I stopped by these areas along Big Darby Creek west of Columbus looking for migrants.  Prairie Oaks, with it's narrow riparian corridor, is a good forest landbird funnel, and I hiked the creek and forest edge at Darby Bend Lakes and Sycamore Plains.  The wetlands along Darby Creek Drive are good for waterbirds and field birds, but low water levels made them a better magnet for the latter today.  Highlights included:

N.Shovelers - a small flock of 5 was at Darby Bend Lakes, the only waterfowl besides a few geese on these heavily-trafficked ponds

Shorebirds - grain-elevator wetlands north pool still had a little water and had 2 Kildeer, 1 Pectoral, & 3 Least Sandpipers.  The stripped turf fields of Darby Dan Farms had 30 Kildeer, 1 Greater Yellowlegs, and 1 Semipalmated Plover.

Raptors - no obvious movement, with only the expected few resident Red-tails and Turkey Vultures

Red-headed Woodpecker - 1 adult was calling at Darby Bend Lakes (DBL), an increasingly reliable spot for this species

Flycatchers - Pewees still noticeable, with 3-4 in the forest patches at both DBL and Sycamore Plains.  Phoebes were at DBL and the silo wetlands.

Swallows - small #s of Rough-wings were at every stop.  Grain-elevator wetlands also had a few Tree & Barn swallows

Vireos - 4 Warbling were at Darby bend Lakes (and its string of big cottonwoods), while Red-eyed were predominant at Sycamore Plains

Wrens - 3-5 House Wrens were at every stop.  A Marsh Wren was singing in the cattails across from the grain-elevator wetland north pond.

Thrushes - 4-5 Swainson's were at DBL and at Sycamore Plains; the latter location also had a Wood Thrush

Mimids - Catbirds were common at both stops in Prairie Oaks, and Sycamore Plains also had 2 Brown Thrashers.

Cedar Waxwings - still good #s, with 60+ at DBL and another 30+ at Sycamore Plains

Horned Larks - 8+ were flying around the Kuhlwein wetlands

Warblers - 10 species, with Magnolias leading the pack (9), followed by Redstarts (6) and Common Yellowthroats (6).  Also had Parulas, Tennessee, Chesnut-sideds, Black-thr.Blue, Black-thr.Green, Blackpolls, and Bay-breasted.

Buntings,Grosbeaks - Indigo Buntings at several spots, topped by 6 at the Kuhlwein wetlands.  No Grosbeaks were found.

Sparrows - no early migrants, despite a fairly careful search of the Kuhlwein & grain-elevator wetlands.  There was a lot of grasslands & weedfields for them to hid in, though.

Blackbirds - a few lingering Bobolinks were at both the Kuhlwein & grain-elevator wetlands.  Sycamore Plains had a large flock of 200+ grackles foraging along the wood edge.

Butterflies were almost more interesting than the birds at the Darby wetlands, with Checkered Whites, Cloudless Sulphurs, Sleepy Oranges, Little Yellows, Buckeyes, and Painted ladies seen along with the more regular species.  Checkered Whites are rare near Columbus, and 3-4 were around the grain-elevator wetlands parking area.

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