I visited Pickerington Ponds, as well as biked the nearby Blacklick Greenway Trail, this morning and found many interesting summering birds.  Pick Ponds had very high water levels and hardly any waterfowl with the notable exception of 2 TRUMPETER SWANS hanging out at Ellis Pond.  This is the first summer occurrence of these birds in Franklin County, and an easy spot to see them if they remain.

Elsewhere at Pick Ponds were a Mute Swan at Mallard Marsh, and Osprey on the nest at the platform on Arrowhead Marsh.  There were loads of singing Yellowthroats, Yellow-warblers, Field Sparrows, and Willow Flycatchers in most of the open wet meadows, and 2 different Orchard Orioles singing around the northern viewpoints of the Park.

I also biked the Greenway from Blacklick Woods east loop all the way over to the Chatterton Greenbelt, and it was equally interesting, with the highlights being

Bald Eagle - an adult was flying upstresm near Brice Rd, probably one of the 3-Creeks adults out foraging
Acadian Flycatchers - singles scattered all along the bikepath riparian woods, possibly displaced from ash-loss woodlots
White-eyed Vireos - singing birds at 3 spots along the Greenway: Blacklick loop, Portman, and Chatterton
Wood Thrushes - abundant along path between Portman & Chatterton, probably also displaced from ash-depleted woods
Brown Thrashers - singers at Chatterton and Brice areas (another was at Ellis Pond of Pick Ponds)
Parula Warblers - singing birds in the riparian woods along the trail at Chatterton and near the Brice Rd bridge
Yellow-throated Warblers - singers at many spots along the creek, from Blacklick loop down to Chatterton
Black&White Warbler - a male was singing at Portman Park, the 3rd year in a row
Yellow-br.Chats - single calling birds at Blacklick loop and Portman Park, enjoying the 'shrubification' of Greenway fields
Baltimore Orioles - singles at many spots along the Greenway, with a nest hanging over the trail at Portman Park
Orchard Orioles - singing birds at many locations along the Greenway, from the Blacklick loop down to Chatterton

______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.


You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]