2023-05-05 Dayton Ohio

Eastern Towhee - Pipilo erythrophthalmus
During my three-day visit with friends in Dayton Ohio, I split my time with the local birds between backyard feeders and a local arboretum, where I met the Eastern Towhee for the first time.

While visiting with my friends in south Dayton, I found time to meet some of the local birds. Bruce and Loretta provide an array of bird feeders, so I sampled the birds that were attracted. But the best day I had was at a location not far away called the Cox Arboretum. The property spreads out over 174 acres of woods and grasslands. A myriad of trails wind through the grounds and provide access to the various habitats, crossing tree-shaded streams through carpets of wildflowers. I had no maps to provide guidance, so I covered some of the trails more than once, which wasn’t a problem. I met different birds when I back-tracked the trails.

I managed to capture images of most of the birds I met, but a few got by me. Among those were Yellow Warblers, House Wren and Downy Woodpeckers. Among the species I captured (including some wild flowers) were American Goldfinch, American Robin, Black-Capped Chickadee, Blue Jay, Carolina Wren, Chipping Sparrow, Dwarf Larkspur, Eastern Gray Squirrel, Eastern Towhee (first encounter), Great Blue Heron, House Finch, House Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Northern Flicker, Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Red-Winged Blackbird, Small’s Ragwort, Song Sparrow, Tufted Titmouse, White-Breasted Nuthatch, White-Crowned Sparrow, White-Eyed Vireo, White Shooting Star, Wild Blue Phlox, Wild Geranium, and Yellow Rocket. 

When I finished my visit, I had squeezed the shutter button almost 3000 times. After several rounds of reviews and culling, I reduced the count to 110 images. I didn’t finish preparing the images or telling the tale of my visit before I drove away from Dayton, leaving myself a workload hanging over my head. I’ve had a lovely visit to Magee Marsh in Ohio since leaving Dayton, and as I write these words, I’m at Canada’s Point Pelee in Ontario.

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