I roamed several OBBA2 blocks between these two sites southeast of Columbus yesterday, mostly block-busting.  The two creeks, RockMill and Slate Run, head in opposite directions (east and west) from Bloom Township.  RockMill cuts through a startling gorge (near the covered bridge of the same name), then seeps through the Wildlife Area of the same name.  Slate Run (and its tribs) head east from the uplands, converging in the forested ravines of Slate Run MetroPark.  Like a lot of places in southern Ohio, the uplands have been cleared and farmed/grazed, while the ravines and valleys have more forest.  Notables included:

Flycatchers - loads of Acadian, Pewees,and Crested along both streams; Willows were calling near the dam at RockMill WA, as were E.Kingbirds.

Swallows - a Rough-winged colony is around the RockMill Gorge, and it was neat to watch the youngsters learning to fly around the gorge walls.

Vireos - Red-eyeds were, not surprisingly, the most abundant.  Yellow-throated were at both RockMill WA and SlateRun MetroPark, while White-eyed were along the edge of the ravines at Slate Run.

Thrushes - lots of Wood Thrushes in many locations, led by an eye-popping 12+ along the 5-Oaks Trail in Slate Run MetroPark.  They're really abundant this year.  Again, no Veeries at any of the stops.

Warblers - Parulas were surprsingly common, with singing males at RockMill WA & Gorge, along with 3 along the forested part of Slate Run in the MetroPark.  A male Redstart was singing at RockMill (where I've had them before), but none were at Slate Run.  Ovenbirds were big news at Slate Run, with 3 singing males and 1 defensive female, making breeding there likely this year.  Single Hooded and Kentucky were singing along the 5-Oaks trail at Slate Run, making it a great warbler morning there.

Grassland Species - no Dickcissels, but had several Grasshopper Sparrows, Savannah Sparrows, Meadowlarks, and 1 singing Boboblink in the fields along Sitterly Road between Alspach and Miller Ave.

______________________________________________________________________

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]