I spent yesterday morning roaming around several areas of Gahanna looking for early migrants with some success.  The 'normal' spots were Gahanna Woods park and the Big Walnut greenbelt-parks, while a special treat was leading a group around the Rocky Fork Country Club (Thanks Jim) through the 'gorge' of Rocky Fork Creek.  An absolutely gorgeous morning produced some decent highlights:

Woodpeckers - drumming PIleateds at both Gahanna WOods & RFCC; 2 sapsuckers along Big Walnut;   Flickers calling at all 3 sites
Flycatchers - still only Phoebes, but they were all over the place, with pairs at all 3 locations
Swallows,Swifts - Barn & Tree swallows along Big Walnut, while Chimney Swifts were cavorting over RFCC
Wrens,Kinglets - No House Wrens yet, but Winter Wrens still at Gahanna Woods & Big Walnut; Ruby-cr.KInglets widepsread & singing
Gnatcatchers - singing and chasing at all 3 sites
Thrushes - WOOD THRUSH singing along Big Walnut; Hermit thrush still lurking at Gahnna Woods
Mimids - singing Brown Thrashers at Gahanna Woods & RFCC.  Mockingbirds at several locations, but no catbirds could be found anywhere.
Warblers - Yellow-rumps common, at all 3 sites, but were joined by singing YELLOW WARBLER (RFCC), Yellow-throated (Big Walnut), and BLACK-THR.GREEN (RFCC)
Sparrows - Chipping singing everywhere, with some apparently recent new arrivals to bolster their numbers.  Field Sparrows singing at Gahanna Woods & Big Walnut.  White-throated still singing along Big Walnut in several locations.

I would anticipate another, perhaps better day today.  I was out doing Amphibian surveys last night and there were many overhead flight calls.  It would appear that our Neotropical nesters are flooding into Ohio at last.

Rob Thorn
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