I spent part of this windy morning looking for migrants at these two sites in Westerville, a NE Columbus suburb.  I've recently mentioned Hoover dam as a funnel for migrants along the Big Walnut Creek corridor.  Sharon Woods MetroPark is a large 'island' of woodland & fields along the Alum Creek corridor, now largely surrounded by suburban sprawl.  It can also accumulate a surprising assortment of migrants in Fall, many of which are hesitant to journey south into the suburban housing tracts of Westerville and north Columbus.  The gusty south wind this morning made migration slow, but not impossible, and a few goodies were to be found in both spots.  Highlights included:

Raptors:  Hoover dam had an adult Bald Eagle (easily found by the ruckus it raised among the gull flock there), while Sharon Woods had migrant Sharpie, Red-tail, and a few Turkey Vultures (which were way down in # at Hoover)

Gulls - fair-sized flocks of Ring-bills at both the Walnut St. ramp (100+) and at Area E (120+).  The former flock included a bird with 2 round yellow-orange patagial tags; is this a marker from one of the Great Lakes gull rookeries?

Woodpeckers - a few migrating Flickers at both sites, and Sharon Woods also held a sapsucker

Blue Jays - not much movement: Hoover dam had only 8-10/1hour, while Sharon Woods had 14-16/1hour.  The oak-dominated woods at the southern edge of Sharon Woods can often accumulate 4-5 times that number during October days, but not today.

Nuthatch, creepers - 1 Red-breasted was along the trail at Sharon Woods, while a few Brown Creepers were at both sites.

Kinglets - good #s (5-8) of both species at both sites.  Presumably these are nocturnal migrants that settle-out at these sites in the morning.

Thrushes - a few Robins moving south, with 50+ in the hour at the dam; below the dam also had 3 E.Bluebirds (which aren't resident here) and a Hermit Thrush

Warblers - stready trickle of Yellow-rumps at both sites (20+ at each), with the unusual species being a Black-thr.Green below the Dam and an Orange-crowned in the fields at Sharon Woods.

Sparrows - not much at the dam, but Sharon Woods had a fair mix of migrants, including Field, Song, Swamp, White-throated, & White-crowned.  The big scrubby field north of Shrock Lake is an excellent sparrow 'trap' since it is probably the only field of that size in this vicinity.

Finches - lots of Goldfinches at Sharon Woods despite the Prairie there being mowed down; fewer flying past the dam, but it produced another south-bound Pine Siskin.

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