I spent part of the morning hiking around the snowy trails at Scioto MetroPark and nearby Berliner Park, surveying the mostly-open Scioto River.  Waterfowl weren't as common as I was hoping for, but the absence was partly compensated by good #s of gulls and herons.  The deep snow chased off most of the landbirds except tree-loving species.  Notables included:

Great Blue Herons - 2 were above the dam, but 42 were in several groups along the river below the dam.  While this is my personal high here, CBC teams here in years past have pulled out 60-80 in similar icy conditions.

Dabbling Ducks - nothing special, with a handful of Mallards and Black Ducks

Diving Ducks - 8 Common Goldeneye were about 1/2 mile below the dam on the river in Berliner Park, while 12+ Hooded Mergansers were above the dam

Gulls - quite a few, with 250+ Ring-bills scattered along the river, along with 4-5 Herring.  Could not locate anything rarer, although these conditions have produced unusual gulls in the past, so this site merits checking over the next few days.

Woodpeckers - 5-6 Downies and 1 Hairy seemed unaffected by the snow, but the few local Red-bellies were no-shows, probably retreating into the surrounding neighborhoods in search of feeders.

Brown Creepers - 6 were scattered in the woods along the riverfront bikepath in Berliner.

Sparrows - hardly any, with only 1 Song and 5 White-throats along the trail in Scioto MetroPark.  The deep snow has pushed them out for now.

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