Biggest week of American Birding Day 4 - May 11 - Oak Openings & Ottawa NWR
On Wednesday, we decided to visited Oak Opening MetroPark in search of Red Headed Woodpeckers and Lark Sparrows (this would be a lifer for two in our group).
The
day was sunny but cool as we left our hotel at 8am for the 1 hour drive
to the park. We arrived at the visitors centers an immediately heard a
Great Crested Flycatcher calling - a great start to the day. After walking a few trails in
the immediate area and adding and seeing several more species - we drove a short distance to
the area where we previously had seen & heard Red headed Woodpeckers and sure enough as we pulled into the parking area...someone in the
group spotted the first flash of those tell tale white wing bars....it wasn't long after
that that we spotted the first of many RH Woodpeckers in the area.
We stayed in the area, watching the Red Headed Woodpeckers, for another 30 minutes, before deciding to take our lunch break in the area where the Lark Sparrow where being seen - a small dunes
meadow area - the dunes area is closed during the nesting season and you must watch for the Lark Sparrows
from the road over looking the dunes meadow. This area is the eastern most range of the Lark Sparrow, and one of the few area's where it can observed on a regular basis. We where there about 45 minutes
we one of the group - spotted the first one - this was a life bird for
several in the group and they where very excited to see it....we ended
up seeing 5 in the 2 hours we spent in the area - and to top it off as we where getting ready to leave a
male Summer Tanager appeared - what a way to end the day...can it get
any better then this....just wait and see what happens on Thursday - our last day.
| Red Headed Woodpecker |
| Pair of Lark Sparrows - photo by L Black |
| Lark Sparrow |
After leaving Oak Opening we decided to return to Ottawa NWR for another look at the American Avocet again and to see if any other shore birds had arrived overnight.
We ended the tour of Ottawa NWR with no new species to add to our growing list - even thought we did tally 45 species - we did not see the American Avocet again. As it was getting late, we decided to call it a day and get some dinner - it was 8:30pm!
We ended the day with 75 total species and upped the trip total species count to 118 - it was a good day of birding for sure.
We ended the tour of Ottawa NWR with no new species to add to our growing list - even thought we did tally 45 species - we did not see the American Avocet again. As it was getting late, we decided to call it a day and get some dinner - it was 8:30pm!
We ended the day with 75 total species and upped the trip total species count to 118 - it was a good day of birding for sure.
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