Bird Watching in April

Excerpt from CBC Vol 40 No 2 - Wartime CBC

At last, the first full month of spring has arrived and with it most wintering birds withdraw from their preferred haunts. Waterfowl remain in good numbers and now is the time to try and find 20 species of ducks and geese in a single day. Diurnal raptors can appear in high totals given optimal weather conditions. Shorebirds are moving through by mid-April. Species that pass through the region quickly, but are to be looked for include American Avocets and Upland Sandpipers. Gull numbers, enhanced by numerous northbound Bonaparte’s Gulls remained high well into the end of the month. April may provide observers their best chances of the year for seeing Franklin’s, Black-headed or Little Gulls. Caspian Forster’s and Common Terns may be found in fair numbers. Forster’s Terns have traditionally been the first of this group to arrive.

Inspection of the conifers and tangles along the edges of Lake Erie shoreline has long been productive in locating migrating Barn, Long-eared, Short-eared and Northern Saw-whet Owls. Ohio’s only Boreal Owl was found in early April. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker migration is in full swing and many trees are pock-marked by their tell-tale sap wells. The first Chimney Swifts begin to appear by April 20. While Eastern Phoebes are numerous, reports of early Empidonax fly-catchers in the northern tier of Ohio are usually mistaken identities by people eager for May. Neotropical flycatchers are slow to arrive with only the Least Flycatcher and Eastern Kingbird having much of a history of April occurrence.

White-eyed and Blue-headed Vireos along with most swallow species give birdwatchers a bit of color to tide their hopes over for May. Kinglets, Hermit Thrushes and American Pipits should be in good numbers through out the last half of the month. Depending on weather fronts and winds, the final week of April can produce exceptional flights of migrant warblers

throughout the region. Expected warblers at this time include Bluewinged, Yellow-rumped (many), Black-throated Green, Yellow-throated, Palm, Pine, Black-and-white and Hooded Warblers. Add in both Louisiana and Northern Waterthrushes and you have all the ingredients a passionate birder can hope for. Grassy fields along Lake Erie can produce outstanding viewing of many migrating sparrows by the middle of the month. Nesting Pine Warblers, Louisiana Waterthrushes, Chipping, Field, Song and Swamp Sparrows are busily announcing territories by now.

Be sure to join us for the April meeting or for a field trip. Click Here for meeting and trip times and locations. All are welcome.

Photos courtesy of Tom LePage, Larry Rosche and Scott Wright