I spent the last two windy mornings looking to see if windblown vagrants would be blown into some Columbus-area traps.  Sunday I worked the Grandview-MarbleCliff-GriggsDam area, before the wind become too serious, while yesterday I spent the morning around southern Hoover Reservoir, focusing on the dam area.  While there were some unusual birds, it would be a stretch to say they were very out-of-place.  Highlights included:

Raptors - 2 Osprey were sailing in the wind Sunday over Griggs dam, headed south, while 3 Red-tails at the same location were likely just residents enjoying the wind. Hoover dam had 60+ Turkey Vultures, which is not unusual at this time of year.

Terns - a Common Tern on the Dublin Rd quarries on Sunday was unusual, while a few Caspians at Hoover were not unexpected.

Swallows - small flocks of Rough-wings were at several sites around Marble Cliff & Griggs, while a Barn and a late Cliff Swallow (yes, it really was a Cliff) were playing in the wind around Hoover dam on Monday, along with a sizeable flock of swifts.

Landbirds - despite the wind, there were small flocks of migrants tucked into wind-free areas like the zones below both dams. Blue Jays were conspicuous at all locations , often reaching double-figure flocks.  Warbling & Red-eyed Vireos were also present in small #s.  Griggs and Hoover both had limited species of warblers (6), but Hoover had a rather late Yellow-throated.  The Marble Cliff bikepath also had small #s of migrants, including a late-ish male Baltimore oriole.

______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.

You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]