It seems that I wrote off these ponds too soon last week. A second visit this week found them swarming with migrant waterfowl, although nearly all the action was in the northern wetlands. Poor Ellis Pond was virtually dead; even its Heron colony appears to be abandoned. Teal Pond, Wood Duck Marsh, Mallard marsh, and Arrowhead marsh, though, were teeming. Highlights included: Canada Geese - large #s, but no Cackling here. I did have a small goose fly over Winchester Lake (2 miles west of Pick Ponds) but wasn't able to track it down to the ground. Wood Ducks - 15-20 Mallards - 100+ Black Ducks - 10+ Green-winged Teal - 5 American Wigeon - 6 pairs Gadwall - 2 pairs N. Pintail - 1 pair Redhead - 12-15 Ring-necked Duck - 75+ Lesser Scaup - 10, all at Ellis Pond C, Goldeneye - 1 female at Wood Duck marsh Hooded Merganser - 3-4 pairs Ruddy Ducks - 6-8 Horned Grebe - 1 Pied-billed Grebe - 3 American Coot - 50+ Osprey - 1 Great Blue Herons - 8 on nests Tree Swallows - 5-6 White-crowned Sparrows - 2-3 at Wood Duck picnic area feeder Tree Sparrows - several locations Swamp Sparrows - several locations ______________________________________________________________________ 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]