This is a tale of 2 riparian corridors.  Yesterday, I had enough time from work to visit several areas along the Scioto River in Dublin (NW Columbus suburb) where small cliffs and forest form a natural migrant corridor.  This morning, I ran a similar transect along the nearby Olentangy River, starting at Antrum Lake and running north to Highbanks MetroPark.  This river also forms an intact corridor, although its width varies quite a bit (wide at Highbanks to very narrow above Antrum).
The take-home from these trips is that migration (and Spring in general) seem delayed here.  A brief synopsis of bird hits & misses should tell the story.

Present:
migrant waterfowl - small flocks of Bufflehead & Ruddy Ducks on O'Shaughnessy reservoir along the Scioto
Phoebes (still common, with birds at many places, including pairs at Highbanks)
Swallows - still only Tree, with a few scuffling over nest boxes at Highbanks
Red-br.Nuthatches - 2 still hanging around small cedar clumps at Antrum Lake
Brown Creeper - single birds at most stops, so a subtle migration is underway
Golden-cr.Kinglets - common & widepsread, at most stops; a good migration for them so far
Hermit Thrush - a single bird at Antrum lake
Fox Sparrow - widely scattered, but present in msot areas.  Most obliging was a feeder visitor at the Highbanks Nature Center
Tree Sparrows - 4-5 still hanging around the Highbanks Nature Center feeders
Juncos - a few everywhere, often around feeders

Absent (or nearly so):
migrant raptors - despite the movements at the Lake, we're still empty here except for a few Turkey Vultures

sapsuckers - early April is usually a boon time for these migrant woodpeckers, but I saw none these 2 days.  The cottonwoods that they home-in on are not budding yet.

other Swallows - Cliffs and Martins normally would be around by now

early Warblers - no Prothonotaries or Yellow-throated yet, though that may change in the next few days.  No La.Waterthrushes at Highbanks this morning, alhtough they have been reported from other nearby areas

Chipping Sparrows - they've been reported in all the rural areas around here, but have been lacking in the urban areas

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