I used a few hours this morning to visit some of the under-birded OBBA blocks in west Franklin County, stretching from I-270 out to Darby Creek.  The highlight of the trip was visits to two wetlands-in-training.  The first was the increasingly well-known wetlands along Darby Creek Drive, adjacent to the Darby Dan Farm (hence, we call them the Darby Dan wetlands).  This spot is now easily accessable due to a gravel parking lot on Kuhlwein Rd.  The wetlands here were just fashioned this Spring, and still look raw, but they are starting to attract birds.  Notable here were

Spotted Sandpiper (1-2 have been here all Summer)
Horned Larks ( a flock of 25+ was scattered along the new bikepath, including several juveniles)
Vesper Sparrow (1 was singing at Darby Dan airport)
Savannah Sparrow (3-4 were singing in the grasslands interspersed in the wetland)

I checked sod farms both at Darby Dan and along Murnan Rd, but could find no 'grass-pipers' of any sort.

The second wetland was the less well-known series of drainage control pools next to Clover cemetery on Alton Darby Creek Rd just north of US 40.  The spot looks very uninviting, with a dusty parking area next to a forlorn little cemetery and a sterile looking rockpit. But behind all of this are several engineered wetlands that have developed nicely, with huge stands of cattails and milkweed, as well as a great fringe of scrubby trees along Clover-Goff Run.  Notable here were

Great Blue Heron - 1-2 lurking in the wetlands
Geese & mallards - one of the few places that still has numbers of them in summer
Willow Flycatcher - 1-2 calling around the edges
Blackbirds - scads of Redwings & Grackles, including some sheperding youngsters
Orchard Oriole - 1 singing male that appeared to be on territory (he was here several weeks ago as well)

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