Two bald eagles were the highlight of this morning's Columbus Audubon Whittier walk, although waterfowl and gulls were also abundant.  When I left a group of crows were mobbing one of the eagles, so thier annoyed "caws" might help you locate a perched raptor.  Goldeneyes and hooded mergs were putting on their very entertaining courtship displays (spring?!).  If you go there looking for waterfowl be sure to scope from the dam area fishing pier- many of the ducks were upriver (by the island) and only visible from this location.  The full species list is at the end of this e-mail.
 
Local area birders are encouraged to join the "Birding for a Better Columbus" group and help with avian monitoring at the Whittier and Slate run metropark.  The data will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of conservation practices that are being implemented on the Whittier peninsula.  We will be transitioning from my general census data gathering to more targerted point counts and bird banding this spring.  If you're interested in volunteering please contact Doreen Whitley at the Grange Insurance Audubon Center: [log in to unmask] and she will add you to the group's e-mail list.
 
 
Whittier List 3-3-10
Bald eagle -2 (one adult, one juvenile)
Red tailed hawk- 2
Green-winged teal -2
Common goldeneye-18
Hooded mergansers-12
Ring-necked duck-1
Redhead duck-13
American black duck-17
Mallard-6
Pied-billed grebe-1 (below dam)
Scaup sp.-4 (sleeping with heads on back far upriver, couldn’t tell species)
Canada goose- 9
Great blue heron-11
Ring-billed gull-600
Herring gull-48 (very high for this area)
American crow-5
Mourning dove-9
Northern cardinal-12
White-throated sparrow-8
Song sparrow-9
Carolina wren-1
American goldfinch-5
Downy woodpecker-2
American robin-3
 
(seen within the week, but not this morning: Coopers hawk, golden-crowned kinglet, brown creeper)



   
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