Date: 3/7/25 12:09 pm From: Douglas Vogus <vogeye...> Subject: [Ohio-birds] Cuyahoga Valley Towpath Trail Census
MARCH 05 & 06, 2025 - CUYAHOGA VALLEY MONTHLY TOWPATH TRAIL CENSUS. ROUTE 03/05: Boston Store Trailhead north to Jaite Mill and back (trail closed at Brandywine Creek, so cover Boston to Jaite Mill and back, the day before). ROUTE 03/06: Boston Store Trailhead south to Merriman Valley. TIME 03/05: 12:30pm - 2:30pm TIME AFIELD 03/05: 2:00 TEMP. 03/05: 59F ~ 60F COND. 03/05: Sunny, breezy, unseasonably warm. FT. MI. 03/05: 3.60 OBS. 03/05: Douglas W. Vogus. TIME 03/06: 6:45am - 2:30pm TIME AFIELD 03/06: 7:45 TEMP. 03/06: 30F ~ 34F COND. 03/06: Light flurries at the start, gradually increasing to steady flurries, resulting in 1/4-inch of coverage; winds variable, coming from east, west, north and south; windchill 16F; cloudy all day; flurries changing to snow showers, then ice pellets and eventually ending around 11:15am. FT. MI. 03/06: 11.60 OBS. 03/06: John Henry and Douglas W. Vogus. TOTAL TIME AFIELD: 9:45 TOTAL FT. MI.: 15.20 TRAIL COND.: Puddled and soft with the usual winter ruts. RIVER COND.: High, swift and muddy from previous rains and melt; creeks rushing and swollen; Ira Beaver Marsh mostly open.
I. MAMMALS: 8 SPECIES, 62 TOTAL.
1. Eastern Chipmunk - 25 2. Eastern Gray Squirrel - 4 (2 black morph) 3. Eastern Fox Squirrel - 1 4. Red Squirrel - 22 5. American Mink - 1 (at Bolanz Rd. bridge and caught a fish - Fifth March Record on Census) 6. Northern River Otter - 1 (in Cuyahoga River at Bolanz Rd. bridge - Fourth Record on Census, First March Record on Census & Tied Census High from 10/2016, 05/2022 & 02/2023) 7. White-tailed Deer - 8 (2 does,6 unknown)
II. BIRDS: 51 SPECIES, 1 HYBRID, (1 SPECIES NEW TO CENSUS), 916 TOTAL. (NOTE: m = male; f = female; ? = bird was seen but not sexed; * = bird was heard calling but not sexed)
1. Cackling Goose - 1 (in with a flock of 52 Canada Geese in Szalay's field behind the Everett Ranger Station - New Species on Census - currently at 205 Bird Species since 01/2010) 2. Canada Goose - 159 3. Wood Duck - 9 (5m,4f) 4. Gadwall - 5 (2m,3f) (two pairs on Ira Beaver Marsh and a lone female in the canal north of Indian Spring Trailer Park - Fifth March Record on Census) 5. American Black Duck - 17 (9m,8f) 6. Mallard - 21 (7m,5f,8?,1*) 7. Ring-necked Duck - 9 (5m,4f) (all at Ira Beaver Marsh) 8. Common Merganser - 7 (4m,3f) 9. Rock Pigeon - 3 10. Mourning Dove - 7 11. Killdeer - 3 12. Ring-billed Gull - 5 13. Great Blue Heron - 5 14. Turkey Vulture - 5 15. Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1 (m) (soaring with a Turkey Vulture - First March Record on Census) 16. Cooper's Hawk - 2 (m) 17. Bald Eagle - 2 (1 adult,1 immature) 18. Red-shouldered Hawk - 3 19. Red-tailed Hawk - 11 (1 immature) 20. Belted Kingfisher - 3 (1m,1?,1*) 21. Red-bellied Woodpecker - 16 (9m,1f,1?,5*) 22. Downy Woodpecker - 9 (2m,7f) 23. Hairy Woodpecker - 8 (1m,6f,1*) 24. Northern Flicker - 1 (?) 25. Pileated Woodpecker - 2 (*) 26. Peregrine Falcon - 2 (1m,1f) (male delivered a morsel of food to the female) 27. Blue Jay - 24 28. American Crow - 68 (one bird carrying a stick to a Norway spruce) 29. Black-capped Chickadee - 19 30. Tufted Titmouse - 23 31. White-breasted Nuthatch - 20 (8m,2f,3?,7*) 32. Brown Creeper - 2 33. Carolina Wren - 12 34. European Starling - 28 35. Eastern Bluebird - 5 (2m,3f) 36. Hermit Thrush - 1 (just south of Deep Lock tunnel - Third March Record on Census) 37. American Robin - 62 38. House Sparrow - 31 39. House Finch - 6 (2m,1f,3*) 40. Purple Finch - 4 (2m,2f) (in sycamore tree just south of Indian Springs Trailer Park - Second March Record on Census) 41. American Goldfinch - 8 42. American Tree Sparrow - 16 43. Dark-eyed Junco - 14 (11m,3f) 44. White-throated Sparrow - 23 45. Song Sparrow - 22 46. Swamp Sparrow - 2 47. Eastern Towhee - 6 (2m,1f,3*) 48. Red-winged Blackbird - 78 (53m,1f,24?) 49. Rusty Blackbird - 15 (6m,1f,8?) 50. Common Grackle - 52 51. Northern Cardinal - 50 (34m,14f,2*)
HYBRID. American Black Duck X Mallard - 1 (m) (Third March Record on Census) ??. Unidentified Blackbird Species - 4 ??. Unidentified Passerines - 4
III. REPTILES: 1 SPECIES, 1 TOTAL.
1. Midland Painted Turtle - 1 (on 03/05) (Fourth March Record on Census)
IV. AMPHIBIANS: 1 SPECIES, 11 TOTAL.
1. Northern Spring Peeper - 11 (on 03/05 - heard only) (Fourth March Record on Census)
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