A few very cold stops around the Scioto Gorge in Dublin this morning found the river open for stretches below O'Shaughnessy dam down to around Scioto Park, and infested with large flocks of Canada Geese & Mallards.  Open patches were far fewer below Scioto Park; Kiwanis had one small opening just south of the 161 Bridge, and it was frozen solid further south down to Hayden Falls.  Notables included

Canada Geese - flocks were lining the ice-free areas of the river.  I counted 1200+ and only surveyed about 50% of the open river.  No unusual geese were found, but there's a good chance they're hidden among all these giants.

Ducks - large numbers of Mallards mixed in with the geese, but little else.  I had perhaps 10 Black Ducks scattered in the flocks, but could find no other duck species.

Great Blue Herons - there were 55+ along the open areas of the river down to Kiwanis, with the motherlode being 38 below the O'Shaughnessy dam.

Bald Eagle - 1 adult was flying downriver off the Stratford access.

Woodpeckers - loads of expected Red-bellies & Downies, but there was also a calling Sapsucker at the Stratford access.

E.Bluebird - 1 was gleaning insects from the gorge rocks at O'Shaughessy dam.

Sparrows - surprisingly few, although there were small numbers of Songs and White-throats at Kiwanis hanging out at the small springs along the boardwalk.

Finches - disappointingly scarce.  There were a few Goldfinches at every stop, but I couldn't find a siskin among them.

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