The last two days have been a weird mix of wintry weather & winter migrants
here around Columbus.  On Monday, I spent some time in Jefferson Township
(far east side), checking several parks during the afternoon snow squalls.
Tuesday, I hit the migrant traps of Grandview Heights and Marble Cliff,
searching for migrants in the windless areas of the few parks and
greenspaces of the area.  Both days showed a preponderance of temperate
migrants, with sapsuckers, kinglets, sparrows, and blackbirds topping the
program.  Highlights included:

Red-headed Woodpeckers - adult birds were still hanging around Jefferson
Township Community Park and Boehnke Preserve, though they should have
departed by now

Sapsuckers - no great numbers, but a steady trickle of these birds was
present both days

Hermit Thrushes - single birds at many different locations, even around
parks in Grandview.

Kinglets - Ruby-crowns & Golden-crowns split about even, with no great
numbers of either, but often they were feeding low in the bushes or on the
ground.

Warblers - nothing but Yellow-rumpeds, but they were quite common out in
the Township

Sparrows - lots of Towhees, Field Sparrows, and Chipping Sparrows, added to
the large numbers of White-throateds, made for a late-winter-like mix of
birds

Blackbirds - flocks of Red-wings at many locations, as they abandoned
territories to flock for foraging in the chilly weather.  More mysterious
was a flock of 35+ Rusty Blackbirds at Hannah Farms Park on the edge of
Jefferson Township; they were foraging along the edge of some vernal pools,
and are very late for this species around here.

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