The Columbus Audubon trip to Clear Creek had great weather and fairly good birding, with lots of territorial birds and parents feeding fledglings. Best bird was a possible WESTERN WOOD PEWEE heard calling for a little over 1 minute at the Fern Trail picnic area meadow around 10 AM. Call was easily differentiated, a very buzzy 'peurrrr' followed by 'chillip',  but we could not locate the bird, and it went quiet after that time. Re-visits to the site at 12:00 and 3:30 failed to turn up anything else, but anyone birding at Clear Creek this week should keep their ears open. Other highlights included:

Hawks - calling Broad-winged (at Barneby Center) and Red-shouldered (at Fern Trail)
Vultures - Turkey Vultures at many locations, but we had only 1 Black Vulture, soaring over Fern Trail picnic area
Yellow-billed Cuckoos - calling at both Starner Road and the Barneby Center area
E.Wood Pewees - not very common, with 1-2 calling birds at several locations including Starner Road, Fern Trail meadow, and Berneby Center area
Least Flycatcher - 1 bird calling continuously at the Written Rock bridge, in the meadow behind the ranger station there.  They have summered at this location in past years.
Acadian Flycatchers - abundant, with 50+ birds over 5 hours, mostly in broad-leaf forest away from the creek bottom meadows.
Great Crested Flycatchers - surprisingly scarce, with singles at Written Rock, Barneby Center picnic area, and Neotoma Valley.
E.Kingbirds - 1-2 birds calling at the Written Rock meadow.
Swallows - little other than the expected Barn, Rough-winged, & Tree, but we did have a flyover Purple Martin at the Barneby Center picnic area.
Vireos - good #s of White-eyed, Yellow-throated, and Red-eyed.  Singing Blue-headed were at Starner Rd and along the Hemlock Trail
Thrushes - Wood Thrushes surprisingly scarce or quiet, but Veeries were in many locations.  Singing Hermit Thrushes were along the Hemlock Trail and the main road west of the Fern Trail
Mimids - widespread & abundant Gray Catbirds, but no other mimids
Blue-winged Warbler - a glorious male at the Barneby Center, giving an atypical song.
Parula Warblers - unusually common in riparian trees all along Clear Creek, with about 9-10 birds all morning.
Yellow Warblers - most common in Clear Creek riparian meadows, both east of Starner Rd and at Written Rock
Magnolia Warbler - a beautiful male singing at the entrance to the Hemlock Trail
Black-thr.Greens - scattered in hemlock groves, with 4-5 birds along the Hemlock Trail as the largest #
Yellow-throated Warblers - 2 of them were singing in riparian trees near Fern Creek picnic area
Pine Warblers - 2 were singing in pines at different spots around Barneby Center picnic area
Ceruleans - fair #s on wooded slopes facing main stream, with 3-4 between Fern Trail & Hemlock Trail as the highest #
Black&Whites - good #s, with 18-20 on the morning, at every location we stopped. They were defending young at several spots
AmericanRedstart - very common, with 35-40 total over the morning.  Hardly any patch of forest or riparian trees lacked one.
Worm-eating - singers at mouths of Fern Trail and Hemlock Trail.  Fern Trail had a pair defending young fledglings
Ovenbird - another common bird, with 23-25 over 5 hours.  We had females defending fledglings along Fern Trail and along Tuliptree Trail.
Louisiana Waterthrush - several calling birds, but we rarely got good locks at them.  They were both along main stream and along Hemlock Trail
Kentucky Warblers - 2-3 were singing along Tuliptree Trail at Barneby Center area, the only location we found them
Common Yellowthroat - abundant in streamside meadows all along Clear Creek
Hooded Warblers - very common, with 26-30 birds singing or calling in 5 hours.  Especially common along Tuliptree Trail, which was higher elevation forest away from Creek bottom.
Summer Tanager - 1 bird singing at Written Rock, literally in the pines on top of the cliff
Scarlet Tanagers - not common, with two fighting males at the Fern Trail picnic area as the highlight
Baltimore Orioles - singing males at several spots along Clear Creek, but not common

We had low #s of some common birds (Great Crested, Carolina Chickadees, Wood Thrushes) and missed altogether on some others (no Prairie or Canada Warblers, no Chats, no Rose-br.Grosbeaks), but that may just represent the stage of the nesting cycle that these birds were occupying.  Canada Warblers have gone missing from the Hemlock Trail for 3 years now, and Prairie Warblers have been absent from the Prairie Warbler Trail (at the Barneby Center) for just as long.

Insects were also noteworthy, especially butterflies, with small groups of puddling swallowtails at several locations, and Commas and Red-spotted Purples all along the main road. There were also abundant azures and satyrs along the wood edges in most places.  One lonely 17-year cicada was calling from the Barneby Center woods, surely missing his subterranean brethren.

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