Six Northern Rough-winged Swallows joined several Tree Swallows dipping and wheeling through rain drops over the groundwater slough along Canal Road near Route 104 west of Circleville, Ohio this morning. A dozen Wilson's Snipe and six Blue-winged Teal were there, too: A brief stop. The ubiquitous invasive species, bush honeysuckle, seen along the roadways of the Scioto Valley is striking this time of year. The shrub-layer of roadside woodlots from Columbus to Chillicothe along route 104 (and other routes) is totally dominated now by early-leafing bush honeysuckle. The thick tangle of stout spreading shrubs forms a thick green sub-canopy now swamping the native wildflowers and other ground-level plants that should be greening and flowering the woodlot floors during early spring. I wonder what the roadsides looked like fifty years ago. Well, I suppose the fruits kept some of our robins and bluebirds alive during this weird winter and spring. Tom Bain The Glaciated Allegheny Plateau Ross County ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. 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]