With a little free time, I checked out two areas that often attract unusual strays in cold weather here in Columbus: Antrum Lake and Griggs Dam.  At Antrum, the lake was only partially frozen, but had only pulled in a few Mallards geese and Coots, with a flock of Ring-billed Gulls loafing on the ice shelf.    The adjoining Olentangy river had some roosting Great Blues and fair numbers of geese and mallards. The surrounding riparian forest was more lively, with lots of woodpeckers (including drumming Downies & Hairies) and flock birds, but nothing very unusual besides a Winter wren rooting through the river driftwood.  A small group of 3-4 Bluebirds appeared to be feeding on Wintercreeper vine berries, one of the few times that I've seen birds utilize this food source.

Griggs dam was commented on earlier by Bob Royse, and is a good spot for waterfowl as the surrounding lakes & ponds freeze over.  This morning found a flock of 500+ Canada Geese and 300+ Mallards resting around the rapids in the half-mile below the dam.  Scattered in amongst them were most of the unsual waterfowl that Bob had seen:  65-70 Ring-necked Ducks, 12-14 Black Ducks and 10 Hooded Mergansers.  The goldeneye were absent, but a lone Lesser Scaup was some consolation.  The reservoir above the dam appeared completely frozen far above the Fishinger Rd. bridge, so below the dam will likely be the only open water in the area.  As the Scioto starts to freeze, the remnant open areas become good waterfowl 'traps', so it'll be worthwhile to check these areas over the next week:  below all the dams (O'Shaughnessy, Griggs, Long St. , and Greenlawn)  as well as the Marble Cliff - Hidden Lakes area (where feeder creeks and rapids keep the river open).


Rob Thorn
[log in to unmask]
EarthLink Revolves Around You.

______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.

You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]