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.

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