The Columbus Audubon field trippers that braved the cold today (Thanks, Steve!) found water mostly open along the Scioto River and surrounding ponds. Griggs even had open water above the dam, so it did not have any concentration of waterbirds. Stops at Berliner Park, Scioto MetroPark, Greenlawn cemetery, Grandview/Watermark Lake, Marble Cliff, and Griggs Dam found lots of gulls and scattered waterfowl.  Wintering landbirds were also out in good #s, especially at Berliner and Griggs.  Notables included:

Dabbling Ducks - the expected Mallards & Black ducks at most spots, but the river at Marble Cliff had a male American Wigeon.

Diving Ducks - Watermark had a big flock of 90+ Ring-necks and 2 Redhead, while nearby Marble Cliff had 35 more Ring-necks along the river.  Hooded Mergansers were at several locations, but mostly single males with a few females in tow.

Other waterbirds - cormorants were at Berliner (5+) and Scioto MP (15).  A Pied-billed Grebe was on the Scioto off Berliner Park, and the flock of 70-80 Coots continues to forage around Watermark Lake.

Raptors - surprisingly scant, but there was an adult Bald Eagle along the Scioto at Berliner.  I couldn't find the Merlins at either Greenlawn or along Dublin Rd.

Gulls - large #s of Ring-bills all along the river.  A flock of 140+ were resting on the ice shelf at the Whittier St boat launch, along with 10 Herring Gulls.  These might be commuters from the trash dump that didn't go back to Alum Lake last night when they found a safe ice shelf.

Woodpeckers - plenty of resident Downies & Red-bellies were spiced up by Hairies at Berliner, the cemetery, & Griggs, along with Sapsuckers at the cemetery and Grandview.

Brown Creepers - still common in riverside woods, with a few at every stop, topped by 7-8 along the bikepath at Berliner.

Kinglets - 2-3 Golden-crowns were at both Berliner and Griggs, which had the largest forest patches of the morning

Sparrows - the snow and ice pushed them in to feeders.  The Grange Audubon Center feeders had 10+ Songs along with a Tree and White-throat, while the cemetery feeders were overrun with Juncos. Another Tree and several Songs were along the road at Griggs.

Finches - loads of House Finches and Goldfinches at most feeders; the GIAC feeders had 20+ of each.. No siskins were there or at the cemetery feeders, and a hike around the cemetery failed to turn up any unusual winter finches.

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