I've only had a few free morning hours the past few days to check out some of the forested counties south of Columbus, but there has been a rapid increase in the numbers of both resident and migrant passerines every day. I visited various spots in the latitude of Hocking, Ross, Athens, and Vinton Counties, which all pretty much offer the same general birding.

Resident Blue-headed Vireos, Pine, Yellow-throated, and  Black-throated Green Warblers,  and Louisiana Waterthrushes which had all been present for a few weeks didn't have much company on the 21st. I only found a thinly distributed number of Black-and-white Warblers and a single Hooded Warbler that day.

On the 22nd there was obviously a big push. In addition to increased numbers of Black-and-whites and Hoodeds the following species were noted :

Yellow-thr. Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue-winged Warbler
Am Redstart
Ovenbird
Scarlet Tanager

Early northern migrant warblers such as Nashville, B-t Green, Yellow-rumped, and Palm Warblers were also widely seen.


This morning, Apr. 23, there was an even bigger influx. All the new species noted first on the 22nd were present in bigger numbers. New arrivals (or at least new for me at that latitude) today, some already quite numerous,  included :

White-eyed Vireo
Wood Thrush
Northern Parula
Prairie Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Worm-eating Warbler
Common Yellowthroat

Henslow's Sparrows can be heard in several ungrazed and unmowed farm fields with broom sedge. That kind of habitat is scattered throughout those counties.


Bob Royse

Robert Royse
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www.roysephotos.com

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