I spent this blustery Thanksgiving morning hiking around Pickerington Ponds MetroPark looking for unusual waterbirds. Water levels are still surprisingly low, with lots of mudflats. Unfortunately , there were no lingering shorebirds, and even waterfowl numbers were modest. Highlights included: Raptors: no Red-tails, but 4 Kestrels were hunting around Arrowhead marsh. Dabbling Ducks: Ellis pond was the best, with Mallard, Black Ducks, Gadwall, a big flock of Green-winghed Teal, a even 3 Pintail. Teal Pond added N.Shoveler. Diving Ducks : hardy anything except for a small flock of 7 Bufflehad on Ellis Pond Shorebirds: none at Pick Ponds (despite good habitat), but I did flush up a WOODCOCK from a swamp woods in Gahanna later in the day. These little guys migrate very late, possibly waiting until the ground freezes over. Sparrows - plenty of Tree Sparrows have moved in, showing themselves around any feeders, but there are also good numbers of Song sparrows and Swamp Sparrows. I even had a small cluster of White-crowned sparrows singing along the Meadowlark trail. Blackbirds - hardly any in migration, which is surprising, given that this is a good spot to find Fall flocks. Perhaps there are large roosts now forming down in Pickaway and Ross counties to the south of us. ______________________________________________________________________ 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]