There is some spectacular viewing for a scope at Deer Creek right now. I was there this afternoon (Feb. 18) and also last Tuesday (Feb. 15). The difference was unbelievable since the reservoir has thawed significantly in the past 3 days.
The main action at Deer Creek, as is typically the case in early spring, is in the SW corner of the reservoir. THOUSANDS of ducks were congregating there today. Mallards were by far the most numerous and present in the thousands. On the 15th there were perhaps 2 thousand Canada Geese in the same spot with only a half dozen Mallards, 3 Gadwalls, and a N Shoveler present. There were still hundreds (not thousands) of Canada Geese in the reservoir, but the number and variety of other species exploded. When I left in the evening there were clouds of more ducks arriving. Besides the SW corner of the reservoir, the rest of the southern portion of the reservoir is opening up quickly and there were ducks in all parts of the reservoir where there was open water except the northern section. Last Tuesday there were only 4 Ring-billed Gulls in the area and today there were ~300 of them with some Herring Gulls in the mix, mostly on the thawing ice in the SE part of the reservoir.
Waterfowl present in the Deer Creek Reservoir this afternoon included :
Canada Geese (several hundred)
Mute Swan (6)
Gadwall (several)
Am Wigeon (~200)
Am Black Duck (hundreds)
Mallard (several thousand)
N Shoveler (2)
N Pintail (~200)
Green-winged Teal (~100)
Canvasback (several)
Redhead (~100)
Ring-necked Duck (~300)
Lesser Scaup (~50)
Buffledhead (several)
C. Goldeneye (several)
Hooded Merganser (~50)
Common Merganser (2)
Ruddy Duck (~10)
also - a few Killdeers at the edges
If the reservoir was great for the spectacle, the wetlands were even more interesting. Last Tuesday is was still frozen, but not today. The northern and middle wetland tracts held mostly just large numbers of Canada Geese. The southern wetland tract was the most interesting. Waterfowl congregated in that relatively small area this afternoon included :
5 Gr. White-fronted Geese
4 Snow Geese (all blue phase)
Canada Geese
4 Tundra Swans
Gadwalls (more than in reservoir)
Am Wigeons
Am Black Ducks
Mallards
N Shovelers (more than in reservoir)
N Pintails
Green-winged Teals
Canvasbacks (more than in reservoir)
Redheads
Ring-necked Ducks (most numerous duck there)
L Scaup
Hooded Mergansers
Also in the southern wetlands today there were :
3 Sandhill Cranes
several Killdeers
N Harriers
1 Bald Eagle
Along the path to the wetlands I flushed an Am Woodcock. The path isn't too heavily flooded yet, but boots are still needed.
Several Turkey Vultures were seen on the drive there from Columbus along I-71, but only the regular wintering Black Vultures were seen in the Deer Creek area.
One thing that was less interesting today than last Tuesday was the passerine activity. Tuesday was overcast and relatively windless. Today was very windy and most of the wintering sparrows were apparently hunkered down and out of sight. There are still large numbers of wintering sparrows in the area. Song and Am Tree, of course are the most numerous, but it doesn't take much effort to find Field, Swamp, and White-crowned also. Last Tuesday when all the sparrows were easily seen, I was surprised by how many Field Sparrows were wintering in the area. Pretty much every Am Tree Sparrow flock I came across had a few Fields in the mix with them. Last Tuesday 2 large flocks of blackbirds totalling about 2500 birds were also conspicuous. The flocks seemed to be about 2/3 C. Grackles and about 1/3 Red-winged Blackbirds. Today I didn't see or hear a single blackbird.
A couple of months ago I posted a birding guide to the Deer Creek area on my website here :
http://www.roysephotos.com/DeerCreek.html
Bob Royse
Robert Royse
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www.roysephotos.com
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