As i've been doing some scouting for the local CBCs, I've been focused on fields and feeders birds.  But the early freezing weather has done some weird things to the waterfowl here.  First case would be the unusual variety of waterfowl that are sitting on Hoover reservoir now.  Second would be the unusual late migrations of swans and cranes this winter.  But I've had two very unusual waterbirds 'drop from the sky' in the last few days.

First, there has been a blue-phase Snow Goose in the pond next to the Blacklick Woods Nature Center for the past 2-3 days.  Anyone who's been there knows that this small pond has attracted woodland waterfowl like Wood Ducks, Black Ducks and Hooded Mergansers.  A Snow Goose in here might as well be a snow goose on the moon.

Today, I stopped at Big Run Park, an isolated woodland park in SW Columbus.  Not more than 20 steps from the car, in a scrubby creek, I flushed up a big brown bird. Thinking 'owl', I was stunned as I watched it fly past: an American Bittern. Again, this is an extremely unlikely place for a bittern, even in good weather. I only wish I had seen it about a few miles east, so it would've been inside the Columbus CBC circle. I suggest that anyone out on the Hoover, Columbus, or Delaware CBCs this weekend keep their eyes peeled and their mind open. We could have some very unusual waterbirds.

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