I spent several hours scouring the Darby Creek area between Battelle Darby and Prairie Oaks MetroParks looking for early migrants and lingering winter birds.  Blackbirds & waterfowl were the dominant theme of the morning, with big flocks of the former at almost every stop, and lots of waterfowl up at Prairie Oaks.  The new wetlands along Darby Creek Drive look awesome, but were iced over this morning and held no birds.  Notable birds for the morning included:

Geese - All Canadas, with the largest # being 800+ at Darby Bend Lakes

Dabblers - Wood Ducks at several locations along the creek; otherwise all the action was at Darby Bend Lakes, with Mallard, Black, Shoveler, Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, and Gadwall

Divers - Darby Bend Lakes again:  40+ Redhead, 20+ Ring-necked, and 5 Lesser Scaup

Raptors - displaying Cooper's Hawks at both Indian Ridge and Cedar Ridge of Battelle-Darby MetroPark.  I whiffed on the Bald Eagle at Darby Bend Lakes, however. 2 Turkey Vultures were soaring over Hilliard on my way back home.

Shorebirds,Gulls - several Kildeer were at Darby Bend Lakes, and Naturalist Tim Taylor reports the first Woodcock displaying at Battelle-Darby Park.  Small ##s of Ring-billed Gulls were at many locations, with the largest # being 50+ at the new Big Darby Drive wetlands.

Woodpeckers,Creeper - lots of the common species, plus a Pileated calling at Cedar Ridge (Battelle-Darby).  Brown Creepers were at most stops, though rarely more than 1-2.

Wrens - 2 Winter Wrens were right along Big Darby Creek; 1 was at Darby Bend Lakes, while the other was at the north Prairie Oaks canoe launch

Larks - no great numbers, despite being in good habitat much of the time.  Only had 5-6 flyovers, all headed north.

Thrushes - RObins were present but not common anywhere.  E.Bluebirds were at Indian Ridge, Cedar Ridge, and the North canoe launch areas.

Sparrows - flocks of Tree Sparrows at several locations; they may be starting to migrate out.  30-40 White-throated Sparrows along the Terrace Trail at Indian Ridge (BDMP) were the only other large sparrow accumulation.  E.Towhees were at several locations.

Blackbirds - Redwings were abundant, with flocks from 50-300 in many places along the creeks.  Common Grackles were less abundant here, with the biggest flock being 100+ birds along Alkire Rd away from the creeks.  6 Rusty Blackbirds at Indian Ridge access were the only other blackbirds.

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