Hello! Last evening between 5-7:30 PM and today between 12:30-3:30 PM, I birded the pet trail at Highbanks which is located just north of Columbus. While I did not see or hear anything rare, there were good numbers of some species, especially last evening when at times I was overwhelmed by the various birds that were flitting and flying about. The following is a list of the birds seen and/or heard last evening and today, respectively: White Throated Sparrow-100+ and ~40-50 (with several singing) Swamp Sparrow-9 and 0 Field Sparrow-7 each day (numbers way down compared to 1 week ago) Song Sparrow-7 and 2 Dark-Eyed Junco-4 and 0 Nashville Warbler-1 in the Goldenrod today Orange-Crowned Warbler-possible 1 in the Goldenrod today, flew off before I got good enough look to definitively ID, first impression was OCWA Yellow-Rumped Warbler-~75 and ~60 Eastern Phoebe-1 in big loop Fri, 2 fly catching at pond today Belted Kingfisher-female Fri and male Sat at pond Eastern Bluebird-1 male both days Hermit Thrush-3 and 2 (1 today hovering in mid-air picking off wild grapes from vine) Winter Wren-2 and 0 Carolina Wren-5 and 2 Golden-Crowned Kinglet-1 and 0 Ruby-Crowned Kinglet-0 and 8 Catbird-0 and 2 Cooper's Hawk-1 Fri strafing birds at the pond Barred Owl-2 last evening (1 carrying off young opossum and second nearby in woods loop, pretty cool) Cedar Waxwing-~12 and ~16 Red-Tailed Hawk-0 and 1 Eastern Towhee-4 each day Turkey Vulture-0 and 2 Northern Flicker-9 and 7 Pied-Billed Grebe-0 and 1 Common Grackle-21 and 0 Red-Winged Blackbird-~10 and 0 American Crow-2 and 1 Cardinals, Titmice, Chickadees, Downies, Red-Bellieds, Hairy (1), Blue Jays, Robins, White-Breasted Nuthatches, Goldfinches, Mallards, and Starlings The most productive areas the past few weeks consistently have been along the first wooded stretch just past the water fountain, the tree line along the biggest loop, the short loop through the woods, and the back loop of the trail. I have yet to see a Fox Sparrow this year which in years past I would have seen by now. Also, a Red-Breasted Nuthatch was reported by a naturalist about 2 weeks ago outside the Nature Center window. Many thanks to Doc Jordan, naturalist at Highbanks, who came out with me today for a bit to help me identify Smartweed. Patches of Smartweed are located along some small areas of the trail (but no Ammodramus sparrows). Directions to Highbanks can be found at _www.metroparks.net_ (http://www.metroparks.net) . Rob Lowry Powell, Ohio ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]