14. Great Blue Heron

Date          July 13, 2002
Location     Columbus Zoo pond, Powell, OH

Yes, the location is at a zoo, but this was not a captive animal. In the Columbus zoo, there is a good-sized pond a short distance from the entrance. The most common birds there are Mallards and Canada Geese, of course, but today this species was there.

This was probably the first really "cool" bird I saw and probably helped me get interested in birding. We were at a company offsite (Actuarial Interaction Day) and were on break. I wondered over to a nearby pond and saw one standing in the water. Fortunately, a colleague happened to be there as well and identified it for me (he was an experienced birder). It was amazing to me that such an "exotic" bird was just hanging out more-or-less in civilization. This was back in 2000, but I decided to count this one instead.

He was standing erect very near the sidewalk circling the pond. At first I thought he was one of those zoo statues -- metal affairs that kids can sit on and take pictures with. So he was quite still, and quite tame. I remember my kids being pretty excited about it too, being so close.


Cornell: Great Blue Heron

13. House Sparrow

Date          July 9, 2002
Location     Nationwide Plaza 1, Columbus, OH

A male perched next to me on a bench about four feet away. Looking past all his other "faults" (although it's not their fault we brought them over here), he's actually a pretty handsome bird. For a sparrow, anyway.

This was another case of making an official listing after I had already seen other specimens.


Cornell: House Sparrow

12. Mourning Dove

Date          July 9, 2002
Location     Nationwide Plaza 1, Columbus, OH

In front of the home office of Nationwide Insurance, there is a large area of lawns, sidewalks, fountains, trees, and shrubs. This area turned out to be very productive. It yielded many common birds like Mourning Dove and House Sparrow, but I also saw warblers, wrens, and even our two chunky shorebirds, woodcock and snipe. I believe that the green space is an oasis in a concrete jungle, attracting migrating birds and nesters (juvenile robins and cardinals were a common sight in the summertime). Ten life list birds were recorded at this site, the first being Mourning Dove.

One of the challenges with birding in this area is that I couldn't really use binoculars. For one thing, the birding time was only during breaks during work, and I didn't want to fiddle with optics. Also, with all the security cameras and people around, I didn't think it was a good idea. However, since the area is relatively small, it was often possible to observe even skittish birds pretty close up. More on these later.

I eventually began keeping a separate list for this area, and I believe I got to about 50 species. I lost the list because it was stored on a flash drive that I accidentally destroyed. I wanted to use the list to try to qualify the area as an Important Bird Area (the Audubon thing). I thought it would be cool to have a relatively small area in the middle of the city make the cut. After losing the list, I gave up on the idea.

One thing that this area also produces is dead birds from window strikes. There is an atrium inside the building with exotic indoor trees and large windows, and there was one window that killed about a dozen birds per migration season. I even saved some of them for an Eagle Scout project studying bird strikes in urban areas. A common victim was the hummingbird.

The dove I saw on this day appeared to be gathering nest material. While rather late in the season, doves are known for having multiple broods, so this seemed plausible. We even had a couple of dove eggs laid on the ground in late summer in the mulch bed of a tree in our backyard. They were never incubated.


Cornell: Mourning Dove

11. Blue Jay

Date          July 6, 2002
Location     Heritage Rail Trail/Metro Park, Hilliard, OH

I'm sure that I had seen Blue Jays before in my lifetime, but it took me a while to get one after I started my life list. I only caught a glimpse of one as it flew into the trees, but for this species, it doesn't take much of a look to know what it is.

I do recall that I was unfamiliar with the Blue Jay's call at this point. I was hearing it everywhere, but it sounded like a toucan or some tropical bird. I knew it couldn't be that, but I didn't know what it was. Now I was able to put two and two together.


Cornell: Blue Jay

10. Field Sparrow

Date          July 6, 2002
Location     Heritage Rail Trail/Metro Park, Hilliard, OH

I don't remember if it was this day or some future day during this first summer of bird watching that I decided that I was going to get a really good look at this bird by bringing a compact folding camp chair, plopping it down right amongst the tall grass, and waiting for him to come to me. I figured if I was right in the middle of the action, they would eventually happen by my location, and I could get a better look at them.

It didn't work.

In reality, my ability to see them well was hampered by my tiny 8x20 binoculars. I would eventually remedy that.

I heard him chipping through the brush and saw him singing on a small bush. The song and pink bill were the giveaways.

The bouncing-ball song of the Field Sparrow has a special place in my heart. It was the song I heard the most during my first few trips out, and when I hear it, it always brings me back.

Cornell: Field Sparrow

9. Sandhill Crane

Date          July 6, 2002
Location     Heritage Rail Trail/Metro Park, Hilliard, OH

I had enjoyed my trip here two weeks previously, so I decided to visit this site again on another warm Saturday morning.

Actually, I probably didn't really know where else to go. But no matter, it was a good place.

It didn't take long to see this large bird over by the pond. He was constantly calling and walking. I made my way over to the pond and looked at him through my binoculars. He was somewhat backlit by the sun, so I worked my way around the pond to get a clearer look. Every few steps, I would stop to look through my binoculars, carefully memorizing what I saw because I didn't know how long he would stick around.

I continued to make my way around until he finally flew off. I know that at some point I paused to look at my field guide, and I had made the identification.

Sandhill cranes are not exactly rare in central Ohio, but they are not often seen. Even though I was a beginner, I was very sure of my identification. I was further vindicated a few weeks later when I went on a guided walk at the very same place. When I arrived a few minutes before the start time, the guide was hopping mad because he had seen a crane, but a couple of guys had chased it off just "to see what would happen."

In my notes I have that I wrote a detailed description of what happened in a letter to my wife's maternal grandmother. Unfortunately, I cannot find that letter today.


Cornell: Sandhill Crane

8. Spotted Sandpiper

Date          June 22, 2002
Location     Heritage Rail Trail/Metro Park, Hilliard, OH

The pond at this metro park is small but had an excellent muddy shoreline that was great for shorebirds. It was really exciting to get this one because to this point I had only seen passerines (except for the audio-only Whip-poor-will).

I also witnessed some sort of territorial display where one would rear up and spread his wings and charge another. It was reminiscent of the classic Dracula move when he turned into a bat. That's what I thought of, anyway. I've never seen it again since.

Helping me in the identification was the constant bobbing up and down of the tail. It was exciting to be able to use behavior, habitat, range, etc. and not just what the thing looked like.

Cornell: Spotted Sandpiper

7. Killdeer

Date          June 22, 2002
Location     Heritage Rail Trail/Metro Park, Hilliard, OH

Saturday, June 22, 2002 was my first true birding trip. Up to this point, my bird watching had always happened in conjunction with some other event. This is the first time I left my house, got in my car, and drove to a location for no other reason than to look for birds. I was thrilled -- but I was actually a little trepidatious about the whole thing. Was this how it was supposed to be done? I decided that I was just going to do it how I liked.

I chose this location because it was close to my house and I had already visited it a few days before to launch rockets with my sons. (It actually isn't a very good place for that since the grass is so long. Indeed, we lost a rocket that day, but sort of on purpose. That's another story for another day.) Killdeer are certainly known for being vociferous, but you should hear them after a rocket launch. It was bedlam in the Killdeer community.

I knew from that previous visit that there were Killdeer there. So this is another example of officially recording a species after the very first sighting.

Killdeer are fun to watch because they're so conspicuous and they look funny running around and bobbing about.

I have since observed many Killdeer since then, but I have still never seen the broken wing act, which is annoying because I've met a couple of non-birders who have seen it. I guess that's something I can still look forward to.


Cornell: Killdeer

6. American Goldfinch

Date          June 8, 2002
Location     Chief Logan Scout Reservation, Ray, OH

The American Goldfinch is one of the birds that got me interested in birding.

After I moved into our first house in Hilliard, for some reason I started to notice birds around me. I think it started with the robins, but then I started seeing these bright yellow birds flying around. I honestly thought that all birds were basically brown or black, with the cardinal and blue jay (and robin) being notable exceptions. So I was fascinated by these bright yellow birds that seemed so common.

I remember pointing them out to my dad during a visit and asking him what they were. He had shown some knowledge of birds in the past by talking about how bluebirds were once common but had since disappeared. (This was years ago before they had since recovered.) His only thought was that they were escaped cage birds. While the brilliance of their color certainly made that a viable guess, they were way too common for me to accept that answer.

At some point, I don't know when, I figured out what they were. So this is another example of a sighting that was recorded after the very first identification. I also know that this was a male because in my notes I wrote "First female sighted at Nationwide on 7/8/02."

I also see from my notes (but I don't really remember this) that I was birding by ear at this point. I don't know if I was just hearing a bird sound, and thereby trying to find any bird, or if I knew what a goldfinch sounded by this time. I wrote "This one really had me fooled; I was looking for him ahead of me in a field, and I finally turned around and saw him right behind me in a tree."

That certainly wouldn't be the last time that I had trouble seeing a bird after hearing it (I'm looking at you, Tennessee Warbler).


Cornell: American Goldfinch

5. Gray Catbird

Date          June 8, 2002
Location     Chief Logan Scout Reservation, Ray, OH

This guy was very entertaining and was a relatively easy id. He would fly to the top of a tree near our tent, mew and then launch into song, fly away, then return a few minutes later and repeat. He did this several times. His perch was very much in the open, so he was easy to observe.

I also noted that after singing a few phrases he would turn a different direction and sing again. It was a great chance to study how a bird executes his territorial singing. He wanted to make sure everyone heard it!


Cornell: Gray Catbird

4. American Crow

Date          June 8, 2002
Location     Chief Logan Scout Reservation, Ray, OH

The crows were ubiquitous that day, even into the heat of the afternoon. I watched them carefully though because I wasn't sure if they were crows or ravens. (Remember I was very much the novice at this point.) The range chart for the Common Raven brought them close to southern Ohio, where I was, and I didn't know how likely it was that ravens would be outside that range.

I shared my conundrum with one of the other adults at lunch time, and he was confident that they were crows. I wasn't going to take his word for it though.

I finally determined that they were indeed crows, and I remember using three criteria (other than the more obvious one: they were big black birds saying "caw-caw"): 1) they were gregarious; ravens are not; 2) the shape of the tail in flight, fan-shaped rather than wedge-shaped; and 3) the range. Ranges are rather imprecise, but taken with all the other evidence, it seemed to confirm the identification.


Cornell: American Crow

3. Eastern Towhee

Date          June 8, 2002

Location     Chief Logan Scout Reservation, Ray, OH

The occasion was once again a Scouting activity (this will become a common theme for much of life list). I was the 11-year-old patrol scout leader, and we were at Chief Logan on June 7-8 for a campout with some other scouts. It just so happened that adult leader training was going on at the same time. I was invited to join. I accepted.

I then realized that this was going to take me away from the free time I was anticipating. The 11-year-old's would be off doing planned activities, and I wouldn't be needed. I was all prepared for my first bird watching event.

I was conflicted. I didn't want to back out of the training because we had already formed patrols, etc.

Eventually, the birds won out. The next morning I just flat out told them I was going to go bird watching instead. I'd do training some other time. (As an aside, I made up for it later. I became scoutmaster and went through the full training regimen and organized our troop better than it had been before.)

There, got that off my chest.

So that morning I take my trusty 8x20 binoculars (can't believe I was ever able to see anything with those) and my Audubon field guide and strike out into the woods. As I would learn in the coming years, Chief Logan was really an excellent spot to go birding. At this point, I was still a novice and didn't nab too many species. However, it was the first real opportunity to go out in the field and 1) see a bird, then 2) dig around a field guide to try to identify it. It was my first "bird watching trip."

The first bird (probably) that I identified that day was a "Rufous-sided" Towhee. Or at least, that's what I thought it was called, because that's what the guidebook said (which was outdated). I was just standing in the woods when he appeared, foraging near the ground. He was frequently fanning his tail, showing off the white parts. He eventually alighted on a branch about 10 feet up and sang once, then flew off. I was so thrilled -- then discouraged when I couldn't find him in my field guide. I eventually did later in the day.

I later determined that the Audubon guide was not for me. I started learning about bird families and taxonomic order, and using that scheme is much easier than using color, which is what the Audubon guide did. The problem with using color is that it's not always obvious what the "primary" color of a bird is.

But I digress.

So, the reason I said "probably" above is that I probably did identify some other common birds like cardinals, but I did not officially record them in my life list. For the common birds, up until about no. 21 (which happens to be Northern Cardinal), I didn't record them in my life list until I had what I considered a "good" sighting. This actually kind of made sense, I believe, because once I started the life list, it was obvious that I had already seen many commoners in my lifetime like house sparrows and cardinals. How do I record that? I have no date or location, no story. So I recorded the sighting when I was satisfied that it would be a distinct and memorable event.

I was so proud of the towhee identification that I even told a co-worker about it the following week. He didn't seem terribly impressed.


Cornell: Eastern Towhee

2. Whip-poor-will

Date          May 11, 2002

Location     Camp Falling Rock, Newark, OH

As mentioned in the entry for Red-winged Blackbird, I was at the 2002 version of our father-son campout, this time at a different camp site called Falling Rock. It was early in the morning on Saturday, and I was very uncomfortable sleeping in my tent, so I got up and started gathering wood.

I heard the incessant song across the main field near the entrance of the camp. It echoed in the night and sounded like the very essence of a summer night.

This was known simply as the Whip-poor-will at the time. The species has now been split into Eastern and Mexican.


Cornell: Eastern Whip-poor-will

1. Red-winged Blackbird

Date          May 11, 2001

Location     US highway 23 near Chilicothe, OH

The first bird on my life list was actually added some time after I had discovered the hobby and even learned of the concept of a life list. So this entry and number 2 are a whole year apart. I'll explain in a little bit how I was able to determine such an exact date a year later.

On May 11, 2001, I was driving to a Boy Scout camp (Chief Logan to be exact) on a Friday afternoon to attend a father-son campout. For some reason on that drive, I started to notice all these cool looking birds on the side of the highway. I'm not sure why on this day it happened. It might be because I was starting to take an interest in some of the birds in my neighborhood recently. (I'll discuss that in more detail in my entries on robins and goldfinches.)

I was really excited because I thought they were orioles. Don't laugh.

Actually, I really wasn't that far off. Both orioles and blackbirds are in the Ichterid family, and, well, they're both black and orange! It really wasn't that bad a guess considering my knowledge at the time.

In my notes, I have that I was able to determine what the real identification was "a few days" later. I have no memory of how that actually came to pass. I know that at some point after this date I had purchased the Audubon field guide to eastern birds. I'm pretty sure it was at Sam's Club. I saw it on one of those big tables of books they have, and I was really excited to have it as a resource. Now I could actually identify those things flying around and not have to guess! My wife encouraged me to get it.

The next year on May 11, 2002, I was at another father-son campout and heard bird number 2. At some point after that, i started actually compiling my life list. So since I knew that it was the same weekend in 2001 that I saw the blackbird, I was able to determine the date exactly.


Cornell: Red-winged Blackbird