9 May 2026
Here are just a few of the birds Charity Kheshgi and I saw this week in Ohio. More to come in the days ahead! It’s time to get outdoors.
p.s. The black-capped chickadee is non-migratory but he still counts. 😉
8 May 2026
Sandhill cranes (Antigone canadensis) hatched a few weeks ago at Magee Marsh in northwestern Ohio. We found two colts following their parents on Thursday 7 May.
“Colts?” They’re called colts because they’re born with long, strong legs and able to walk within 24 hours of hatching.
Watch how one walks in this slow motion video from Jocelyn Anderson.
7 May 2026
Black-necked stilts (Himantopus mexicanus) are delicate-looking shorebirds that, according to official range maps, are absent in eastern North America other than the Atlantic coast. However, they are so raucous that it’s hard not to notice them at Howard Marsh in Curtice, Ohio.
The stilts first showed up in northwestern Ohio in 2004 and have returned annually for more than 20 years. Since they were already in the area, they immediately found Howard Marsh Metropark as soon as it was completed in 2018.
Their official range map says they aren’t here, but eBird sightings for the past 10 years say otherwise.
The Wikimedia map agrees with Cornell Lab’s All About Birds
Not only are they present, they are nesting. This one is incubating at Howard Marsh.
How do they hide their eggs on such a brown substrate? The eggs are dark olive with mottled black markings.
They must be doing well because they keep coming back. Like American white pelicans, black-necked stilts have made a new home in northwestern Ohio.
6 May 2026
Early last week many of us noticed a long feather at the nest. Where did it come from? Not from prey. On Tuesday 27 April, Carla preened vigorously and pulled it away from her wing.
24 hours later the discarded feather was near the chicks as Carla fed them. A smaller feather was visible as well (photo at top with arrows). Carla is molting but Ecco is not.
Male and female peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) that are resident in the mid-latitudes molt at slightly different times. Females molt their primary wing feathers while they’re incubating eggs and brooding young (March-May) because their mates are doing all the hard flying to provide food. The males molt their primaries in July after teaching the young to hunt.
Read more about molting at Time to Molt written in July 2022. Peregrine falcons are the last bird in the article.
p.s. Peregrine molt information can be found at:
5 May 2026
Today we’re on our way to Magee Marsh, Ohio where we’ll be birding early before The Biggest Week in American Birding begins 8-17 May 2026. It truly is the “Biggest Week” as it draws 80,000 to 90,000 visitors to the area each year.
The colors on this eBird Hotspot map show why it’s such a popular birding place. The redder the color, the more species seen. The hottest spot of all (center of the map) is Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge in Ottawa County where 305 species have been recorded. Magee Marsh Boardwalk is close behind with 276 species.
It’s the “Warbler Capital of the World” though only four warbler species breed in Ohio’s marshes: Prothonotary warbler, common yellowthroat, northern yellow warbler (recently split), and occasionally black-and-white warbler.
This year’s Biggest Week’s cover bird is the hooded warbler (Setophaga citrina), a bird so rare at Magee Marsh Boardwalk that if one shows up it causes a stampede.
Hooded warblers occur in northwestern Ohio (see my faint orange circle on the map below) but are more readily seen in western Pennsylvania (darker purple). They are rare at the Boardwalk because they prefer thick shrubby areas in forest understory, not open marsh habitat with sparse woodlots.
Some formerly rare birds are now more common. Prior to 2010 American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) were very rare flyover birds. Now they are present every year.
Their official range map (left) still has them absent east of the Mississippi but observations and breeding records show some in northwestern Ohio. American white pelicans now breed on Turning Point Island in Sandusky Bay and many stop over on their way to their breeding grounds in Canada (righthand map).
The forecast for northwestern Ohio calls for chilly cloudy weather and rain while we’re there. I might need this video “warbler fix” by the time I’m done. (I also posted this video last year.)
4 May 2026
This goldfish looks familiar. Someone didn’t want it or couldn’t keep it anymore so they dropped it off in the nearest waterway to let it “swim free.” Big mistake.
The goldfish above was found at Presque Isle State Park but I’ve seen them this big in Schenley Park’s Panther Hollow Lake. Goldfish are in the carp family (Cyprinidae) and live 12-20 years.
Awww, but it was so tiny when I bought it! Not anymore. During their long lifetime goldfish reach 6-10 inches in a tank but grow much bigger outdoors where they can weigh up to 4 pounds!
Your pet store goldfish after two years in the wild: ‘Call me Megalodon.’ [an extinct giant shark]
This goldfish isn’t supposed to be here. But someone released it, thinking they were being kind. Instead, they created an invasive problem that can last decades.
Goldfish grow massive in the wild, where they can turn lakes and waterways into murky messes, steal food from native fish, and wreck water quality.
If you can’t keep your fish, rehome it. Just don’t let it loose.
— Facebook Post for Invasive Species Week, 25 Feb 2025 by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Goldfish are invasive in many states including Pennsylvania and Minnesota. This 4+ minute video shows what happens in the wild and provides answers for your unwanted goldfish problem.
Remember, if you have an unwanted goldfish it is illegal to drop it off outdoors. Rehome it (give it away), take it to a Pet Surrender Event, call a pet or aquarium supply store, or call a Nature Center for advice. Don’t put it outdoors!
p.s. Goldfish create lousy, murky water quality. I’ll bet they are part of the problem at Panther Hollow Lake.
3 May 2026
Hatch Day at the Pitt peregrine nest was just over a week ago so now’s a good time to see how the chicks have grown.
This slideshow from the National Aviary’s Cathedral of Learning falconcam displays one photo per day from 25 April through 2 May 2026.
There are subtle changes in the day-by-day photos.
At Hatching: 35-40 grams, feeble, damp, pink, sparse down, eyes closed except when begging, open eye is slit-like.
On Hatch Day: The fourth egg hatched on 27 April; the chick was dry within an hour. Five hours later the newest chick (in green circle) was standing up for a feeding with his siblings.
At 5 days: Weight has doubled since hatch day, sits up, open eye is round. No second down yet.
At 6 days: Second down begins on wings (humeral and alar tracts, dorsal surface of wing).
At 7 Days = 1 week: Second down begins on abdomen and legs (femoral and crural tracts), chicks form a huddle in the nest scrape, can sit up but still wobbly. Sleep in a pile.
Yesterday when the chicks were one week old, one of them opened his wings while sleeping in the pile under Carla’s breast. I’ve marked up this photo to show feather development along his wing.
See photos of their expected development at: Peregrine chicks week-to-week development in pictures.
Watch the chicks grow on the National Aviary falconcam at the University of Pittsburgh.
2 May 2026
Four of us visited Enlow Fork (State Gamelands 302) on 28 April, two days after Wheeling Creek Watershed Conservancy held their Enlow Fork Spring Fling. Many flowers were at their peak but our yo-yo weather caused many others to bloom early and those were past their prime.
Four of the best flowers are pictured here:
Bedstraw is also called cleavers because of the tiny hooks on all its leaves and stems. The hooks are so tiny that they never hurt but they do make the plant stick to your hand.
A Favorite Cat:
Last weekend we visited my family in southeastern Virginia and saw one of our favorite cats, my sister’s cat Liddy.
Liddy likes to be with people and she likes to sleep. During dinner she wanted to be with us but it was bright and loud and no lap was available so she slept on the back of the sofa.
To keep out the light and noise she “stands on her head” to block her ears and cover her eyes. Here’s what she looks like when her face is looking up.
1 May 2026
Marsupials are unusual mammals whose young are born in an undeveloped state and complete their development inside their mother’s pouch. Australia has many marsupials including kangaroos and koalas but north of Mexico, North America has only one. The Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) is the northernmost marsupial in the world.
This week Dana Nesiti saw an opossum crossing a gravel trail and published it in slow motion on Facebook. Notice how “fat” this possum appears to be. She’s a mother carrying her growing young inside her pouch.
    NOTE: If you’re viewing this on mobile and cannot see the video: A Facebook bug prevents displaying of embedded Facebook posts on some mobile devices. Until Meta fixes it click here to see Dana’s post.
When her young get larger they won’t fit in her pouch so she’ll have to carry them on her back. The caption on this Wikimedia photo says she’s carrying nine!
p.s. How did Virginia opossums get so far north? They walked from South America!
30 April 2026
We’re used to watching out for pests while turning over the soil but here’s one you may not recognize. Asian jumping worms (Amynthas agrestis) are an invasive species that writhe and jump unlike our relatively placid earthworms. Earthworms benefit the garden but Asian jumping worms ruin the soil. If you have them, get rid of them!
Here’s a quick video from Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York that describes the worms and an easy way to get rid of them.
You can tell when a bird catches a jumping worm because the worm constantly twists and writhes. The worm can even break off its tail and keep on living. Watch a grackle catch one … and most of the worm escapes anyway. Boo!
Learn more in this vintage article from 2019, including links to Pennsylvania jumping worm news.
p.s. How to get rid of them? Put them in a sealed plastic bag in the sun for at least 10 minutes.
