I haven't had a chance to do any birding in Ohio in nearly a month now, but with a couple of free hours this afternoon, I couldn't pass up the nice weather, so I headed to Deer Creek to see what was around. The reservoir had few birds - just a few Common Loons and a couple of Horned Grebes. There were surprisingly no gulls at all, but 2 Forster's Terns had arrived. On the creek where it flows into the reservoir north of Pancoastburg (Fayette County) there were 2 LONG-TAILED DUCKS and 4 Red-breasted Mergansers. The wetlands still held many ducks (both teals, Gadwalls, N Shovelers, Am. Wigeons, Mallards, Am. Black Ducks, Ring-necked Ducks, Ruddy Ducks) , but water levels were too high to be of much interest for shorebirds. A single Greater Yellowlegs and a Spotted Sandpiper were all I saw there.

Yellow-throated Warblers and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers arrived en masse here long the Scioto River in Columbus on the 12th and 13th, and they too were a conspicuous presence along the Deer Creek today. That next wave of riparin woodland arrivals (namely N Parula and Prothonotary) haven't yet put in an appearance either here or along the Deer Creek.

Bob Royse

Robert Royse
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www.roysephotos.com

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