The Columbus Audubon trip to Pickerington Ponds and nearby Portman Park braved windy conditions and came away with a good diversity of waterfowl & landbirds. I stopped at Big Walnut Park early, then led the group through parts of Pickerington Ponds and then along the Blacklick Creek greenway at nearby Portman Park. Included in the haul were
Dabbling Ducks - lots at Pick Ponds, including Shovelers (60+), Gadwall (40+), Blue-winged Teal (30+), Green-winged Teal (5), and Wood Duck. Most were at Teal Pond & Mallard Marsh. Ellis Pond had only a few Black Ducks & Mallards
Diving Ducks - 40+ Ring-necks, 15+ Lesser Scaup, 5 Ruddy Ducks, & 4 Bufflehead, all at TealPond/MallardMarsh
Other Waterbirds - 6-8 Pied-billed Grebes and 150+ Coot rounded out the waterbirds
Shorebirds - along with a handful of Kildeer, we also found 2 Lesser Yellowlegs, but water level is fairly high
Raptors - nesting Red-tails were at both Mallard Marsh and west of Ellis Pond. The Osprey was seen briefly at Arrowhead marsh. A Cooper's Hawk dashed past at Portman Park.
Sapsucker - one was in trees near the footbridge at Portman Park
Swallows - Tree Swallows at many places. Portman also had Rough-winged, and a Purple Martin was investigated nest gourds at the Wood Duck Picnic area at Pick Ponds
Flycatchers - only E.Phoebes, but there were at least 2 along Blacklick Creek at Portman Park
Wrens,Gnatcatchers - 1 House was singing at Big Walnut Park, while Gnatcatchers were widespread along the creek at Portman.
Brown Thrashers - singles were seen at the Wood Duck Picnic area and at Portman Park
Warblers - we were treated to a point-blank look at a Yellow-throated at Portman Park; I also heard 2 more at Big Walnut Park early. There was also a Black-thr.Green at Big Walnut early.
Sparrows - Field Sparrows were abundant, with singing birds all around Pick Ponds and at Portman. The Wood Duck Picnic area still had 3-4 White-crowned Sparrows, while Portman had 6-8 White-throated
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