Just back from a pleasant day in the field. Brad Sparks and I found
half a dozen white-winged crossbills in the area of Green Lawn where
they'd been found earlier. It is quite possible this small band has been
around continuously; heaven knows there's plenty to eat. While feeding
they are silent, deliberate, and not all that easy to find. In the north
part of the cemetery (you can see a pawn shop and a rental center, etc.
from that point) in Areas H & X two northbound roadways meet forming a
narrow sliver at the corner; a stone for someone named "Corners" sits
there under a three-trunked hemlock. Each trunk is ~8" in diameter. Here
we found the birds, including at least two bright adult males.
    There is a fancy new bridge on Lucas Rd at the north end of Prairie
Oaks MP (Rte 142 exit off I-70). Just west of it flocks of birds were
finding grit along the roadside. Among the commoner larks and tree
sparrows were a snow bunting and a Lapland longspur; this is probably a
common scenario along quiet back roads through snowy fields just now.
Not far south, the southernmost pond at Darby Bend Lakes had open water
with ~150 Canada geese, a mute and eight trumpeter swans, nine coots,
and a score of mallards; anything else could show up, as open water is
scarce.
    We visited a lot of feeders in the subzero temps, and the best was
at Highbanks MP, where the throngs included a purple finch and a fox
sparrow. Hoover Res seemed frozen entirely, but the spillway and creek
below the dam had several thousand waterfowl: other than mallards and
Canada geese were hooded mergs, shovelers, redheads, Am. wigeons,
gadwalls, black ducks, etc. Gulls were there and camped out on the ice
above, but the oddest was a young herring gull.
Cool birding to all,
Bill Whan
Columbus

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