I took a short drive west of Columbus for a few hours this afternoon. I was hoping to do more poking around fields for sparrows, but brutal winds made trying to do that a waste of time.
I started out at the Deer Creek Reservoir (Fayette and Pickaway Counties), where the wind was intense. Some of the birds noted at the reservoir itself included:
19 Common Loons
2 Ospreys
2 Bonaparte's Gulls (no Ring-billeds anywhere)
~300 Tree Swallows
2 Barn Swallows
3 Cliff Swallows
The wetlands off of Dick and Egypt Pike Roads were loaded with puddle ducks and coots. There must have been over 1000 American Coots. Ring-necked Ducks, Ruddy Ducks, Blue-winged Teals, and Mallards were certainly in the triple digits. Also present in perhaps smaller numbers were Pied-billed Grebes, Wood Ducks, Lesser Scaups, Buffleheads, Green-winged Teals, Gadwalls, and Northern Shovelers. There were also duck hunters set up with their decoys. I didn't realize that there was any duck hunting in Ohio in the spring.
I took back roads home through the desolate farmland of Madison County. That place gets more drained and plowed every year, and few pools of water could be found. I did see a PURPLE MARTIN at a house for them south of Madison Lake SP. The always exciting Madison Lake boasted 4 Canada Geese today. I saw several birds that probably were Vesper Sparrows, but they didn't stay out in the open long enough in this wind to focus my binoculars. They sure weren't singing. The field along Rt. 142 (by the RR tracks between Rt.40 and I-70) that hosted so many shorebirds last week hosted only a solitary sandpiper today, a Solitary Sandpiper.
Here in Columbus in Hidden Lake this evening were 2 Common Loons, ~15 Tree Swallows, 3 Barn Swallows, and one N. Rough-wiged Swallow.
Bob Royse
Robert Royse
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www.roysephotos.com
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