Andy Sewell, Brad Sparks and I birded central Ohio
Saturday March 17. We  found nothing out of the
ordinary, but tree swallows and a fly-over sandhill
crane were pleasant finds. We had 20 species of
waterfowl plus pied-billed and horned grebes and the
Old Reid Park mute swans and greylag geese. Wilson's
snipe was a notable miss.

Buck Creek Reservoir
The reservoir was the least birdy I have ever seen it.
  I don't we saw 50 birds even including the gulls and
Canada geese. We found no loons and no grebes except
pied-billed. All species were duplicated at Old Reid
Park.

Old Reid Park
This small park immediately west of the Buck Creek
reservoir had more diversity than the reservoir. A
herring gull seemed a bit out of place.

Pied-billed grebe
Canada goose
American wigeon
Gadwall
Mallard
Northern pintail
Northern shoveler
Ring-necked duck
Greater scaup
Lesser scaup
Common goldeneye
Bufflehead
Hooded merganser
Herrring gull

Deer Creek Reservoir
We did not see the northern shrike.  All the waterfowl
were sheltering in the lee of the wind. A flock of
horned grebes included individuals ranging from
full-basic to full-breeding plumage.

Pied-billed grebe
Horned grebe
Greater scaup
Lesser scaup
Bufflehead
Hooded merganser
Red-breasted merganser
Bonaparte's gull
Tree swallow

Deer Creek Wetlands
This creation of ODNR, Ducks Unlimited and Pheasants
Forever is located southwest of Deer Creek Reservoir
near the intersection of Egypt Pike and Dick Rd. It
held about 800 very skittish ducks. A lone fly-over
sandhill crane was a gift from the birding gods.

Wood duck
Gadwall
American wigeon
Mallard
Blue-winged teal
Northern shoveler
Northern pintail
Green-winged teal
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked duck
Lesser scaup
Bufflehead
Common goldeneye
Hooded merganser
Red-breasted merganser
Ruddy duck
American kestrel
Sandhill crane
Killdeer
Horned lark

Charlie's Pond area
The sky-ponds in this area are much reduced, and we
could find few waterfowl. A shallow slough just east
of the river held a small flock of shorebirds.
Distance, heat-shimmer and wind-shake precluded
identification. They seemed to be yellowlegs and a
smaller species. Pectoral sandpiper is probably the
best guess.

Gadwall
Mallard
Blue-winged teal
Northern shoveler
Hooded merganser
Yellowlegs sp.

Locations of sites mentioned can be found at the OOS
website.









Paul Gardner
Columbus, OH

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