Six Northern Rough-winged Swallows joined several Tree Swallows dipping and
wheeling through rain drops over the groundwater slough along Canal Road
near Route 104 west of Circleville, Ohio this morning. A dozen Wilson's
Snipe and six Blue-winged Teal were there, too: A brief stop.

The ubiquitous invasive species, bush honeysuckle, seen along the roadways
of the Scioto Valley is striking this time of year. The shrub-layer of
roadside woodlots from Columbus to Chillicothe along route 104 (and other
routes) is totally dominated now by early-leafing bush honeysuckle. The
thick tangle of stout spreading shrubs forms a thick green sub-canopy now
swamping the native wildflowers and other ground-level plants that should be
greening and flowering the woodlot floors during early spring. I wonder what
the roadsides looked like fifty years ago. Well, I suppose the fruits kept
some of our robins and bluebirds alive during this weird winter and spring.

Tom Bain
The Glaciated Allegheny Plateau
Ross County

______________________________________________________________________

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]