First days of trips can always have their dramas, and today was no exception. It all started with me over sleeping by an hour and getting to Ian's twenty minutes late, where Adam was also waiting. Still this had no effect on our arrival time at LHR, and our American Airlines flight arrived into Chicago early, which was just as well as the next drama was ready to unfold. We passed immigration quickly and transferred over to the Budget car rental, where Adam disclosed over the desk he didn't have a credit card, which went down like a lead balloon. I offered mine which in the past hasn't been an issue, but Americans as they are wouldn't allow it, and we were refused a car unless I was to spend the next half hour phoning a guy to replace the names etc., which I duly did. The Budget staff were very unhelpful, however the guy I was talking to was the opposite and with his help, we transferred my name to the main driver for no added cost, and somehow we were now on our way heading south and then east towards Ohio. The BMW X5 was a dream for me being automatic and powerful, but due to numerous road closures it wasn't until five hours later we arrived at Lake La Su An roughly 50 miles west of Toledo. Even birds were thin on the ground with just stacks of
Red-winged Blackbirds and
Common Grackles being the most conspicuous. We searched briefly for Henslow's Sparrows but couldn't find a suitable area, and so resorted to parking at the main lake and completing a very successful circular walk. We met a couple that told us about a juv.
Barred Owl just off the path, and we easily found the bird, although the adult took a bit more effort but again was found with ease. We then bumped into a superb Warbler flock that contained such species as
Black-throated Green, Bay-breasted, Magnolia and
Blackburnian Warblers, the latter being a species I've long been wanting to see, and it didn't disappoint. In fact, the walk was very good, apart from yet another drama. This time it was the Ticks, and these weren't ordinary Ticks, these were huge and legged it up your legs like no tomorrow. This led to three grown men (two slightly older) losing complete control with legs and arms waving around, taking clothes off, and generally having a sense of fear for the entire duration. Still it was very comical. After a 25 hour day, we rocked up into a Super 8 near Toledo ready for our time at Magee Marsh and surrounds coming up.
Highlights for the day below with lifers in capitals.
Lake La Su An
Yellow Warbler - 10
NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW - 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 4
Chipping Sparrow - 10
American Goldfinch - 5
EASTERN BLUEBIRD - 4
PURPLE MARTIN - 8
BALTIMORE ORIOLE - 3
Blue-grey Gnatcatcher - 15
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2
NORTHERN BARRED OWL - 2
GREY CATBIRD - 2
Myrtle Warbler - 30
BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER - 1
MAGNOLIA WARBLER - 1
BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER - 1
Red-eyed Vireo - 2
BAY-BREASTED WARBLER - 1
Black-and-White Warbler - 3
Northern Flicker - 4
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER - 1
Green Heron - 1
Belted Kingfisher - 1
BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE - 2
Downy Woodpecker - 3
White-breasted Nuthatch - 1
Hooded Merganser - 4
CHIMNEY SWIFT - 4
EASTERN PHEOBE - 1
Eade tours is renound for it's lack of Owls, so good to get one on the first day, and not where I had planned to see one.
this juv. Barred Owl was slightly easier to see
Red-headed Woodpecker
