Sorry for the late post, as I've been clearing stuff that built up in my absence.  A family trip to Cleveland gave me an interesting perspective on northern Ohio birding, but also let work build up (and deprived me of a Ken Kaufmann presentation at the Columbus Audubon annual Spring meeting :-(.  I visited the northern and southern ponds yesterday during the windiest part of the afternoon, but still found waterbirds and landbirds in hidden lees.  Included among the totals were

Great Blue Herons - still at least 8-10 active nests in the Ellis Pond colony, while the Teal Pond colony was at 6 nests.  The windy conditions may have been giving the exposed Teal Pond birds second thoughts about this site.

Shovelers - 10-15 were in the shallows of Arrowhead Marsh, but nowhere else despite decent-appearing habitat

Ring-necked Ducks - 30+ were scattered between all the other ponds, but none were in Arrowhead!

Coots - 80+ in small groups in every pond area

Osprey - one adult hunkered down in the nest on the platform in Arrowhead Marsh, while the platform at Ellis remained empty.

Cooper's Hawk - one was feasting on a recently-caught Robin along the Meadowlark Trail; even had blood on his beak

Flickers - 2-3 birds at every stop

Tree Swallows - every pond and marsh had a few, with Arrowhead having the most at 6-8.

Golden-cr.Kinglets - still on the move, with birds along the Meadowlark Trail and at the Wood Duck picnic area (and with no conifers at either location, no less)

Mockingbirds - singles were around the Ellis Pond parking lot and the Wood Duck picnic area

Sparrows - lots of Field Sparrows, with 12+ in a bit less than an hour.  Also had White-throated (2-3 on Meadowlark Trail) and White-crowned (2 at Wood Duck parking lot), along with the expected hordes of Song Sparrows.

Blackbirds - no great numbers, but there were Redwings, Grackles, and Cowbirds at most stops.  No Rusties, though.

Possibly more surprising than the birds were the butterflies that were out, even with the wind and recent frosts.  Cabbage Whites were in every windless pocket, and along the Meadowlark trail I also found a Spring Azure, a Comma, and a very early American Snout.

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