A quick trip around these areas west of Columbus found cold, clear conditions with birds hunkering down in bushes to stay out of the bitter wind.  A surprising amount of open water was in ponds around Hilliard and at Prairie Oaks' Darby Bend lakes.  I stopped at Sycamore Plains & Darby Bend lakes along Darby Creek, and Clover cemetery & Hilliard Municipal park along Clover-Goff creek (a tributary of Darby Creek along the suburban margin of Hilliard).  Notable birds included:

Dabbling Ducks - a few mallards were everywhere, but the only other dabblers found were a few Black Ducks along Darby Creek in Prairie Oaks metroPark.

Diving Ducks - Darby Bend Lakes had 1 Canvasback, 4 redhead, and 1 Bufflehead

Geese - Canada Geese flocks were at lots of locations, especially around Hilliard, but I couldn't pull out anything unusual from them.  The smaller geese must've been out with other flocks feeding in the farmfields.

Raptors - Red-tailed Hawks were at most stops, but only Hilliard Municipal park sported a Cooper's Hawk.

Larks,Pipit - Horned Larks were at several locations; the most were a flock of 5 along Patterson Rd.  A single American Pipit was at Darby Bend lakes.

Fruit-eaters - surprising were flocks of Robins at several places, especially along Darby Creek.  Most were around banks of honeysuckle bushes with berries.  At several locations (Sycamore Plains, Sarby Bend Lakes), single Mockinbirds tried vainly to defend berry bushes against the Robin swarms.  Also at Sycamore Plains, a flock of 6 E.Bluebirds joined the berry-eating throngs.

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