I visited several areas around the upper reaches of this Delaware County-reservoir yesterday morning.  As has already been relayed, there was a Least Tern foraging in the upper bay along Hogback Road; it flies a circuit around the bay, so if you don't immediately see it, wait a few minutes.  It seemed quite successful diving on minnows (4/12 tries that I noticed), so it may find these shallows appealing enough to stick around for a while.

I also hiked along Hogback Road here, as well as several trails down at the Howard Road bridge (about 2 miles down-lake), and had lots of singing and nesting activity.  The forested ravines here hold many forest bird species unusual closer to Columbus.  The list this morning included:

Green Heron - 1-2 were calling around the Howard Road boat launch area
Red-shouldered hawk - 1 was foraging along the Hunter's Hollow Trail, SE of Howard Road boat launch
Osprey - 2 active nests on the 3 platforms at Hogback Rd, with 4 adults total
OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER - a calling bird in a snag west of the Howard Rd bridge, continuing a string of late migrants
Acadian Flycatchers - large #s in the forested ravines of the area; I had 30+ in 2 hours
Swallows - nice mix foraging over the bay at Hogback Rd, including Barn, Tree, Rough-winged, and even a few Cliff
White-eyed Vireo - 1 calling in the scrub near the Howard Rd boat launch
Yellow-thr.Vireos - 4-5 in the forested areas; outnumbered by Red-eyed about 6-to-1
Wood Thrushes - surprisingly scarce, with only a few pairs.  The area is moderately deer-browsed, so understory is thin.
PROTHONOTARY WARBLERS - singers at all stops, so they've colonized the upper reservoir in a big way
CERULEAN WARBLERS - 2 singing along the Maple Canyon trail (SW of Howard Rd bridge), and another 2 along Hogback Rd north.
Ovenbird - 1 defensive pair, and another singing, along the Hunter's Hollow Trail
Kentucky Warbler - 1 singing along the Hunter's Hollow Trail
Hooded Warblers - 3 singing along the Hunter's Hollow Trail
Louisiana Waterthrush - 1 singing along the Maple Canyon Trail
Scarlet Tanagers - 1-2 singing along every area that I walked, including Hogback Rd north of the bay
Baltimore Orioles - 4-5 in the riparian woods straddling Alum Creek along Hogback Rd north of the bay

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