Hello,

I headed out early this AM for a short but sweet birding trip to the new
"under construction" wetlands along the new bikepath at Battelle Darby Creek
MP in SW Columbus.  I hadn't seen a Vesper Sparrow yet this year, so I was
going on Rob Thorn's report of one at the Darby Dan Airport a few days ago.
I didn't see or hear any at the airport, but I continued on to the wetlands
area of the bikepath at Battelle.  I stood quietly along the trail,
listening intently for the song of a Vesper Sparrow, and heard only one song
that I'm certain was a Vesper.  I heard many different versions of Song
Sparrow songs in the distance, but the one Vesper song had a distinct
quality and started on two lowish notes.  I kept seeing what I thought were
Vespers, but with so many imm. Horned Larks around (about the same size,
color, and general pattern and also with white outer tail feathers), and
without them vocalizing, it was hard to make a positive ID.  But after I
stood there for probably an hour, they began to cooperate more, and I
finally saw 4 Vesper Sparrows in beautiful light and only about 20 yards
away.  They kept competing with a certain pair of Savannah Sparrows for a
particular large weed to perch on.  Man, I wish I had a good camera, because
with the morning sunlight they were beautiful.  In the grassy, weedy area I
also saw at least 30 Horned Larks (many juveniles), 10+ Savannah Sparrows, 2
Spotted Sandpipers, many Tree and Barn Swallows, and several Am.
Goldfinches.  At the distant pond to the east (looking right into the
morning sun), I could make out at least 12 peeps, 2 yellowlegs, and 4
killdeer.  Distance and lighting made further ID impossible.

Of note, a park ranger stopped to chat for a minute while I was there, and
mentioned a couple interesting things.  First, he said he had recently seen
a very cooperative Bobwhite near the parking lot at Osprey Lake, within
Battelle Darby Creek MP.  Pretty interesting, made me think it may have been
an escaped bird, but who knows, may be worth checking out.  Also, he
mentioned that they are trying to turn this new wetland area along the
bikepath into a "wooded wetland", and are currently applying certain
herbicides to the area to kill out competing weeds and let the trees they
have planted grow.  I was disappointed by that, because I like all the
grassy open habitat for sparrows and bluebirds etc., and having lots of
trees would probably make any shorebirds harder to see.  Any thoughts on
that?  I wish they would just make a huge shallow pond with lots of mud
and a nearby observation tower for shorebirds!  They could even do it in the
name of Red Knot conservation.

Good birding,

Nate Nye
Hilliard, OH

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