Like Peggy Wang, I found the nearness of this wetland area an irresistible attraction on this first warm day of Spring.  I biked around the nearby Blacklick Greenway around Shannon & Chatterton Rds, then visited both Ellis Pond & the Wood Duck picnic area in Pick Ponds.  Raptors were not as apparent in the late afternoon when I visited, but I did have the Osprey, 8-10 Turkey Vultures & 2 Red-tailed Hawks on nests.  Ducks were common, with divers the big story; I even had small flocks of scaup & redheads in ponds along the Greenway, 'slop-over' from Pick POnds.  Estimates from the ponds I saw were

Canada Geese - 30+
Mallards - 100+
Black Ducks - 20+
Greenwinged Teal - 20+
Blue-winged Teal - 2 pair
N.Shovelers - 40+
Gadwall - 40+
Am.Wigeon - 6
Canvasback - 1 (at Ellis Pond)
Redhead - 60+
L.Scaup - 70+
Ring-necked Ducks - 50+
Bufflehead - 3 pair
Hooded Mergansers - 6+
Ruddy Ducks - 10+
Pied-billed Grebes - 8+
Amer.Coots - 40+

These totals are mostly from Mallard Marsh & Teal POnd.  There were even more ducks over in Arrowhead marsh, but the sun angle prevented me from seeing much more than many distant milling silhouettes.

Landbirds were unremarkable, being mainly the early sparrows (Towhee, Song, Field, Fox) that have been reported elsewhere, along with widespread numbers of grackles and Redwings.  There were 6+ Tree Swallows squabbling over nest gourds at Pick Ponds.  There were also calling Spring Peepers & Leopard Frogs at many of the wetlands.

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