After feasting on the traditional pancake breakfast and enjoying the Buzzard Day activities this Hinckley-ite bugged down to the Columbus area to peruse some of her favorite parks to the south. I was greeted by a Sharpie at Blendon Woods just after parking my car. I knew this was gonna be a great day in the field. Blendon also hosted several Tree Swallows, E. Phoebes, Field Sparrows, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Bufflehead, Ring-necked Ducks, and a stealthy Great Blue Heron just to name a few. An Eastern Garter Snake posed for some pics as well. Down the road at Kiwanis Riverway Park, Carolina Wrens, N. Cardinals, Titmice, Downy Woodpeckers and Song Sparrows were working along the Scioto River. Several turtles were basking on logs and on the shore. Among them were 2 fairly large Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtles, really handsome specimens! I took at peek at Honda Wetlands and found that the Tree Swallows were busy around the nest boxes as E. Meadowlarks sang in the surrounding field. Finishing the day at Big Island and Killdeer Plains certainly produced the birds. Harriers were working the fields as I drove into the area, and watching the Trumpeter Swans and N. Pintails coming in to roost was fantastic. Pond #27, my personal favorite, was teaming with Gadwall, N. Shovelers, handsome N. Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Coots, Ruddy Ducks, Redheads, Greater Scaup, Ring-necked Ducks, and A. Wigeons. Mixed flocks of thousands of blackbirds started streaming in steady groups and dotting the tops of the tree line as they put down. I heard the call of some Sandhill Cranes and caught them flying over and descending just over the treeline behind pond #27. The sky at sunset resembled the colors of an opal and made the perfect end to this Hinckley girl's Big Day. ______________________________________________________________________ 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]