Hi all,



I spent the morning tramping around some newly created wetlands at Deer
Creek Wildlife Area in Pickaway County with Jen Sauter and Randy Miller. We
later ran into Eric Reiner and were able to spend some time birding with
him, too.



These wetlands are along the east side of Egypt Pike Rd., about one-half
mile south of Dick Rd. Look for the second gravel parking lot on the east
side of Egypt Pike and walk a ways back the lane and you'll come to the
wetlands. You can learn more about the Deer Creek area at the OOS website:
http://www.ohiobirds.org/birdingsites/showsite.php?Site_ID=109



The main wetland is only two-three years old, and there is also a new
wetland that was just built this year. The birding is already awesome, and
we had plenty of interesting sightings. There were twelve species of
shorebirds: Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Greater
Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper,
Western Sandpiper (at least three), Least Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper,
Stilt Sandpiper, and Wilson's Snipe.



We had a number of Bobolinks flying over, and I heard at least one
Dickcissel. Several American Pipits were also seen. Savannah Sparrows are
strating to move and a number were in the fields.  Raptors were prominent;
two Bald Eagles, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, a Northern Harrier, and American
Kestrel. Of particular interest - and amusement - were at least one immature
Cooper's Hawk and two young Sharp-shinned Hawks. They were conspicuous as
they all perched in trees along the wetlands, getting mobbed by angry Blue
Jays, which led to some sensational chases as the young raptors made
repeated attempts to capture their tormentors. Failing miserably at that,
the youngsters resorted to making strafing runs at the shorebirds in the
wetland, with even less success. I got some photos of a sharpy and a coop's
side by side in a tree and will post them to my blog later if they come out
OK.



There were also a few Cloudless Sulphurs, American Snouts, a Checkered
Skipper, and at least one Little Sulphur among many other more common
butterflies. Scores of dragonflies, too - mainly Green Darners, Wandering
Gliders, Black Saddlebags (all very migratory) and Ruby Meadowhawks.



This new wetland complex will only get better with time. Right now, the
habitat is very good and lots of birds are using the site. I heard of a
secondhand report of Whimbrel from here a few weeks back, and other
interesting birds are likely to appear. This site was wet prairie
historically, and now that this area has been restored, it has not taken
long for the bird community to respond.



Jim McCormac



Jim McCormac

Columbus, Ohio

Like nature? Visit my blog: http://jimmccormac.blogspot.com/

Like birds? Join the Ohio Ornithological Society: http://www.ohiobirds.org






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