I visited this MetroPark southeast of Columbus, along with the nearby Chatterton wetlands, to (a) look for early shorebirds (and their habitat), and (b) assess heron rookery status. For shorebirds, there is some habitat at Pick Ponds, mostly around Wood Duck marsh & Teal Pond; Ellis Pond is still too high. Chatterton is better, with the wetland mudflats at almost perfect condition. Shorebirds seen were:
Pick Ponds: Kildeer 20
Chatterton: Kildeer 25, Spotted Spr 1, Solitary Spr 1, Least Spr 2
As for herons, most of the rookeries hereabouts are now finished for the season. The big rookeries at Ellis Pond and along Groveport Rd (which I had checked the prior day) are empty, but a few stubborn birds were still around nests at the small colony at Teal Pond. This correlates with the Yellow-crowned Night Herons. I had no birds around the nests at Preston Rd on July 4, whereas they were seen there on July 2; a several new reports place the juveniles along nearby Alum Creek this past week. It also correlates with a spate of local Great Egret and Green Heron reports, which have surged here in early July. Perhaps these are postbreeding adults and juveniles. Yesterdays heron tally was:
Pick Ponds: Great Blue Herons 12, Great Egrets 2 (at Wood Duck marsh & Ellis Pond)
Chatterton: Great Blue Heron 2
Also of note were plenty of eclipse-plumaged ducks at Pick Ponds, most of which were Mallards. 2 Osprey continue to hang around the nesting platforms on both Arrowhead marsh and Ellis Pond. Landbirds were unremarkable except for small swarms of swallows over most of the wetlands. A family group of 6 Purple Martins was soaring over Ellis Pond.
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