I headed up to see the Harris's Sparrow in Holmes Co. this afternoon. The bird was readily seen soon after I arrived around 1:00 in the tree with the feeders. A nearby kestrel was soon on the scene after that and the bird didn't reappear.

Whenever I head up to Wayne or Holmes Co. from Columbus, I always take Rt.62. On the way back I checked out the back roads near the chicken farms north of Johnstown in Licking Co.. I have seen Snow Buntings there in the past, and I still haven't seen any for '07.  I didn't see any Snow Buntings today, but that whole area was very birdy and was worth the slight detour. Large flocks of Am. Tree Sparrows and Horned Larks were everywhere. Two of the lark flocks on Westley Chapel Rd. between Croton Rd. and Clover Valley Rd. each had about a dozen easily observed LAPLAND LONGSPURS in the mix. Further west on Westley Chapel Rd. and on Benner Rd. I found solitary AMERICAN PIPTS in the road.  This area is on DeLorme p.58 above C4, east of the N end of the Hoover Reservoir.

Closer to home in Columbus of local interest was 4 Tundra Swans in the large quarry pond between the Scioto River and Rt.33 between Grandview and 5th Avenues. (Rob Thorn called this Watermark pond or something like that in a recent post.) I have seen Tundra Swans here only twice in the past 15 years, and both were flyover flocks. This is the first time I ever saw them plopped down around here. They were there in the morning and still present when I got back. Also in that pond were ~35 Ring-necked Ducks, a Gadwall, several Hooded Mergansers, and Herring and Ring-billed Gulls. In any case, all those ponds are freezing up fast, and the Scioto River should become more interesting than it has been so far this winter.

Bob Royse


Robert Royse
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www.roysephotos.com

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