While there has never been a Fernald Preserve interpretive staff-supported event scheduled for the GBBC, the citizen scientists who visit the rural southwest Ohio site certainly contribute their fair share of data over the course of the year.  

Fernald Preserve is one of the many “hotspots” indicated on eBird. Since the preserve opened to the public in 2008, 253 species have been recorded. If a bird appears at the preserve that is unusual for the area, it doesn’t take long for the word to spread, sometimes bringing birders from over 100 miles away. 

Hiking on the 7 miles of walking trails or waiting patiently at a wildlife viewing deck may reveal a least bittern peeking through cattails, a meadowlark perched atop a prairie flower, juvenile pileated woodpeckers eagerly begging from a tree cavity nest, or ring-necked ducks floating on any of the many open water ponds. Winter also brings a diversity of raptors in their down “jackets” hunting the marshes and meadows. Wildlife photographers can get great action shots of bald eagles, northern harriers, red-tailed hawks, American kestrels, short-eared owls, great-horned owls, and more. Recently, lucky visitors witnessed two adult bald eagles sharing a freshly caught mallard dinner.