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To reach my house, take Rte 20 to Antioch Road in North Perry. Go north on Antioch and take it a couple of miles until it ends at Lockwood Rd. Go east on Lockwood a couple hundred yards to the sign for Lakeshore Metropark. Pull into the park and park in the lot. Take the grass trail west that is north of the lot. Go about 100 yards to my driveway. alk it north to my house. The feeders are on the south side. When the bird is not feeding, it is usually sitting in the Butterfly Bushes.
From I-71 Southbound, exit onto route 18 and turn right at the light. You will now be heading westbound. Less than a mile down the road there is a gravel parking area on the right. The entrance is immediately after the West Branch of the Rocky River bridge, and just at the beginning of where the road begins to go uphill. You can see the grass-covered embankment from the road.
Take I-77 to the Ghent Road exit. Whether from the north, or south turn right onto Ghent. Go about a mile to Smith Road (the road is unmarked, there is a 4-way intersection and light here, watch for orange barrels) and turn LEFT. Proceed approximately two and a half miles through 3 stoplights and some condominium estates. A quarter of a mile after the THIRD stoplight look for the entrance to Seiberling Naturealm Metropark, which will be on your RIGHT. The entrance to the park is just below a hill... ! The visitor center's hours go from 10 a.m.-5:00 p.m. weekdays and weekends. *The only way to view the feeding station is from within the visitor center!* Once in the viewing room for the feeders you should have a clear view of the entire station. The sparrow seemed to prefer feeding in a brushy and shrubby area to the left of the feeders, on a small dirt hill behind the waterstation. Here it fed on the ground, scratching around for food. However, it was reported to have visited the feeders with House Sparrows, so keep an eye out there too. In fact, when it was first found it was sitting atop one of the feeders in plain view!
I found the White Pelican at Hoover Reservoir (Delaware County, Ohio, Delorme page 58, C2) today, but at a different location. To get there from the previously described location, return on Oxbow Road to Tussic Street and turn right (north). I deadends almost immediately into Old 3C Highway. Turn Right (North) again and go just over two miles to Weis Road. Turn sharply right onto Weis and drive about one-tenth mile to where the drivable road ends. The roadway from here has been abandoned, but is still there. Walk straight ahead about 150 yards to an opening in the trees and brush where the reservoir is clearly visible. Facing the water, look to the right and there are two long, narrow islands. (These islands are not there when the water level is higher, and may become connected to the shore if the water goes down a bit more.)
I saw the Pelican on the larger island. It was clearly visible, but again was quite far away. With some difficulty, I made my way down to the mudflats and followed the upper edge until I was much closer and had an excellent view. I could have gotten closer than I did, but a fishing boat approached the bird and it flew to the east, where after some circling around it landed in the edge of the water. It was now quite far away.
This morning I refound the bird at the north end of the reservoir. It was on the far (East) side of the reservoir, and was visible from the Oxbow road boat ramp.
To get there from US 23, take Lewis Center Road (about halfway between Worthington and Delaware) about 7 miles to where it crosses Tussic St. Go north on Tussic to Oxbow Rd (shown, but not identified in DeLorme). Go right on Oxbow and follow it to where it deadends in a parking area. Walk to the edge of the bluff and a bit south of the parking area and scan the far shore. Dan saw it in the sailboat marina; I found it a bit further north on a rocky spit. The distance to the bird is a mile or more. A better view might be obtained by retracing your steps along Oxbow road to just before the hill where pavement begins; turn north on the narrow pavement a few hundred yards to a parking area. There is access to the shore at the cornerof the parking.
prepared by Vic Fazio III 20 Mar. 1998