Winter is a time for birdwatching

By DAVID J. COEHRS

Ryan Schroeder calls spring­time the Christ­mas of bird-watchers, but said not to dis­count win­ter as another prime view­ing time.

The man­ager of Goll Woods State Nature Pre­serve said, in fact, win­ter bird­ing has cer­tain advan­tages, and allows vet­er­ans and ama­teurs alike to catch sight of species that take up res­i­dence in the area only dur­ing win­ter months.

The 321-acre pre­serve, located on Town­ship Road 25 1 1/2 miles north of Arch­bold in Ful­ton County, is one of sev­eral area venues that attract bird enthu­si­asts year-round. Although tra­di­tion­ally a warmer weather avo­ca­tion, bird­ing is not lim­ited to spring and summer.

Goll Woods has no for­mal bird­ing pro­gram, but the pre­serve attracts a vari­ety of bird enthu­si­asts, Schroder said.

Area bird-watchers are attracted to species that visit only dur­ing cold-weather months. They include the red-breasted nuthatch, a spe­cial attrac­tion that migrates south from Canada for the winter.

Other species on view specif­i­cally dur­ing the win­ter are the pine siskin, which feasts on pine cone seeds, the white-winged cross­bill and the snow bunting, a mostly-white sparrow-type bird.

More com­mon are the barred owl, the wild turkey and the red-headed wood­pecker. Bird­ers also can see the black-capped chick­adee, the white-breasted nuthatch, the red-shouldered hawk, the Cooper’s hawk and the crow-sized pileated wood­pecker, the sixth largest wood­pecker species in the world.

“Win­ter time is prob­a­bly the best time for ama­teurs to start learn­ing,” Schroeder said. “The birds are eas­ier to see. In sum­mer there are more birds, so some­times iden­ti­fi­ca­tion is more difficult.”

He said the preserve’s dawn-to-dusk hours bring many casual observers who walk the trails, some armed with binoc­u­lars. Schroeder advised a stan­dard beginner’s pair with 7-by-35 mag­ni­fi­ca­tion, but said binoc­u­lars aren’t needed to enjoy viewing.

Due to an irrup­tive migra­tion this year, in which birds migrate south due to food short­ages, bird­ers at Oak Open­ings Pre­serve in Swan­ton may encounter species not typ­i­cally seen in the area.

Nat­u­ral­ist Karen Menard said the entire state is cur­rently expe­ri­enc­ing a win­ter finch inva­sion. She said the species does not typ­i­cally nest in this area, but has arrived in search of pine cone seeds. The finches can be seen in the nearly 5,000-acre Oak Open­ings Pre­serve around ever­green and conifer trees.

Other vari­eties to look for include the red cross­bill, the white-winged cross­bill, the evening gros­beck and the com­mon red­poll. “There’s a good vari­ety. You get the chance to see dif­fer­ent types,” Menard said.

She has seen win­ter bird­ers at the pre­serve on a reg­u­lar basis, at all times dur­ing the 7 a.m. to dark hours. “It’s kind of fun to go to the park and explore. You can go any time of day and have the chance to spot one,” she said.

Menard advised bird­ers to wear com­fort­able, warm footwear, such as hik­ing boots. She also rec­om­mended binoc­u­lars or spot­ting scopes for bet­ter views.

Oak Open­ings will host a rap­tor research project Feb. 16 in an effort to sur­vey hawk and owl nests. Nat­u­ral­ist Steve Lauer will give a pre­sen­ta­tion, and vol­un­teers are wel­come. Go to metroparkstoledo.com and click on “Pro­grams” for more information.

In addi­tion, the Black Swamp Audobon Soci­ety based in Defi­ance con­ducted its Christ­mas bird count at the pre­serve Dec. 15. Vol­un­teers broke into groups to count by walk­ing and by car as many birds as pos­si­ble within a 15-mile radius.

“Peo­ple often ask how we know that we aren’t count­ing the same birds more than once. Of course there is no way to be cer­tain that we don’t but the law of aver­ages say we will miss more than we see,” said spokesper­son John Diller.

The counts were orga­nized as an alter­na­tive to bird-hunting on Christ­mas Day.

Fur­ther away, in Ottawa County between Toledo and Port Clin­ton, bird­ers flock to Magee Marsh year-round as well. The 2,000-acre wet­land at Lake Erie on West State Route 2 in Oak Har­bor offers trails and a visitor’s center.

“Peo­ple are here through­out the year for bird­ing,” nat­u­ral­ist Mary War­ren said.

Enthu­si­asts can spot winter-only inhab­i­tants such as the north­ern shrike, a small black, white and gray preda­tor that scav­enges for food.

There is also the north­ern har­rier, a hawk that flies low to the ground search­ing for a meal.

Magee Marsh also fea­tures short-eared owls and adult bald eagles, which don’t migrate in cold weather.

Posted by Rob Treynor on Dec 28 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.