I stopped and hiked several Darby Creek areas from Indian Ridge in the South up to Darby Bend Lakes in the north.  By the time I reached Darby Bend Lakes, the Snow Goose reported earlier by Gene Stauffer had vanished, but there were lots of migrant waterfowl there, including 6 Cackling Geese.  That spot is definitely worth checking in the coming week. Notables of today included:

Geese - 300+ Canada Geese at Darby Bend Lakes (DBL), scattered between the N and S ponds.  The 6 Cackling were with them.

Dabbling Ducks - Mallards in lots of places, and Black Ducks at several places along the creek.  DBL had 7 N.Shovelers.

Diving Ducks - DBL had a migrant bonanza, with 60 Redhead, 2 Canvasback, 6 Lesser Scaup, and 3 Ruddy Ducks

Other waterbirds - DBL had 12-14 American Coots

Raptors - fairly light #s, with only 1 Kestrel all day.  The Harrier Trail in Battelle-Darby wetlands had 2 N.Harriers.  Best was an adult Bald Eagle harassing the waterfowl at DBL, likely causing lots of turnover in the birds there.

Woodpeckers - a juvenile Red-headed was at the south feeder at Cedar Ridge, while a pair of Pileateds were along the Sycamore Plains Trail.  Downies & Hairies were numerous at nearly every stop.

Brown Creepers - small groups of 2-3 at the Terrace Trail  and Sycamore Plains

Golden-cr.Kinglets - small #s at almost every stop.  Could they be starting to migrate?

Thrushes - 1 Hermit Thrush was at the trail west of the Darby Nature Center.  Small flocks of E.Bluebirds were at several stops, with the high of 7 along the Terrace Trail.

Horned Larks - surprisingly scarce, with only 2 all day despite perfect snowy-field conditions.  They may be staging already; look for big flocks up at Kildeer Plains or Big Island.

Tree Sparrows - small numbers at every stop, except along the entrance road to the Darby Nature Center, where a flock of 50+ has set up shop.

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