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Virtual Field Trip Report To Nimisila Reservoir August 2020
Virtual Field Trip Report To Nimisila Reservoir August 2020
Photo: Osprey Nest by Shaun Missig Photo: Osprey in Flight by Shaun Missig
Shaun Missig (cont.)
I also encountered a Pied-billed Grebe for the first time as well. I thought it may have been a juvenile
mallard, but after doing some research, that was incorrect. I did happen to capture some of the sunset that
night as well, and it wasn’t the most colorful sunset I have seen, but it certainly didn’t disappoint.
Photo: Nimisila Lotus Flowers by Aimee Pierson Photo: Nimisila Lotuses at Sunset by Michelle Brosius
Michelle Brosius (cont.)
I grew up on a small farm in Wayne County, Ohio and Georgia was a farmgirl from South Dakota. She didn't grow
up watching Purple Martins like I did, but she was a bird watcher when she lived on the Plains.
After exploring various roads within the park, we hit the sweet spot of where the birds would be. We
disembarked and quickly saw that we were unprepared for the event. People were unloading kayaks and canoes.
People were wearing binoculars and cameras with huge telephoto lenses around their necks while carrying a
tripod or spotting telescope. There we were with one pair of binoculars and a pocket canon digital camera.
Gloria Ferris (cont.)
Georgia said, "Good Heavens, Gloria, we look
like a couple of pikers. We don't even have
folding chairs!" Soon, we would realize it didn't
even matter. While we stood there knee deep
in poison ivy watching the acrobatic, graceful
birds swoop down from the sky to catch their
evening dinner, I looked up and to the North.
For us, the Purple Martins became a backdrop to a birding mystery. The next morning I woke up and the mystery
was solved. Photographer and Naturalist Tom Fishburn had a gorgeous array of the very same brown bird we saw
on Facebook, and he had identified it as a Brown Booby that was blown North by strong hurricane winds. Who
knew that our first venture back to the birding of our youth, we would have such an exciting story to tell. We were
two of a select group to spot and watch the Brown Booby explore unfamiliar territory. Now, here we both are with
a life bird anticipating our next adventure.
Mary Ann & John Henderson
31 Species
Mary Ann and John birded on September 5, 7:45 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
• 2 Canada Goose • 1 Red-tailed Hawk • 3 Black-capped
Chickadee
• 1 Wood Duck • 1 Belted Kingfisher
• 10 Purple Martin
• 11 Mallard • 1 Red-bellied
Woodpecker • 1 White-breasted
• 6 Pied-billed Grebe
Nuthatch
• 2 Downy
• 2 American Coot
Woodpecker • 2 Carolina Wren
• 7 Ring-billed Gull
• 1 Northern Flicker • 3 Gray Catbird
• 10 Double-crested
• 1 Eastern Wood- • 2 House Finch
Cormorant
Pewee
• 1 American
• 1 Great Blue Heron
• 1 Eastern Phoebe Goldfinch
• 2 Turkey Vulture
• 4 Warbling Vireo • 1 warbler sp.
• 2 Osprey (Parulidae sp.)
• 1 Red-eyed Vireo
Photo: Pied-billed Grebe by Tom Fishburn • 1 Bald Eagle • 3 Northern
• 6 Blue Jay
Cardinal
• 3 American Crow
Tom Fishburn
Tom visited Nimisila on August 8 & August 29.
Cindy and I got there just around 8:00 p.m. after taking the scenic
route 🙂. We had started mid-afternoon stopping at or driving through
several spots (Furnace Run, Wood Hollow in northern Summit County,
West Branch in Portage County, the south-west part of Berlin Reservoir
in Stark County, and back in Summit County to Winged Foot and
Springfield Bog) before Nimisila. We like road trips!
I used two cameras at Nimisila. One on a tripod to catch the sunset and
distant huge flock of martins, and one with my 400mm telephoto lens
to get some closer-up shots. It's my 400mm lens that's made for
photographing birds in flight with a superior auto-focus. I caught a little
sunlight on some of the closer birds. Photographing towards the west
with the sun setting is a challenge. It did help that I found a spot a little
to the north of the east bank where I could see birds more toward the
south. The skies were not as full of color as it was when I went two
years ago. Much fewer clouds this time. Photo: Purple Martin by Tom Fishburn
Tom Fishburn
A pair of Purple Martins catch
A flock of Red-winged Blackbirds fly over the sun just before sunset.
Nimisila Reservoir in Summit County.
Photo: Boaters at Nimisila by Tom Fishburn Photo: Osprey in Flight by Tom Fishburn
Tom Fishburn (cont.)
&