I took advantage of the perfect conditions, snow covered fields and ground,
to check out my favorite locations in southern Delaware County for visiting
winter birds. A drive along Vans Valley Road, then Miller-Paul Road between
Vans  Valley Road and Trenton Road, then Trenton Road produced between 250 to 300
 Horned Larks, 57 Snow Buntings, 11 Lapland Longspurs, 2 American Pipits and
over  300 American Tree Sparrows. These areas are on the east side of Hoover
Reservoir  and are best accessed by picking up Vans Valley Road in Galena and
following it  until it reaches Miller-Paul Road. The very best location today
was the  intersection of Miller-Paul Road and Trenton Road. I parked at the
side of the  road, turned on the hazard lights, and enjoyed the show. They were
coming onto  the road for grit within 10 feet of the car. Whenever another
vehicle came by  they would fly, circle and return to the road near the car.
Patience usually  gets results here. I could hear many more than I saw calling from
the  fields.

Just south of this location at the intersection of Trenton Road and
Miller-Paul Road there is a working farm and a creek which crosses the road. At  this
location there were over 30 White-crowned Sparrows, 2 Swamp Sparrows and a
few White-throated Sparrows.

Central Ohio birders need not go far for winter visitors if the conditions
are right, as they are currently. With Hoover Reservoir iced over this provides
 opportunities for the locating these species locally.

I finished with a quick stop at Mudhen Marsh off Big Walnut Road to see
whether the Red-headed Woodpeckers were in a cooperative mood. I located 2 near
the bridge below the sluice. On the north side of the bridge there were 2 adult
 Bald Eagles perched in a large dead tree.

Charlie Bombaci
Hoover Nature Preserve

**************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy
steps!
(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1215855013x1201028747/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072%26hmpgID=62%26bcd=De
cemailfooterNO62)

______________________________________________________________________

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]