Field Trips
Our new website has a new Field trip and Second Saturday Bird Walk page. Go to these links.
Field Trips
Second
Saturday Bird Walks
Click on link below for Maps/Directions
(Click on dates for more details)
*Field Trips are subject to change
Christmas Bird Count, Click here
Second Saturday Bird Walk at RRNC
Date |
Day of Week |
Time |
Place |
Leader |
Target Species |
September 12, 2015 | Saturday | 9:00 am |
Rocky River Nature |
Bill Deininger, Ken Gober, Dave Graskemper | Second Saturday Bird Walk |
September 27, 2015 | Sunday | 8:00 am | Lake Erie Nature & Science Center | Tim Jasinski | Migrating Warblers |
October 10, 2015 | Saturday | 9:00 am |
Rocky River Nature |
Bill Deininger, Ken Gober, Dave Graskemper | Second Saturday Bird Walk |
October 18, 2015 | Sunday | 9:30 am | West Creek | Kurt Grenig | Fall Migrants |
November 14, 2015 | Saturday | 9:00 am |
Rocky River Nature |
Bill Deininger, Ken Gober, Dave Graskemper | Second Saturday Bird Walk |
November 21, 2015 | Saturday | 8:30 am | Bradstreet Landing | Rich & Karen Kassouf | Scoters, Waterfowl, Gulls |
December 12, 2015 | Saturday | 9:00 am |
Rocky River Nature |
Bill Deininger, Ken Gober, Dave Graskemper | Second Saturday Bird Walk |
December 27, 2015 | Sunday | Contact area leader | Christmas Bird Count, WCAS | Nancy Howell, compiler | Winter residents |
January 9, 2016 | Saturday | 9:00 am |
Rocky River Nature |
Bill Deininger, Ken Gober, Dave Graskemper | Second Saturday Bird Walk |
January 31, 2015 | Sunday | 8:30 am | Lake Erie Nature & Science Center | Tim Jasinski | Gulls & waterfowl |
February 13, 2016 | Saturday | 9:00 am |
Rocky River Nature |
Bill Deininger, Ken Gober, Dave Graskemper | Second Saturday Bird Walk |
February 13, 2016 | Saturday | 9:00 am |
Rocky River Nature |
Bill Deininger, Ken Gober, Dave Graskemper | Great Backyard Bird Count |
March 12, 2016 | Saturday | 9:00 am |
Rocky River Nature |
Bill Deininger, Ken Gober, Dave Graskemper | Second Saturday Bird Walk |
March 13, 2016 | Sunday | 9:00 am |
Wellington Upground Reservoir
the reservoir is across the street from Wellington Reservation |
Erik Bruder | Migrating waterfowl |
April 9, 2016 | Saturday | 9:00 am |
Rocky River Nature |
Bill Deininger, Ken Gober, Dave Graskemper | Second Saturday Bird Walk |
April 10 -May 15, 2016 | Sundays | 7:30 am | Audubon Spring Walks | Various | Spring migrants |
April 17, 2016 | Sunday | 7:30 am | Lake Isaac | Nancy Howell | Spring migrants |
May 14, 2016 | Saturday | 9:00 am |
Rocky River Nature |
Bill Deininger, Ken Gober, Dave Graskemper | Second Saturday Bird Walk |
May 18, 2016 | Wednesday | 6:00 pm | Lake Erie Nature & Science Center | Tim Jasinski | Barred Owl & Warblers |
June 11, 2016 | Saturday | 9:00 am |
Rocky River Nature |
Bill Deininger, Ken Gober, Dave Graskemper | Second Saturday Bird Walk |
December 30, 2016 | Friday | Contact area leader | Christmas Bird Count, WCAS | Nancy Howell, compiler | Winter residents |
Highlights for this Field Trip Season.
Second Saturday Bird Walk sponsored by Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society. Ken Gober, Dave Graskemper and Bill Deininger will lead walks on the second Saturday of each month at 9 a.m. on the trails around the Cleveland Metroparks Rocky River Nature Center.
This is a great opportunity to see the birds of the Rocky River Important Bird Area. New to birding? Grab some binoculars and join us. You will be amazed how fast you can learn to find birds by sight and sound. Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society invites birders of all skill levels to our "Second Saturday" bird walk. Learn the birds of the Rocky River Important Bird Area.
What can be seen here? Check out eBird
Meet in the parking lot of the Rocky River Nature Center, 24000 Valley Parkway, North Olmsted, OH 44070.
Map and directions at: http://www.wcasohio.org/Rocky_River_Nature_Center.htm
Upcoming dates for Second Saturday
Bird Walk
Every second Saturday of the month.
Enjoy a walk along wetlands and through forest.
Rocky River Nature Center is located at 24000 Valley Parkway in Rocky River
Reservation, north of Cedar Point Road in North Olmsted, Ohio 44070
Sunday, September 27, 2015 at
8 a.m.
Field Trip to Lake Erie Nature and Science Center
Leader: Tim Jasinski (LENSC) and
(WCAS)
Target Species: Migrating
warblers
Birds are migrating south from Canada to their wintering grounds in Central
and South America. The woods
along Porter Creek are a welcome stopover after a flight across Lake Erie.
We will begin this walk at Lake Erie Nature and Science Center, go to
Lake Erie, and return.
Lake Erie Nature and Science Center is located at 28728 Wolf Road, Bay
Village, OH 44140.
Map and directions are at:
http://www.wcasohio.org/Lake_Erie_Nature_and_Science_Center.htm
Sunday, October 18, 2015 at
9:30 a.m.
West Creek Field Trip
Leader: Kurt Grenig
Target Species: Late Fall
Migrants
West Creek Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks has varied terrain and
habitat. The Field Trip Leader
will be Kurt Grenig, who birds West Creek and is also the founder of the new
Southern Cuyahoga Christmas Bird Count Circle.
Mid-October is a transitional time, when winter residents are
arriving and late-migrating warblers and sparrows are passing through
Northeast Ohio.
Meet in the parking lot by the Watershed Stewardship Center.
The address is 2277 West Ridgewood Dr., Parma OH 44134
Directions from Cleveland:
Take Broadview Rd south to Ridgewood Dr. Turn right (west) on Ridgewood Dr.
The entrance to West Creek is on the left side (south side) of West
Ridgewood Dr. approximately one-half mile from Broadview Rd.
Directions from I-480: From I-480 exit at State Road and proceed south
approximately two miles to West Ridgewood Drive. Turn left on West
Ridgewood, proceed approximately one mile to the entrance of the
reservation.
A map is at:
http://www.wcasohio.org/west_creek.htm
Saturday, November 21,
2015 at 8:30 a.m.
Field trip to Bradstreet Landing (note location has been changed due to contruction at Rocky River Park)
Target Species:
Scoters and other Waterfowl, plus Gulls
Leaders: Rich and Karen Kassouf
Waterfowl migration can be an exciting time on the shores of Lake Erie.
Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society will bird with Kirtland Bird Club at
Bradstreet Landing, Rocky River OH. We
will possibly explore other hotspots along Lake Erie as well.
Bradstreet's Landing is at 22400 Lake Road, Rocky River,
Ohio.
Directions:
Exit I-90 at Columbia Rd. Go
north on Columbia a short distance to Sperry Rd.
Turn right (east) on Sperry Rd.
to Clague Rd. Go left
(north) on Clague Rd. Follow
Clague north to Lake Rd.
Or, if you prefer, when you exit at Columbia, go north
toward Lake Rd. Turn right
(east) on Lake Rd.
Sunday, December
27, 2015
is the
date of our chapter’s
Christmas Bird Count.
116th CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT for Western Cuyahoga Audubon, west
side of Cuyahoga County
“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas …” gaah,
another Christmas carol in my head. Not because of the upcoming holidays,
but because of the CHRISTMAS BIRD
COUNT. Leaves are just barely turning color, yet I am thinking ahead to
the Christmas Bird Count for the west side of Cleveland which will be held
on Sunday, December 27. This is also known as the Lakewood Count since
the center point of our count circle is located in Lakewood.
For those familiar or unfamiliar with what a Christmas
Bird Count is, it is the longest running “citizen science” project with over
100 years of data. Data
collected goes to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s database giving
researchers a glimpse of bird species that are around at the end of
December. Each year is different but when data over many years is analyzed
trends begin to appear and questions raised. Are the birds hanging around in
the winter because the weather has gotten milder? Is food more prevalent?
Are species seen where they have not been seen before? Are we just better
birders?
Last year the Lakewood Christmas Bird Count tallied 78
species on count day with 2 additional species during count week. I know we
can do great things for 2015!
It is NOT too
early to sign up to participate in the Christmas Bird Count The portion of
the west side this count takes in a lot of the western lakefront going
slightly into Lorain County around the Avon Lake, Avon and North Ridgeville,
south to the northern border of Strongsville and east to Brooklyn and some
of Parma Hts. The WCAS website,
http://www.wcasohio.org/christmas_bird_count1.htm shows the count circle
and a list of areas needing coverage.
We can ALWAYS have people walk around their neighborhoods, small
parks, cemeteries and any other place to count birds as long as it is within
the circle.
Some groups or
individuals choose to be out early in the morning, some a little later. Some
individuals go “owling” in the pre-dawn hours or later that evening. All
species as well as individual birds are counted, yes this does include House
Sparrows, Rock Pigeons and European Starlings. Some groups and individuals
walk in areas, others drive from spot to spot. No matter what mode of
transportation, it is great to get as much of our count circle covered as
possible. There is even the opportunity to tally the birds at your feeder
that day … but remember it HAS to be within our count circle.
As a participant you may consider being out part of the day or all
day.
The Christmas
Bird Count is free, but if you would like to make a donation to National
Audubon Society to help in compiling the information which will be available
electronically only, you may do so at our “thank you” dinner. A catered
dinner will be held at the Rocky River Nature Center beginning at 5:30 PM
that Sunday were we will tally the species and initial numbers.
Please contact
Nancy Howell at 440-891-1710 (home),
njh24425@hotmail.com or 216-231-4600 ext. 3225 (work) or
nhowell@cmnh.org for more information,
to sign up for an area and for further information about the “thank you”
dinner. Check out the WCAS
website or the National Audubon website for additional information about
Christmas Bird Counts –
http://www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/
Sunday, January 31, 2016 at
8:30
a.m.
Field Trip to Lake Erie Nature and Science Center
Leader: Tim Jasinski
Winter at Huntington Reservation can be surprisingly birdy.
We will bird the woods and fields near Lake Erie Nature and Science
Center, and work our way to Lake Erie.
A variety of waterfowl and gulls are a good possibility on the lake
shore. Bring a scope if you
have one.
Lake Erie Nature and Science Center is located at 28728 Wolf Road, Bay
Village Ohio 44140.
Saturday, February 13, 2016 at 9:00 a.m.
The trails around the Cleveland Metroparks Rocky River Nature Center lead to
woodland and wetland habitats.
Three expert leaders will guide us as we observe winter resident birds.
An irruption of winter finches is predicted for this winter and these
will be the target species.
This will be our field trip for February. The Great Backyard Bird Count is
this weekend, and we will enter the results to be part of that.
The Rocky River Nature Center is located at 24000 Valley Parkway, North
Olmsted, OH 44070. For a map
and directions visit:
http://www.wcasohio.org/Rocky_River_Nature_Center.htm
Sunday, March 13, 2016 at 9 a.m.
Field Trip to
Wellington Upground Reservoir
Leader: Erik Bruder
Target Species: Migrating
waterfowl.
The Wellington Upground Reservoir is a great waterfowl stopover.
Flocks of ducks, grebes, mergansers and scaup can be seen on the
right day. There is easy viewing
for all as vehicles with handicapped tags can park next to the water. Bring
a scope if you have one. The reservoir is across the road from the
Lorain Metroparks Wellington Reservation, with restrooms and acres
of bird habitat.
From the Cleveland area take I-480 west.
It becomes Route 10.
Follow Route 10 west to Route 58.
Go south on Route 58. You
will pass through the town of Wellington.
Just south of town, turn right on Jones Road.
Watch for an archway on the right leading to the reservoir.
If you reach the Wellington Reservation (on left) you have gone too
far. The address of Wellington Reservation is 535 Jones Rd. Wellington, OH
44090
Audubon Spring Bird Walks
See the spring migrants during the Audubon spring bird walks. The walks
will be held each Sunday from April 12 to May 17, 2015, at 7:30 a.m.
A full list of locations can be found
on our web site:
www.wcasohio.org/spring_bird_walks.htm
The following is a partial list of local walks: Lake Isaac in
Middleburg Hts. Hinckley Reservation at bridge on State Rd. CanalWay Center
in Cuyahoga Hts. Rocky River Nature Center, North Olmsted, Station Rd.
Bridge Trailhead, Brecksville.
For all birders, this is a wonderful opportunity to sample the waves of
birds moving through some of the top birding spots around Cleveland. New
birders, be sure to be out on each of these six Sundays.
It is a great way to start birding.
Audubon Society of Greater Cleveland conducts these walks in cooperation with the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, local park districts and the Holden Arboretum. Walks are led by expert volunteersm from Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society and other local birding groups. The walks are free to all.
Sunday, April 17, 2016 7:30 a.m.
Field Trip to
Lake Isaac
Leader:
Nancy Howell
Target Species: Waterfowl, woodpeckers, raptors
WCAS birders will join in on one of the Audubon Spring Bird Walks for our
April field trip. A variety of
habitats around Lake Isaac includes forest and fields as well as Lake Isaac.
Lake Isaac is located in Middleburg Heights, on Big Creek Parkway, just
south of Fowles Road. Take I-71
south from Cleveland to Pearl Rd. (Rte. 42). Go north on Pearl Road and
watch for Fowles Road, a short distance.
Turn left on Fowles Road.
Follow Fowles to Big Creek Parkway and turn left.
The parking lot for Lake Isaac is on the right.
A
map and directions are here:
http://www.wcasohio.org/lake_isaac.htm
Wednesday, May 18, 2016 at 6
p.m.
Early Evening Bird
Walk
at Lake Erie
Nature and Science Center
Leader: Tim Jasinski
Target Species: Barred Owl and
Warblers!
Migrating warblers stop to rest and feed before crossing Lake Erie on the
way to nesting grounds in Canada.
Huntington Reservation, around Lake Erie Nature and Science Center,
is a great spot to view them. In
addition, Barred Owls have nested in the area for many years running.
Chances are good to see them.
Wildlife rehabber Tim Jasinski leads our walk.
Annual Picnic and Plant exchange
Tuesday, June 7, 2016 at 6:00 PM
Picnic and plant
exchange - NOT at
The
final meeting of the 2015-2016 year is the WCAS picnic and plant exchange.
We will meet at TBA.
Bring yourself, family, friends and your dinner.
A charcoal grill will be lit if you would like to cook something.
This is a relaxing evening with fellow members, family and friends.
Wait, wait there’s more! Bring
your orphan indoor or outdoor plants, seeds, bulbs, transplants, cuttings
and whatever plants you would like to find a home for.
This plant exchange has been tremendously successful.
If you don’t have any plants to bring, that’s fine … but we hope you
can take some home. Bring
your binoculars too since we have a birdwalk along the
It has been said that if you drive 100 miles to see a rare bird, and you can
actually identify that bird, you are a true birder!
Since we love traveling to look for birds, but at the same time, we
care about our environment, Western Cuyahoga Audubon offers a way to offset
the carbon impact of some of this driving. It is the Carbon Offset WCAS
Project, modeled on the effort launched at the 2011 Midwest Birding
Symposium.
Here is how it works: Any time we have a field trip where more than 100
miles of travel may be involved (Think Killdeer Plains or Ottawa National
Wildlife Refuge) participants may voluntarily contribute to a fund, based on
mileage. Monies generated by
carbon offset will go toward habitat preservation in our Rocky River
Important Bird Area, or in another area of local interest.
While there are many carbon offset models and calculators, we offer a simple
formula.
Compact car:
driver only - 10 cents per mile,
additional passengers 5 cents each per mile. Multiply these amounts by the
total miles and divide by 10.
Mid-sized car:
driver only - 20 cents per mile, additional passengers 10 cents per mile.
Multiply these amounts by the total miles and divide by 10.
Truck or larger van:
driver only - 25 cents per mile, additional passengers 15 cents per mile.
Multiply these amounts by the total miles and divide by 10.
For example, if I drive to Killdeer Plains, the round trip will be 250
miles. I usually have two passengers, so I will figure 10 plus 5 plus 5
cents per mile for a total of 20 cents per mile. Twenty times 250 divided by
10 equals 500, so I will put in $5.00 for carbon offset.
Note that rounding to the nearest 50 miles when calculating your trip
distance may produce an easier payment amount.
This is completely voluntarily, just another way to help, and of course any
donation to the fund is welcome.
You may use this handy form to accompany your donation.
CARBON OFFSET PROJECT UPDATE
Our
special funds for the Carbon Offset Bird Project has seen a bit of a boost.
Some of our members checked off the Carbon Offset funds on their application
when renewing or becoming a new member. These funds will be used to assist
in purchasing property for the protection of habitat, plants and wildlife
within our WCAS area. Thank you.
For details of past field trips click on Pictures & Reports.
To a person uninstructed in natural history, his country
or seaside stroll is a walk through a gallery filled with wonderful works,
nine-tenths of which have their faces turned to the wall.-T.H. Huxley