I spent a few hours between these 2 sites along the Big Walnut Creek drainage in Columbus and Gahanna looking for migrants. At 3-Creeks, I focused on the Confluence area, while at Woodside Green I biked the entire bikepath between that park and Academy park 3/4 mile to the north. There were still lots of temperate migrants, and a few early neotropicals, at both sites. At 3-Creeks the list included:
Blue-winged Teal - 2 pairs cheeping in the bigger of the 2 borrow pits along the trail
Sapsucker - at least 1 was still along the bike trail near the borrow pits
E.Phoebe - 1-2 along the creeks there, but still no other flycatchers
Swallows - lots of Trees and Rough-wings prospecting for nests around the park
Vireos - 1 Warbling was singing in the cottonwoods around the borrow pits
Red-br.Nuthatch - 1 was still calling from the pine grove near the Confluence parking lot
House Wrens - good influx, with 10-12 found in 2 hours
Gnatcatchers - a big push day, with some 20+ over 2 hours, many singing
Thrushes - 1 Wood thrush was singing in the Natural Play area, while a Swainson's was calling along the Confluence Trail
Mimids - no thrashers, but I had singing Catbirds at 2 different places
Warblers - 2 singing Parulas and 1 Yellow-throated in the Confluence riparian patch. 1 Yellow Warbler around the borrow pits. 1 Pine in, where else, the pine grove along the bikepath. Yellow-rumps widespread. 2 Hoodeds at different sites
Sparrows - small groups of White-throateds everywhere; also lots of singing Chipping Sparrows. 4 E.Towhees, scattered.
At Woodside Green, I saw much the same cast of characters as the McNulties had seen. It included:
Red-shouldered Hawk - 1 calling, possibly nesting in the ravines of nearby Columbus Academy
Cooper's Hawks - 2 males chasing over the riparian woods
Chimney Swifts - 5-6 foraging over the riparian corridor
Pileated Woodpeckers - 1 pair calling back-and-forth along the bikepath
E.Phoebe - 3 scattered along the creek here; still no other flycatchers
Red-br.Nuthatch - 1 cacheing seeds along the bikepath. Could they be thinking of nesting here?
Vireos - singing Blue-headed and foraging Red-eyed along the trail
Kinglets - 4-5 Ruby-crowned and 1 Golden-crowned, in the trees along the new stretch of bikepath
Wrens - House & Carolinas fairly common, with 4-5 of each
Gnatcatchers - good numbers here as well, with 8-10 in 1 hour
Thrushes - 2 Hermits in the forest at the south end, while a Swainsons was calling in Academy Park
Warblers - 3 Yellow-throated, 2 Nashville, 2 Black-thr.Greens, 1 Black&White, 30+ Yellow-rumped, 1 Palm, 1 N.Waterthrush
Sparrows - several small flocks of White-throats, along with small #s of Fields & Chippings. 2 Towhees along bikepath.
The new bikepath along the riparian woods at Woodside Green has opened a neat area for viewing migrants and wildflowers. There were loads of bluebells, rue, and sessile trilliums along this stretch, along with rarer flowers. Unfortunately, it was also one of the last isolated riparian blocks along this stretch of the creek, so it may impact some of the nesting birds here.
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