A drake Wood Duck was present in the Scioto River in Columbus along the bike path south of 5th Ave. In the area just north of there are also large numbers of Ring-necked Ducks and Hooded Mergansers. A Ruddy Duck and Pied-billed Grebe were also there today. 

In my "backyard" flood plain just north of there on the other side of the river today were a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Phoebe, and Winter Wren. None of those birds were here on CBC day a couple of weeks ago. A Ruby-crowned Kinglet has also been in the area recently, but I haven't seen it yet in '09. That area can be accessed by walking down the steep slope on Lakeshore Drive south of 5th Ave south of the large office building. There is a sign that says private property, but the river floodplain really isn't. Fishermen go down there all the time. On my CBC route a couple of weeks ago I counted record numbers of American Robins and Cedar Waxwings. The robins have thinned out dramatically since then and I couldn't turn up a single waxwing today. Even at this time of year there can be a lot of movement with passerines.

This afternoon at Hoover the kittiwake was still present until at least 4:00 on the ice above the dam. Large numbers of waterfowl there also made some easy ticks for my year list which moved up to 71 today.


Bob Royse


Robert Royse
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www.roysephotos.com

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