The trip to these southeast Columbus birding spots this morning was wet, but not bird-less.  The water level at Pick Ponds is still low, but that should change quickly.  Teal Pond at Pick Ponds had the most birds, with sizeable flocks of Green-winged teal and Mallards, as well as a few Shovelers and Kildeer.  That list should tell you how deep the water was there!  Ellis Pond had more water, and held small flocks of Shovelers and Gadwall.  Chatterton Ponds had a large flock of 200+ Mallards.  Duck diversity was as shallow as the ponds, but should bump up with the incoming cold weather.

Surprisingly (given the weather) landbirds were more interesting.  Best was an adult Bald Eagle at Chatterton ponds, eyeing the Mallard flotilla.  But other interesting sightings included a Mockingbird at Ellis Pond, a pipit at Chatterton ponds, a large noisy flock of 260 Robins and 200 Starlings in the riparian honeysuckle strip at Chatterton, small groups of Redwings at every stop, small flocks of White-crowned Sparrows and Tree Sparrows at Ellis Pond, and 2-3 Swamp Sparrows at every stop (among much larger numbers of Song Sparrows).  The rain didn't seem much of a discouragement to these birds.

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