What to do on frigid, icy, windy days?  Keep the feeders stocked and check nearby feeders.  I kept our feeder bank in Gahanna full and checked those of several nearby neighbors, as well as crunched through the ice around Woodside Green Park.  For comparison, I traveled 4 miles south to Big Walnut Park in Columbus, hiking around it and viewing its bank of feeders (at its shelterhouse).

All of the feeder banks had suet and several seed feeders, and all had accumulated large #s of expected feeder birds - chickadees, titmice, etc. as well as small flocks of Starlings (smart birds that they are). Other birds included:

Raptors - no Cooper's were haunting any of the feeders, or they were so inconspicuous that I, and the small birds, didn't spot them.  Both parks, however, had 2+ Red-tails.  They seem to move into the woods when it snows & freezes, possibly to track squirrels.

Woodpeckers - small #s of Downies and a few Red-bellies at each group, but nothing more exotic, though both parks had Pileated in the woods.

Sparrows - more were at the feeders than in the parks.  Both had surprising #s of White-throats and Juncos.  Gahanna pitched in 2 Song Sparrows, while Big Walnut had a beautiful E.Fox Sparrow.

Blackbirds - nothing in Gahanna, but Big Walnut had 2 Common Grackles.  They've been a fixture there since December.

Finches - all had House Finches & Goldfinches, but more elusive winter finches couldn't be found, despite the taiga-like weather.

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