Both tonight, sunday, and friday night I was treated to an enthralling event right before my eyes on Ashton Pond at the north end of Blacklick Metro Park. The Barred Owls that nest in the park are somewhat adept fishers and in the evening they can be readily observed as they pursue the fish and frogs of this medium sized forest pond. There is a nice wheelchair accessible dock on the pond edge with two sets of benches where you can sit in comfort as you watch the owls make repeated attempts at catching dinner for their waiting owlets. You can hear the owlets in the trees as they make begging screeches. On friday night I was out there with a dozen visitors and the owls didn't seem to mind too much, the constant presence of people in the park has caused the owls to become a bit acclimated to our presence. It seems that just before sunset is the best time to view the Owls, about 8:10pm tonight was a good time to see them well. Later, at dusk we were able to watch the owls and also many bats (of at least 4 species), Chimney Swifts, Common Nighthawks, and Dragonflies hunt simultaneously. And of course the Bullfrogs and Green Frogs are quite vocal. Snapping turtles, of which we have several large individuals, also made an appearance alongside Muskrat in the water. So, it's quite a show. The parking lot for Ashton Pond is the second drive on your left after you enter the park, and the pond is on the south side of the lot. Bring binoculars for a good close view, but even without bins you can see them well. We stayed until 9:20pm tonight (park is open til 10pm) and enjoyed the bats flitting about. Its also fun to hear the long evening song of the Acadian Flycatcher. It seemed like only one out of 15 attempts was successful for the Barred Owl. I hope you can make it out to see the owls and respectfully admire the battle for life and death. 

Good birding
Ben Warner - naturalist at Blacklick Metro Park
www.metroparks.net
BLACKLICK WOODS 
6975 E. Livingston Ave.
Reynoldsburg, OH 43068
(eastern Franklin & northwestern Fairfield counties)
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