Today was a great birding day for me.  It started at noon in a field where 
I run my dogs. I was on Goodale, between Olentangy and Northwest across 
from Grandview Yard. I witnessed the tail end of an unsuccessful air 
attack.  I looked up to see what appeared to be a Peregrine but only saw 
the under parts which were all white/buff with grey mottling/barring 
throughout to the wing tips and squared tail.  The wings were pointed and 
very long. It's prey was a pigeon that took off in the opposite 
direction.  The falcon continued flying southeast towards downtown until I 
lost sight of it. I could be mistaken but am pretty sure this was one of 
the Columbus Peregrines?

At 4pm I went to "Watermark Island".  The waterfowl were pretty far from 
my viewing area.  After about 20 minutes the coots started to scramble 
along the surface and I thought I had spooked them.  Turns out it was a 
hungry Bald Eagle swooping in for his dinner.  I didnt see what he grabbed 
but it didnt fight back and he flew to the other side of the 670 off ramp 
and enjoyed his catch.  His intrusion pushed the entire lake population 
towards me and I got a great look at most of the group.

Sorry, I don't count them unless there are only a handful present, no 
quantity means there were more than 100.  There were definitely other 
species there that I could not see enough details to ID

Definite species that were identified:

Canada Geese
Mallards (less than 10)
American Coot
Hooded Mergansers (2 males and 2-4 females)
Buffleheads (about 4-6 pairs)

These are all firsts for me:

Gadwall (2 pairs)
Redheads (12-15 males and several females all mixed in with the Coots)
Canvasbacks (3 males and I am not sure how many females)
Ring necked duck (1 male flew in to the south shore)

Questionable identification:
Double crested cormorant (juvenile)

This diving bird that was too far out for me to get a solid ID on.  It was 
alone and as large or larger than the mallards that I could compare him 
to.  The silhouette reminded me of a loon but the coloring and bill were 
not consistent with a loon.  It was greyish with a distinctively lighter 
grey throat and yellowish bill.  It sat low in the water and after 
describing it to another birder, she immediately thought of a cormorant 
(which had completely slipped my mind as a possibility).  I hope to get a 
closer look tomorrow if I can catch him closer to the shore in the 
morning. Unfortunately, I do not have a scope so am limited to what I can 
see with my binoculars.  

Happy Birding, 

Nikki

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