The Columbus Audubon trip to these 2 MetroParks south of Columbus found good weather, but slow waterbirds.  Part of this was due to the low ponds and dry ponds littered around both areas.  Landbirds picked up the slack partly, but it would've been nice to find out where the waterfowl were hiding.  Highlights included:

Herons - Great Blues: 3 at Heron Pond (appropriately enough), 2 at the Borrow Pits in 3-Creeks, only 1 at Pick Ponds

Waterfowl - startlingly few, with only a few Mallards at Ellis Pond (PP) and Heron Pond (3C), plus 2 Green-winged Teal at the Borrow Pits (3C).

Shorebirds - Kildeer at both the Borrow Pits (10), Ellis Pond (5), and Teal Pond (5).  Still 3 Wilson's Snipe at Ellis Pond.

Gulls - quite an accumulation of gulls at the Borrow Pits, with 125+ Ring-bills and 6 Herring taking advantage of a drying pond to catch stranded fish.

Raptors - not much besides a few Red-tails at both locations.  A Turkey Vulture at 3-Creeks was rather late, while a Marsh Harrier at Pick Ponds was about on schedule.

Robins - LOTS of Robins at 3-Creeks, where the bikepath is lined with honeysuckle bushes dripping with berries.  A lot of searching found only small flocks of Cedar Waxwings with them, as well as a single Hermit Thrush (at the Confluence area)

Larks,Pipits - flyover Horned Larks at several places, but never more than 1.  A single pipit flyover was at the Confluence area.

Sparrows - 4 Fox Sparrows were along the woods edge at the Confluence area, probably a migratory 'flock'.  Flock of 12-14 Tree Sparrows along the Meadowlark trail in Pick Ponds.  Flocks of White-throateds in the honeysuckles at many locations around 3-Creeks, while a few White-crowns were at several locations at Pick Ponds.

Blackbirds - no big flocks (other than an immense flock of Starlings north of Pick Ponds), but there were a few small flocks of Redwings and Grackles heading south over both locations in the morning.

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