I Eastern Highlands & Upper Ohio River Valley 
Toledo 
P^maiu^ms/tri' aCookfixesISP 
fWfi Lorain Af„sguiioL'’ " 
Bode Ctm* 
SPm 
•Dayton 
•jwso ««. i'viis syiVAriSA 
'SafcfEapfsSP* ESttoudsburgi 
L Arthur B •Stele 
)efl«vCrs«*SP 
Harnstwrg* 
■<l3fK» 
HawirUrni 
:,?ineinnati 
.OJ^ 
V f£ 
Aaron Boone 
Victor W. Fazio, III 
RickWiltraut 
WEST 
VIRGiMiA 
T he summer was generally mild, with 
mean temperatures below average and 
some record lows reached locally. The 
cooler temperatures may have been associat- 
ed with several exceptional 
records of boreal breeders 
lingering within the Region. 
Birders are increasingly an- 
ticipating, and Ending, 
near-annual vagrants such 
as Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 
and White Ibis. Summer 
breeding bird atlas work 
abounded in the Region, as 
Pennsylvanians added some 
last-minute survey efforts 
for an additional year to 
their six-year project, while 
Ohio’s atlas entered its 
fourth year and West Vir- 
ginia initiated the state’s 
second project in its inau- 
gural year. Reports of vagrants were few and 
far between, although Long-billed Curlew 
would represent a second Pennsylvania 
record, and West Virginia hosted its second 
Tricolored Heron. Birders were kept busy 
with exciting breeding activity that produced 
some exceptional records. Eurasian Col- 
lared-Dove added Ohio to its resume, and 
Merlin continued its magical return, breed- 
ing in Ohio for the hrst time in almost a cen- 
tury and in West Virginia for the hrst time 
tawa N.W.R., Lucas/Ottawa, OH); P.l.S.P. 
(Presque Isle S.P, Erie, PA); S.R.C.E (Susque- 
hanna R. at Conejohela Elats, Lancaster, PA). 
WATERFOWL THROUGH IBIS 
Trumpeter Swans nesting in Guernsey, OH 
(D. LeVasseur) demonstrate the spread into 
the Allegheny Plateau. A lingering Tundra 
Swan was a PI. S.P through at least 23 Jul 
OM). Lone Gadwalls were in Harrison, OH 3 
Jun (S. Albaugh), Lorain, OH 6 Jul (B.R.A.), 
and Jefferson, WV 7 Jun (E. Kirschnaum). 
Hardin, OH saw its hrst nesting record of 
Northern Shoveler, with 10 there 4 Jul (RC). 
A pair of Northern Pintails in Ottawa, OH 18 
Jun (MSh) was suspected of nesting. Two 
male Green-winged Teal were found at Ot- 
tawa 7 Jun {fide D. Vogus), but more intrigu- 
After several years of sight records, breeding confirmation for Common Merganser in West Virginia came in 
the form of these 1 5 young and two adults 22 July 2009 on the South Fork of the Potomac River, in Smoke 
Hole Canyon, Pendelton County. Photograph by Mike Powell. 
ing was a pair at Tri-Valley W.M.A., Musk- 
ingum, OH 14Jun (CP). Single Green-winged 
Teal in suitable breeding habitat were found 
in Fulton, OH 29 Jun (TK) and Hardin OH 4 
Jul (RC). Breeding Redheads were conhrmed 
in Ottawa, OH 18 Jun (MSh), when hen with 
a brood was observed; a lone Redhead was on 
the Ohio R. 23 & 25 Jun (]. Erodge). Mid- 
summer Ohio Ring-necked Ducks were found 
in Franklin 5 Jun (2; S. Jones; 8 Jun, J. 
Thurston), Auglaize 3 Jul (D. Snuffer), Mont- 
Abbreviations: Conneaut 
(Conneaut Marsh and Har- 
bor, Ashtabula, OH); Kill- 
buck Marsh (Killbuck 
Marsh W.A., Wayne/Holmes, 
OH); Headlands (Headlands 
Beach S. P. and State Nature 
Preserve, Lake, OH); Magee 
(Magee Marsh W.M.A., Lu- 
cas/Ottawa, OH); O.D.N.R. 
(Ohio Department of Natu- 
ral Resources); Ottawa (Ot- 
Ihe resurgence of Common Merganser in the s. Alleghenys has been one of slow but steady progress 
Is. and w. of the burgeoning populations in New York and Pennsylvania (and more recently Maryland 
and n. Virginia). The West Virginia chapter of this expansion began in 2001 with observations on the Dryfork 
R. in Preston, with 20 birds present in mid-Aug. Subsequently, there were unconfirmed reports of two broods 
in 2006 on the Dryfork {fide Casey Rucker), in 2008, we reported on a brood on Shavers Fork in Randolph. 
This season saw a pair with young in the same vicinity on Shavers Fork just upstream from Porterwood, Ran- 
dolph 1 Jun {hde RT). Another pair was observed on Shavers Fork just downstream from Cheat Bridge in Ran- 
dolph 8 Jun [hde RT). Finally, Mike Powell photographed 2 ad. females with 15 young at Smoke Hole Canyon 
on the s. fork of the Potomac R. in Pendleton 15 Jul for confirmation of the state's first breeding record since 
1897. In addition, 3 males were observed on the Potomac R. near Shepherdstown, Jefferson 8 Jul {fide RT). 
There is little doubt that the West Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas will add new pages to this chapter. 
gomery 3 Jul (RA), and Paulding 25-31 Jul 
(DMD). In Pennsylvania, single Ring-necked 
Ducks lingered in Berks at Peter’s Creek 14 
Jun (MW) and Oley 4 Jul (RK). Single male 
Lesser Scaup were in Guernsey, OH 20-21 Jun 
(DS, DL), Paulding, OH 3 Jul (DMD), and 
Berks, PA 30 Jun (E Haas). A pair of Hooded 
Mergansers was in Morgan, OH 12 Jun (B. 
Lowe), while a hen with 6 young was in Ran- 
dolph, WV 27 Jun (RT). Common Mergansers 
continue to be reported in ne. Ohio during 
the breeding season: one was seen 4 Jun along 
Conneaut Cr., Ashtabula 4 Jun (CH). Single 
Red-breasted Mergansers appeared 7 Jul in 
Ashtabula, OH (MV) and Lorain OH (B.R.A.), 
and one was at L. Ontelaunee, Berks, PA 5 Jun 
(MW). A lingering Bufhehead was in Bucks, 
PA 10 Jun (E. Boenzli). Single Ruddy Ducks 
were scattered across Trum- 
bull, OH 13 Jun and 5 Jul 
(DHo, CH), Summit, OH (D. 
& A. Chasar), in Chester, PA 
10-20 Jun and 29 Jul (fide 
NP) and Bucks, PA, 13 Jun 
(DF). A rare summer record 
for the e. Panhandle came 
25-31 Jul in Jefferson, WV 
(MO, m.ob.). 
Observations of Northern 
Bobwhite from ne. Ohio in- 
cluded records in Columbi- 
ana 25 Jul QD), Mahoning 
16 Jun (WJo), and Trumbull 
1 Jun (DHo); a covey of 11 
in Jefferson, WV 25 Jun 
(MO) was exceptional for 
the e. Panhandle. Although summering (non- 
breeding) Common Loons are routine in 
Ohio, less expected were singles in Hamilton 
27 Jun (K. WestendorO, in Pike 4 Jun (C. 
Ball), and Ashtabula 8 Jul (CH), with 4 seen in 
Wanen 24 Jul (RA). In Pennsylvania, linger- 
ing Common Loons included 3 in Bucks 12- 
26 Jun (m.ob.) and 4 on Raystown L., Hunt- 
ingdon 16 Jul+ (G. Bickel). Twelve American 
White Pelicans (fide DKr) dropped in at a 
Stark, OH park 25 Jun, with numbers in- 
creasing to 28 birds 26 Jun 
(ph. GLy), a record summer 
count for Ohio. Two were at 
Magee 21 Jun (ph. D. 
Adams) and one in Hardin, 
OH 13 Jul (RC), where it 
was a county hrst. Three un- 
conhrmed reports of Brown 
Pelican from Portage, OH 
18, 21, & 25 Jun (fide GLy, 
DKr) were followed by con- 
hrmation of one in Lake, OH 
2 Jul (ph. JP). Frank Ren- 
frow conhrmed another 13 
592 
NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 
