As part of several mornings spent surveying OBBA blocks around Pickerington for hawk & owl nests, I stopped by the Ponds. Water levels are high at Ellis Pond, but low in most of the wetlands north of there, with the result that there are lots of dabbling ducks around Wood Duck observation area. Highlights included: Black Ducks - still 6-8 scattered in the northern wetlands Green-winged Teal - 10+ around Wood Duck pond & Teal Pond, appropriately enough N.Shoveler - good movement, with 80+ birds scattered around the above locations. Most were actively feeding, so there was a whole lotta slurpin' goin' on Gadwall - 25-30, mostly in Teal Pond AmWigeon - single pair on Teal Pond Blue-wing Teal - a single pair in Wood Duck marsh Ring-necked Duck - small groups in many locations, perhaps 20 birds total Lesser Scaup - 10 on Teal Pond Bufflehead - 2 males on Teal Pond Hooded Merganser - 3-4 pairs on Teal & Wood Duck ponds Pied-billed Grebe - 5-6 on Teal Pond Horned Grebe - 11 birds were resting on Ellis pond Great Blue Heron - 15-16 active nests at Ellis Pond (compared to 25 nests at the Rager Rd rookery) Kildeer - 5-6, the only shorebird seen (and heard) all morning Great Horned Owl - the nesting bird can be seen with a scope from the Wright Rd. parking lot, near the Heron rookery across Ellis Pond. On the other side of Pickerington, a female is sitting on a nest in the woods behind Lakeview Middle School. The groundskeeper there claims that the birds moved in to take advantage of the many Rock Doves around the nearby Pickerington North High School campus. ______________________________________________________________________ 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]