Second State Record - OHIO - Say's Phoebe Sayornis saya

The Say's Phoebe was still present at noon on 1/3/97 in Knox County. It was feeding around the east side of the first barn (at the Overly Road location, northwest of Fredericktown).
- Roger Troutman

On December 31, the Say's Phoebe was seen at 9:30 and 10:00 a.m. by the red barn and yellow house (9265? Overly Road) with the Dam in the background. The Phoebe is spending considerable time inside the barn itself, then periodically coming out for a brief time. The bird did not spend more than a couple minutes outside, mostly to perch on the powerline leading to the barn. The landowner was kind enough to allow Norm Kotesovec and myself to walk around their property (we got the feeling she has seen our kind before).
- Sean Zadar

The Say's Phoebe was still present Sunday, Dec. 28, at 1:30 -1:45 pm. It was in the corn stubble field east of the brown house previously described by several people, flitting from stalk to stalk, sometimes dropping to the ground for a few minutes.
- Gene Stauffer

At 11:00 am today, the Say's Pheobe was found at the spillway. Cold weather birders may find the bird underneath the bridge under the spillway as we did. The bird surprised us by coning up from underneath our feet, landed in a nearby bush for a few minutes, then returned to some post under the walkway and out of the wind.
- Mark Skinner

27 Dec 1997 15:43:47 -0500
Finally got a decent chance to look for the Say's Phoebe today...no dark clouds or rainfall. We (Joe Jacquot and Joe Hammond) arrived at the spillway around 8:45 this morning and were notified that we had just missed it. A fellow from Indiana told us that at 8:30 AM it was perched on the chain link fence that borders the spillway bridge area and then flew down to the spillway area itself. It then promptly disappeared. We then toured Overly Road without success and returned to the spillway. While we were chatting on the bridge, another person pulled up in a car and told us the bird was at the brown house with the "for sale" sign on Overly Road (this is one of the places it has been frequenting). We hussled over there and found the bird perched on the fence near the open garage with firewood in it (10:00 AM). It was very active, going to the ground several times and then perching on the fence again. It would occassionally go behind the garage, out of view. It then started working the corn stubble field to the left of the house where it would perch on the tallest corn stalks then go to the ground to forage. It would also perch on the fence separating the corn field from the house. When we left at 10:15 AM, it was perching on that fence.

Fri, 26 Dec 1997 14:00:15 +0000
The Knox Co. Say's Phoebe was present today and viewed by about 15 people between 9:30 and 10:15 am. This time, however, it was on and around the spillway of Kokosing Lake (DeLorme p.49). I found it by its call--very much like that of an E. bluebird--as it flew from a brushy/weedy area west of the causeway to the rusty brown colored grasses on the east slope. It then flew to the concrete spillway itself and later to the chain link fence. It was last seen flying in the general direction of the Overly Road house from which it has so often been viewed lately.
- Pam Raver

I saw the Say's Phoebe in extreme NW Knox County Ohio between 9:30 and 9:48am. It appeared in a field just left, or west, of the brown house. Directions follow. Another birder had parked in front of the house for at least an hour without seeing it. He then discovered the Phoebe in the middle of the field at 9:30. The field is surrounded by a wire fence. The bird was perching on weed stubble. After a few seconds in one place, he would fly to another visible perch, or hop on the ground, out of view, below the weeds. He sometimes flew to a fence at the far south end of the field. He then perched for a 10 or 15 seconds on a satellite dish at the southwest corner of the house. He occasionally flew out of view, behind the house and garage, but soon returned to the center of the field. When we left, he was visible in the field.

Directions from Toledo: The house is in extreme northwest Knox County, a few miles north of Fredricktown. It can be found on page 49 of my Ohio Atlas and Gazeteer. Take I-80 turnpike to exit 7 (47 miles). Go southeast on US 250 which merges with Route 13. Continue south on Route 13 (about 60 miles south of the turnpike). When you see a sign announcing Quaker (to the east) and Overly Roads to the west, turn west onto Overly. Go .6 miles to a brown house which is on the south side of Overly. It has a brown garage on its west side.This house seems to be the center of the Phoebe's daily itinerary.
- Jim Lesser

From the morning this is what John Pogacnik had to say :

. . . around 9:00 today, it was sitting on the clothesline of the house that has lavender trim around the windws. This house can be found by continuing on Overly past the brown house where it has been frequenting to where Overly makes a sharp turn to the left. The bird came from the direction of the open garage door, flew to the clothesline, then headed out over the open corn field towards the brown house. Could it be roosting in this garage ?

. . . and from Robert Royse in the afternoon

It was seen near the brown house described by Cece Johnston on her posting last Mon. The bird was seen on both sides of Overly Rd. between 2:30 and 3:00

As reported by Pam Raver:

The Says Phoebe in Knox Co. was seen at least twice today. Once before 10 am at the same Overly Rd. spot as it was seen yesterday. It then disappeared and was not relocated until around 2 pm. This time it was closer to the reservoir but still on Overly. To your west side of the road is a large red barn. Beyond it you can see the reservoir dike. The bird was sitting on posts between the barn and the reservoir until residents came outside to shoot hoops, when it flew towards the lake and was not relocated as of 4 pm.

The latest word from Tom Bartlett's cell phone is that the bird was still at the Tuttle and Overly location as of 1:30 p.m. Apparently it did its disappearing act again. Keep that in mind when searching for the bird.

On this date in 1989, the year of the first Say's Phoebe sighting, I was on the Brecksville CBC in minus 15 degree F ambient temps. A bit different today, as a dozen of us met in the rain at the spillway of Lake Kokosing in Knox County with thoughts of Ohio's second Say's Phoebe on our minds. By 9:00 am, with no bird seen, some of the early arrivals had to depart. Doing so via a back road below the dam, Larry Rosche and the Brumfields noticed a phoebe flying along side the road. Although they were miles from the dam, they stopped for a look only to see the Say's Phoebe. They returned for the rest of us, and subsequently at least 18 persons had studied the bird through 10:30 am. That is the latest word I have. - VWFIII

Directions: The new location is on Overly Rd off Waterford Rd (Waterford is the road running along the southern side of Lake Kokosing and from which you access the spillway parking lot). You can reach Waterford from the east off of Rt 13 just north of Fredericktown. Overly is east of the spillway and heads only north. It winds a little but shortly after a strong 90 degree bend watch for a T-section with Tuttle Rd. From this point and for about 300 yards east the bird was actively foraging and calling on the right side (south) of Overly Rd.

It may still be that the bird travels to the spillway so check along the dam as well.

Ron Harlan checked out the Say's Phoebe story at Lake Kokosing this afternoon to be rewarded with an hour long view of a Ohio's second Say's Phoebe feeding from a foot wide puddle within an otherwise dry spillway at the dam of Lake Kokosing (Knox Co.)

Rob says the situation could not be a more "western type habitat" than could be found in Ohio. The bird would occasionally perch on the rocky sides of the spillway. The puddle apparently had the attraction of some wormy content.Park at the spillway lot - go to the walkway across the spillway and look down.

Only previous record for Ohio is a single observer sight record in 1989. I understand some instamatic photos were taken of this new bird through a scope but I hope we can do better.

Earlier in the week I received a report of a Say's Phoebe from Lake Kokosing WA. (Knox Co.) As the report was days old and I had few details I gave only a brief mention to it here. The original sighting was from Thur. the 11th Dec. by Scott Albaugh. Scott subsequently has agreed to document this record. Apparently without his knowledge a Say's Phoebe was seen at the same location on Sunday (14th) by Chris and Kathy Gillen, recently of Connecticut, who only just contacted me today (20th) with this information (plus a nice description) after noting the reference on this page.This establishes the bird's presence over 4 days as recently as a week ago. A birder could do worse than to check out the dam area of Lake Kokosing.

A late report of a Say's Phoebe last Thur. at Lake Kokosing in Knox County would be interesting if verified - Scott Albaugh. Apparently subsequent searches failed to relocate the bird.

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