Hi all:
I managed to squeeze in some birding yesterday after a weekend of household
chores, and decided to stay local and pad my year list which has been sorely
neglected in the last month. I visited Greenlawn Cemetery, Blacklick Creek
Metropark, Blendon Woods Metropark, and a couple locations in the Hoover Dam
area between noon and 3:30.
Greenlawn was nearly devoid of birds - the feeders were empty which was
probably a factor, but there was no activity at the ravine either and hardly
anything around during a cruise around the grounds in search of the merlin.
I did see a falcon flying high up and headed east, but it was silhouetted
against the sky and I couldn't identify it.
Canada Goose 2
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Next was the nature center at Blacklick Creek in hopes of Fox Sparrow and
Purple Finch, but no luck on those species either. There were 2 Red-breasted
Nuthatches at the feeder though.
Canada Goose 4
Mallard 42
Great Blue Heron 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Carolina Chickadee 12
Tufted Titmouse 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Dark-eyed Junco 2
Northern Cardinal 10
House Sparrow 20
I then went up to Blendon Woods to check out the pond and feeders. The pond
has a great number of Black Ducks present, along with a small assortment of
diving ducks.
Canada Goose 61
Mute Swan 1
American Wigeon 2
American Black Duck 320
American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid) 2
Mallard 115
Canvasback 1
Redhead 12
Lesser Scaup 7
Hooded Merganser 1
Mourning Dove 5
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Blue Jay 2
Carolina Chickadee 4
Tufted Titmouse 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 4
American Tree Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 4
White-crowned Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 14
American Goldfinch 2
House Sparrow 15
It had started to rain off and on by this point, so I went up the east side
of Hoover Reservoir, hoping for a Pileated Woodpecker or two in some of the
spots we had them during the CBC in December. I didn't really stop to check
out the actual reservoir for waterfowl. The spillway didn't have much in the
way of waterfowl, just 12 Mallards and 5 Common Goldeneye. The most
interesting find of the day was at the Twin Bridges Boat Ramp, where I
observed 2 Black Vultures in the company of a single Turkey Vulture in a
tree over the road, just south of the southernmost bridge. I observed these
birds closely as I know that immature Turkey Vultures can resemble Black
Vultures. I identified the Black Vultures based on their short tails, true
black plumage, and a glimpse of white wing tips as they preened. Having the
Turkey Vulture on hand for comparison helped, as it let me confirm the
plumage coloration of the Black Vultures as truly black and not dark brown,
and also to compare tail lengths.
My last stop at Hoover was Mudhen Marsh for Red-headed Woodpecker, which I
did finally see after waiting for 20 minutes in the blind. The only water
fowl here were Canada Geese, as the pond is frozen over. I also had a
Yellow-rumped Warbler on the trail to the blind.
Hoover area list:
Canada Goose 28
Mallard 13
Common Goldeneye 5
Black Vulture 2
Turkey Vulture 1
Ring-billed Gull 8
Red-headed Woodpecker 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 2
Blue Jay 3
American Crow 1
Carolina Chickadee 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Northern Cardinal 3
Andy Sewell
Columbus, Ohio
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