My wife and I had planned to travel to Granville to look for vultures today but with the accumulating snow, we elected to stay a little closer to home to look for more January birds.  

We first stopped at Hogback Ridge Park in Delaware county and the feeders at the nature center were very busy.  We were able to add Purple Finch and Chipping Sparrow to our January list.  Also present were a Fox Sparrow and a female Eastern Towhee.  You can visit the Delaware County Preservation Parks website - http://www.preservationparks.com/parks.asp for more information and directions. 

We next traveled out to the eggs farms near Croton.  This is a short trip from Hogback Ridge Park if you stay on State route 37 through Sunbury.  There were several groups of 8-10 Horned Larks on the road surface eating salt or grit along Westley Chapel Road.  At the NE corner of Westley Chapel and Downing Roads, Julie directed us towards a grouping of silos that attracted a group of 30 plus Snow Buntings, a single Lapland Longspur and numerous Horned Larks and Tree Sparrows.  It appeared that the heavy snow in the fields made it easier to find these birds at the silos as they never strayed far following several skittish flights.  Later, a single male Northern Harrier and an immature Bald Eagle were also observed.  These roads had actually been plowed and were in passable condition with minimal traffic.  Google maps provides a good satellite image of this area that shows the silos.


Good January Birding

Ken and Julie Davis

Westerville, OH


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