Event Details
Birders of all skill levels are invited to Blackbrook Audubon's monthly bird walk at Veterans Park. Trails are level with asphalt, compacted gravel and boardwalk. The walk leaders will have a couple pairs of binoculars to lend. Blackbrook will host this bird survey on the fourth Sunday through August.
Summer weather was starting to ramp up at June's walk. The nine observers got to see how birds coped with higher temps and humidity. A Northern Flicker fanned out her wings on a high perch. A Great Blue Heron used gular fluttering while standing in the sun. Rapidly vibrating the neck muscles to force air over throat membranes is the avian form of panting. A Common Grackle also held his beak open, but emitted no sounds. A Gray Catbird carried a winged insect, probably to a nest. A Cooper's Hawk nest the group has noticed for a couple months has fuzzy-headed young. They could also see an Osprey nest on the cell tower next door to the park.
At 100 acres, Veterans Park encompasses the largest inland pond in Lake County, Granger Pond, and protects a remnant of original Ohio swamp forest. The property was once a sand quarry. The City of Mentor purchased it from the Granger family in 1970 and formed Mentor’s first neighborhood park. It's now managed by Lake Metroparks, which stocks the pond with catfish, bass, bluegill and rainbow trout. A valid Ohio fishing license is required to fish at Veterans Park.
Granger Pond's wide expanse attracts both fishermen and birds such as kingfishers, herons and mergansers. The list on eBird.org shows 211 species for this location. Just under a mile from Lake Erie, the pond and tree cover at Veterans Park offer birds inland shelter from stormy lake conditions.
Blackbrook Audubon covers Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake Counties as the local chapter of National Audubon Society. Contact Blackbrook Audubon at blackbrookaud@aol.com. Find updates on their Facebook page.
Photo: Northern Flicker by Laurie White