yo. Andy and John were still there searching through the gulls. So far they had an Iceland, a good sign. Unfortunately Andy is running out of time and Thayer's has yet to be seen, but like any good birder he gave it the ole "5 more minutes" routine about 3 different times. Finally it pays off for him as we get on a Thayer-ish like bird. It's in the air and slowing making rounds around the water so we can get good looks and nail down the ID. Bingo! Great looks at this bird and an Iceland Gull were excellent but being outside in the sun and warmth was definitely the highlight. Things are finally looking up here in Ohio. What a great fun packed day with a good friend. Thanks again Chuck for the help! Urban Birding, get out and get you some.