I made a quick run through several areas along Darby Creek in SW Franklin County this morning to see how winter birds had fared over the cold January. I visited the Indian Ridge & Cedar Ridge accesses of Battelle-Darby MetroPark and the Fox & Sycamore Plains accesses of Prairie Oaks.  While not as cold as last week, there was still 2-4 inches of snow on the ground.  Darby Creek was open in several places, so both waterbirds and land birds tended to be near these waterholes.  Notables included:

Black Ducks - several wild flocks were in the waterholes; they were much more skittish than the urban birds in many Columbus locations, and may represent very early 'migrants'.

woodpeckers - LOTS of chasing, calling, drumming Red-bellies & Downies, along with lesser #s of other species.  2 Pileateds were calling around Indian Ridge access.

Carolina Chickadees - these birds were markedly up in numbers, which parallels what we've seen in Columbus.  Since there are far fewer feeders out here, there must be some other reason for their rise.

Brown Creepers - small numbers in many locations.  There were more than I saw back in December, so they may be filtering north as the winter becomes less fierce.

Blue Jays - many more than are usually here in winter.  Most seemed to be hanging near oak areas.

Carolina Wrens - never very common here, I still found several along the creek, poking around snow-free slopes.  They're learning how to survive winter here.

E.Towhee - I found them at 3 different sites, which is surprising given the snow cover, lack of feeders, and generally low sparrow #s.

Fox Sparrow - 1 handsome bird was scraping around beneath an empty feeder at Cedar Ridge Access of Battelle-Darby MetroPark.

Other Sparrows - poor showing for most species, with very few of any species.  The only bright spot was a flock of 8-10 Tree Sparrows near the US 40 bridge over the creek.

Rusty Blackbirds - not a one, which is a little perplexing since this is one of the few spots near Columbus (along with Walnut Creek and Calamus Swamp) where they might be expected in late winter.

Winter Finches - another dud, with only a few Goldfinches at several locations.  Darby is well off the beaten path for these guys.

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