I spent this blustery Thanksgiving morning hiking around Pickerington Ponds MetroPark looking for unusual waterbirds. Water levels are still surprisingly low, with lots of mudflats. Unfortunately , there were no lingering shorebirds, and even waterfowl numbers were modest. Highlights included:
Raptors: no Red-tails, but 4 Kestrels were hunting around Arrowhead marsh.
Dabbling Ducks: Ellis pond was the best, with Mallard, Black Ducks, Gadwall, a big flock of Green-winghed Teal, a even 3 Pintail. Teal Pond added N.Shoveler.
Diving Ducks : hardy anything except for a small flock of 7 Bufflehad on Ellis Pond
Shorebirds: none at Pick Ponds (despite good habitat), but I did flush up a WOODCOCK from a swamp woods in Gahanna later in the day. These little guys migrate very late, possibly waiting until the ground freezes over.
Sparrows - plenty of Tree Sparrows have moved in, showing themselves around any feeders, but there are also good numbers of Song sparrows and Swamp Sparrows. I even had a small cluster of White-crowned sparrows singing along the Meadowlark trail.
Blackbirds - hardly any in migration, which is surprising, given that this is a good spot to find Fall flocks. Perhaps there are large roosts now forming down in Pickaway and Ross counties to the south of us.
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