I spent a few hours this morning birding around many of the access areas around the upper part of Hoover Reservoir (northeast of Columbus), hitting many of the same areas as the OSU class had visited a day earlier.  My warbler tally wasn't as good, but shorebirds and waders were somewhat comparable.  I stopped at Mudhen Marsh, Oxbow Island, Plumb Rd, Area N Boardwalk (and nearby Area M),the old Redbank Rd (north of the Eastside yacht Club), and the Sunbury Road causeway.  Highlights included:

Peregrine Falcon - seen at 3 different places, but dark markings led me to believe it was the same individual.  It appeared to be sizing up shorebirds at both the Boardwalk area and old Redbank Rd flats, so the shorebirds at both places were very skittish.

Red-shouldered Hawks - a pair was calling along the old Redbank Rd

cormorants - the only truly abundant waterfowl, with 120+ birds scattered over several locations.  I even saw a few flocks fly in from the north, so these birds are moving into the area.

Herons - 20+ Great Blue Herons and 16+ Great Egrets were scattered around the mudflats at 3 different stops, while Green Herons were at both Mudhen Marsh and Oxbow Island (2).

Shorebirds - scattered small groups, with no one spot having large #s.  Totals included:
Kildeer - 55+
Semipalmated Plover - 5
Solitary Sandpiper - 4
Spotted Sandpiper - 4
Lesser Yellowlegs - 16
Pectoral Sandpiper - 30
Semipalmated Spr - 25
Least Spr - 15
Short-billed Dowitchers - 8 (all at old Redbank Rd flats)

Gulls & Terns - perhaps 100 Ring-billed Gulls over all sites, with only 5-10 juveniles among them.  The gravel bar at the old Redbank Rd flats had most of the gulls, along with 6 Caspian Terns

Flycatchers - Wood Pewees at every stop, with added Great Crested Flycatcher along the old Redbank Rd.  No E.Kingbirds at any stop.

Swallows - a few Barn Swallows at every stop, but they were the only swallow found.

Vireos - only a few Red-eyed found (at Oxbow and Area M)

Catbirds - abundant at many locations, especially Mudhen Marsh and Oxbow Island

Warblers - a Redstart and 2 Prothonotaries were on Oxbow Island, while single Prothonotaries were at Area M and old Redbank Rd; several unidentified warblers were at Mudhen and Oxbow, but they were being very flighty.

______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.

You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]