Hello!

As a follow up to my post of Saturday, Oct. 21st, I have returned the past  3
days to bird the pet trail at this park just north of Columbus to observe any
 trends or changes in species/quantities.  Of special note was last evening
when I would observe anywhere from 2 to 16 Turkey Vultures flying south at
fairly low altitudes as I walked along the trail.  Eventually, I was  in the
back loop of the trail towards dusk observing various sparrow species on  the
ground when I happened to look up and behind me to see a huge  kettle of Turkey
Vultures gliding in a somewhat circular fashion within a fairly  tight "ball"
at a fairly low altitude.  At one point, the setting sun  peeked through a
break in the clouds to cast a golden hue on the outer edges of  some of the wing
feathers of the vultures.  It truly was an awesome  sight!  I lost count at 132
before the flock drifted off to the north and  my best conservative estimate
of the total flock size was about 150-160.  I  did have my "point and shoot"
digital camera with me and took a few somewhat  crude photos if anyone is
interested in seeing them (e-mail me privately).

Also, I observed the first Fox Sparrows of the season last evening and
tonight.  Field Sparrow numbers have steadily declined, whereas  White-Throated
Sparrows consistently were the dominant  species.  My observations for the three
respective evenings were  as follows:

Eastern Phoebe 0-1-0
Hermit Thrush 5-4-1
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet 1-0-2
Winter Wren 0-1-0

Brown Creeper 0-1-0

Fox Sparrow 0-8-4 (most seen in the back loop)
Yellow-Rumped Warbler 50+, ~30, ~30
Barred Owl 0-1-0
Chipping Sparrow 0-1-0
White-Crowned Sparrow 2 (juv)-1 (adult)-0 (all near back loop)
White-Throated Sparrow 75+, 100+, 75+
Swamp Sparrow 5-1-1
Field Sparrow 11-6-0
Song Sparrow 8-14-9
Eastern Towhee 8-6-6
Eastern Bluebird 1-0-0
Northern Mockingbird 0-0-1 (by the pond)
Carolina Wren 2-5-4
Pied-Billed Grebe 0-1-1
Red-Winged Blackbird 2-0-18 (at the pond)
Northern Flicker 0-5-4
Cedar Waxwing 0-5-14
American Goldfinch 7-0-0
American Crow 0-12-1
Coopers Hawk 1-0-0
Red-Tailed Hawk 0-1-1
Little Brown Bat 0-0-1 (I know it's technically a mammal : ) )
Cardinals, Downies, Red-Bellieds, Chickadees, Titmice, Blue Jays,  Starlings,
House Finch, Mourning Doves, Nuthatches (White-Breasted), Robins +,  and GB
Heron

The White-Throated Sparrows have been chowing down predominantly  on
Honeysuckle berries whereas the Yellow-Rumped Warblers have been sucking down  Poison
Ivy berries.  Again, I observed a Hermit Thrush last evening  fluttering in
mid-air while he/she would pull wild grapes off of the  vines.  It always
interesting to observe the various traits/characteristics  of the different species.

Directions to Highbanks are at _www.metroparks.net_
(http://www.metroparks.net) .

Rob Lowry
Powell, Ohio


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