During a picnic lunch at the Ponds today we saw a Plegadis ibis over
Blue Wing Pond. We soon met some apparently knowledgeable folks who
claimed to have been seeing ibises from time to time there since the
first report on 7/15, and showed us photos. Where these birds are from
day to day remains a mystery; there are some good off-limits spots, as
well as some remote and seldom-visited permitted ones. I wonder if the
Parks staff have sightings of these birds, as we had several sightings
of them as they passed by on the path in vehicles.
        Also seen were a towering pair of ospreys, quite likely the pair that
lost a brood in Arrowhead Marsh this year. In Ellis Pond, in the
hard-to-view mud flats visible from Wright Rd (best spot is near the big
honey locust on the south side of the road maybe 75 yards on the
Franklin Co side of the county line) are many larger shorebirds. Heat
shimmer made them hard to make out, and the traffic roaring by at
illegal speeds is intimidating, but one hopes the Park's plans to run a
path out toward these flats will come to pass. The rest of this pond
continues to be frustratingly bird-free. A pair of sandhill cranes with
two colts are being sporadically reported in the Park, most recently at
Arrowhead Marsh, as well.
Bill Whan
Columbus

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