I spent the morning checking out rockpits, old quarries, & reservoirs along the Scioto River from Route 104 north to Upper Arlington, including Whittier, Long St. dam, Marble Cliff, and the Griggs Dam area. I was hoping for a waterbird fallout but found very little. Water levels in the river and quarries are very high, but waterfowl seem to be few & far between here. Highlights & lowlights included: Dabbling Ducks - nothing other than the expected Mallards and a few Black Ducks Diving Ducks - Hooded Mergansers at several locations: Whittier, Haul Rd ponds, and Griggs Loons & Grebes - only 1 Common Loon, on the Dublin Rd Rockpit, but Pied-billed Grebes were at many locations, totaling 8 birds. Gulls - steady trickle of Ring-bills overhead, but only 1 Herring and not a single Bonapartes (which was unexpected). Raptors - nothing as spectacular as the adult Bald Eagle seen at Whittier on Friday, but Cooper's Hawks were at several locations. Corvids - surprisingly few, with only a few Blue Jays (Marble Cliff & Griggs), and a few Crows Wrens & Creepers - No Winter Wrens, but Carolinas were abundant at most areas. 2-3 Brown Creepers were at several sites, including Whittier, Marble Cliff, and Griggs. Thrushes - hardly any Bluebirds (1 flyover) but many flocks of Robins at Marble Cliff and points north, feasting on a good crop of Honeysuckle berries. Sparrows - large #s of White-throats hiding in the honeysuckle at several sites, including 80+ at Whittier and 40+ at Marble Cliff. The big Whittier flocks also had tag-along Song Sparrows (5+) and Fox Sparrows (3). Rob Thorn [log in to unmask] EarthLink Revolves Around You. ______________________________________________________________________ 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]