Diana's Mother's Day request was an early afternoon hike at this hilly MetroPark south of Lancaster, and who was I to refuse? We both brought along binos, and were rewarded with a great afternoon. Spring migration here is often different from the forested 'islands' of parks around Columbus. Quite a few of the early wave neotropical migrants are already on territory here, but late wave birds haven't put in much of an appearance yet. Notables on a 2 hour hike along the Fern Trail - Hemlock Trail - Creekside Trail loop included: Red-shouldered Hawks - a calling pair circling above Starner Road picnic area Wild Turkey - 1 flew across the main road near the Hemlock Trail entrance. Cuckoos - not a single bird or sound; they haven't arrived yet, despite a good crop of tent caterpillars Flycatchers - also largely no-shows, with only 2 Wood Pewees and 2 calling Acadian Flycatchers. They'll be much more common soon. Vireos - more prominent, with 12+ Red-eyed, 2 Yellow-throated, 1 very territorial Blue-headed along the Hemlock Trail, and a White-eyed at the Fern Trail parking area Kinglets,Gnatcatchers - still 2-3 Ruby-crowns. Not very many gnatcatchers (6-8) compared to the droves closer to Columbus Thrushes - 6+ singing Wood Thrushes and 2 calling Swainson's. Veeries & Hermits not really on territory yet, though we did hear one Hermit in quiet subsong along the Hemlock Trail Mimids - lots of Catbirds (12+) singing along Creekside Meadows Trail (CMT). No Thrashers, or at least none singing. Warblers - great day, even though some later arrivals haven't shown up yet. Totals included Yellow Warblers - 3, all along Creekside Meadows Trail Parula Warblers - 2 along CMT, with one very curious individual around the Starner Road bridge Cerulean - 2 singing along CMT; one at mouth of Hemlock Trail afforded good views Worm-eating - 1 singing along the Fern Trail Nashville - 6+ along the entire loop, far less than the numbers around Columbus right now Tennessee - 2-3 , surprisingly mostly along the ridgetops Blue-winged - 1 singing around the Starner picnic area GOLDEN-WINGED - 1 singing around the Fern Trail parking area, both when we started and when we finished Magnolias - 5+, scattered in many locations Chesnut-sided - 4+, mostly in mature forest along the Fern Trail Black-thr.Blue - 1 singing along Fern Trail Black-thr.Green - 12+ including many birds skirmishing around hemlock groves, setting up territories Blackburnian - 4+ singing at several different locations; likely migrants, though a few breed nearby Yellow-throated - 2 singing along CMT, in obvious breeding habitat (ie. sycamores) Yellow-rumped - 8+ scattered in many locations, nowhere common Pine - 1 singing along ridge where Ferm, Hemlock, and Cemetery Ridge trails intersect Prairie - 3 singing along ridgetop meadows; more common than I recall here (& in line with uptick in migrant #s) Black&White - 6 singing in mature woods along Fern & Hemlock trails Am.Redstart - 3 singing in riparian areas along CMT; none on hills or in ravines Ovenbirds - 14+ along trails away from riparian areas, almost exclusively in mature broadleaf forest La.Waterthrush - 4 along watercourses, including a very defensive bird along the Hemlock trail stream Com.Yellowthroat - 6+ along the CMT, favoring the wet meadow edges Hooded - 20+ singing along trails in nearly every forested habitat No Kentuckies, Canadas, Wilson's, Bay-breasted, or Chats (all late starters here) Tanagers - 5-6 Scarlets singing in mature broadleaf forest. No Summers, but little good habitat for them along these trails. Buntings,Grosbeaks - 6+ Indigo Buntings along edges of meadows both along Clear Creek and at ridgetops. Only 3 Rose-br.Grosbeaks, despite being in great habitat most of the time. Sparrows - plenty of singing Chipping and Fields, the former mostly in streamside fields, the latter on ridgetop meadows. Few White-throateds (mostly along CMT) and no White-crowns Orioles - 4+ Baltimores, all along the CMT. No Orchards, but we didn't exhaustively check the fields east of Starner. ______________________________________________________________________ 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]