Hoping that the overcast skies might have trapped lots of migrants at this downtown Columbus natural area, I visited it for a few hours this morning.  Bird numbers weren't impressive, but the diversity kept inching upward over the course of the morning.  The marquee birds, a trio of American Avocets, were showing off on the river peninsula all morning, and were still there in the rain when I left at 11:00.  Other notables included:

Waterfowl - along with the expected geese & mallards alongt the river were 2 Wood Ducks and 2 Green-winged Teal.  30+ cormorants were perched in trees along the river early, later coming down to feed.

Herons - along with 7 Great Blues, there were still 6 Great Egrets, while an adult Black-crowned Night Heron was lurking along the trail just south of the Audubon Center.

Shorebirds - aside from the Avocets, there were also lots of Kildeer, plus a Spotted Sandpiper and 2 Semipalmated Sandpipers.  Most of the Kildeer were around the wetland north of the Audubon Center

Flycatchers - only 2-3 Wood Pewees were along the path at Whittier

Vireos - just a single Red-eyed was along the path at Whittier, near the riverside meadow

Thrushes - still good #s of Swainson's, with over 20 for the morning.  The only Gray-cheeked was in the deeper forest along the bikepath in Berliner

Warblers - 14 species:  Parula, Nashville (4), Tenn., Magnolia (6), Black-thr.Green (6), Cape May (2), Blackpoll, Bay-breasted, Palm (4), Pine, Black&White, Redstart (5), Ovenbird (2), Com.Yellowthroat.  The Pine Warbler was in the small pines next to the boat launch parking area, while all the Palm warblers were in the weedy meadow north of the Nature Center, which looks like a great place to keep finding them.

Sparrows - the fields north of the Grange Audubon Center look great as potential sparrow habitat, but only had 20+ Song Sparrows and a few Chipping today.  An early White-throated was in the riverside meadow.

Others - Rose-br.Grosbeak (1 along River path), Indigo Bunting (2 at edge of sparrow fields), Scarlet Tanager (1 along bikepath in Berliner).

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