My wife and I decided to come up to Sandy Lake, in northeastern Ohio, for the relative solitude and cool weather but this modest-sized kettle lake offers good birding as well. Summer may not be the best season for avian diversity but there is a pleasing mix of residents.
Ospreys, double-crested cormorants and belted kingfishers hunt on the lake and great blue herons stalk the shallows, sometimes joined by their smaller green cousins; bald eagles fish here as well though their numbers are greater during the colder months. As I mentioned in the last post, a colony of purple martins reside along the shore, catching insects above the lake or skimming the surface for a quick drink. Of course, a good variety of permanent and summer songbirds reside in the woodlands and wetlands that surround the lake and a host of raptors patrol the area from above.
Summer waterfowl are limited to mallards and Canada geese but the tranquility of Sandy Lake, especially during this summer of viral and political turmoil, more than compensates for a lack of birdwatching spectacles. Besides, swimming, reading and walks on the lakeside trail keep us entertained (and away from the cable news channels).
Ospreys, double-crested cormorants and belted kingfishers hunt on the lake and great blue herons stalk the shallows, sometimes joined by their smaller green cousins; bald eagles fish here as well though their numbers are greater during the colder months. As I mentioned in the last post, a colony of purple martins reside along the shore, catching insects above the lake or skimming the surface for a quick drink. Of course, a good variety of permanent and summer songbirds reside in the woodlands and wetlands that surround the lake and a host of raptors patrol the area from above.
Summer waterfowl are limited to mallards and Canada geese but the tranquility of Sandy Lake, especially during this summer of viral and political turmoil, more than compensates for a lack of birdwatching spectacles. Besides, swimming, reading and walks on the lakeside trail keep us entertained (and away from the cable news channels).
