This is the time of year when I start to wonder which birds are invading and which aren't. To get a clearer picture, I usually visit a series of 'sentinel parks' whose mix of forest and field-edge usually proves attractive to a wide variety of birds. The key ingredients for these parks are that 1. they have both forest and meadows, with a brushy edge between 2. the forest has a mix of trees, including mast-producers (oaks,beeches) and a few conifers 3. there are feeders either in the woods or nearby In the east side of Columbus, only a few parks actually meet all 3: Blendon & Sharon Woods, Gahanna Woods, Inniswood, Swickard Woods, Jefferson Township Woods, Woodward Park, and a few of the wooded ravines of Hoover reservoir. I managed to hit many of these spots over the last 3 days and can give a measured guess about the following late migrants/irruptors: Red-headed Woodpecker - only 1 (Jefferson Township) so there's no Big invasion yet Blue Jays - nearly every site had at least 6, often more. Their invasion is here. Red-br.Nuthatch - none, so their recent big numbers may represent mostly migrants Winter Wren - 1 (Inniswood), which represents a below-average haul so far Golden-crowned Kinglets - 1-2 birds at several parks, so they seem to be fairly abundant this year. Hermit Thrush - none, which is unsurprising given the relatively poor berry crop Cedar Waxwings - small flocks at many parks. How they're dealing with the low berry number is a mystery, but they may be on their way out soon. Yellow-rumped Warblers - every park had at least 1, often more. They're common,reflecting a rather good crop of poison ivy berries(a favored winter food). E.Towhee - only 2 (Sharon Woods,Woodward), so their numbers are about average Tree Sparrow - none, which is surprising here by this date. Are they up north? Fox Sparrows - several (Sharon, Blendon, Woodward, Swickard), so it looks to be a good winter for finding them here. Purple Finches - none, so they may also be mostly migrants and mostly gone Pine Siskins - at several parks (Sharon, Blendon, Inniswood) including a small flock of 8 around Shrock Lake in Sharon Woods. (This is a very reliable spot for them because of the number of European Beech trees here.) Evening Grosbeaks - none, but they haven't been regular visitors around Columbus for a long time now. ______________________________________________________________________ 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]