Hello,

My dad has been in town from Utah for a couple days, so we've been trying to
squeeze in some birding along with family time.  Yesterday afternoon, we all
went over to the Park of Roses in Columbus to enjoy the flowers and
hopefully see some birds at the same time.  Here's what we saw besides the
common stuff:

PINE SISKINS - 4 flew right over our heads, calling, with obvious yellow
windows in wings and base of tail
Magnolia Warbler - 1
Blackpoll Warbler - 1
Am. Redstart - 2
Pewee - 1

Early this morning, my dad and I spent a couple hours at the Hoover mudflats
(Wiese Rd and Boardwalk).  There was pretty good activity, making the trip
worthwhile.  I guess my $89-spotting-scope saved me some dough but cost me
some ID's--a lot of small sandpipers went unidentified.  If money grew on
trees, a nice scope would be the first thing I'd buy!  Here's what we came
up with:

Killdeer - 15ish
Semipalmated Plover - 20ish
American Golden-Plover - 1
Pectoral Sandpiper - 2
Yellowlegs (mostly Greater, some Lesser) - 12ish
Unidentified small, brownish/grayish sandpipers - 30ish
   one of these was doing a lot of smooth running, like a sanderling, but I
couldn't see it well enough to be sure)

We then took off for Blendon Woods hoping to add some warblers to my dad's
life list, but it was even deader than Darby, based on Rob Thorn's last
report.  Not a single warbler or vireo.  We were only there for an hour
(10am - 11am), but still!!  Here's what we did see:

Eastern Bluebirds - 4
Chipping Sparrows - 5
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
Downy Woodpecker - 1
Flicker - 1 (heard)
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1 apparent juv.
Gray-cheeked Thrush
White-breasted Nuthatch - 2 (seen and heard)
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 1 (heard only)
Plenty of chickadees, titmice, and cardinals

Not too bad, I guess.  A lot better than what I would have seen if we'd have
stayed home!

-Nate Nye
Hilliard, OH

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