I spent a few hours this morning hiking around this MetroPark west of Columbus, looking for early waterfowl and late landbird migrants. Prairie Oaks sits at a narrow portion of the Darby Creek riparian corridor, so it can often be a good migrant funnel. I stopped at Darby bend Lakes, Beach Road, and the Coneflower Trail. Waterfowl were nothing special, with the expected flocks of mallards and Canada geese at Darby Bend lakes. Landbirds were a bit better, with notables being: Creepers,Kinglets - good day for Brown Creepers, with 6-8 on the morning. Kinglets were less impressive, with only 4 Golden-crowned and no Ruby-crowns Thrushes - Robins most common; rather than flyovers, most of the 200+ were clustered in berry-laden honeysuckle bushes along the Coneflower Trail. The CT also had a Hermit Thrush, but no Bluebirds. Larks,Pipit - flyover Horned Larks were few, but were at each stop. A lone Pipit was at Darby Bend Lakes Sparrows - Chipping & Savannah Sparrows were gone, but a few Field Sparrows (4-5) were still lingering along the Coneflower Trail. Winter sparrows abounded, with 80+ White-throats, 10 Juncos, and 6 Fox Sparrows. Blackbirds - little movement here, with 12-15 Redwings at Darby Bend Lakes the only significant number. Finches - a Purple Finch was at the old quarry along Beach Rd, and Goldfinches were widespread. ______________________________________________________________________ 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]