I hiked with my family around this hilly MetroPark yesterday afternoon. Looking and listening for migrants, I was surprised at how few migrants were around. Hiking the Creekside, Fern, and hemlock Trails, we probably had as many butterflies as birds. Notables included: Raptors - the typical small kettle of vultures, but only TVs. Also had 1 calling Red-shouldered at the base of the Fern Trail. Woodpeckers - not very many, but did have 2 Pileateds along the Hemlock Trail Flycatchers - only a few Phoebes along the Creek Vireos - 1 Blue-headed was singing along the Hemlock Trail Kinglets - surprisingly few, with only 3-4 Golden-crowns, all around the hemlock groves Winter Wren - 1 was singing along the road between the Fern & Hemlock Trails Thrushes - no Hermit Thrushes anywhere Warblers - a few Yellow-rumps and 1 furtive Louisiana Waterthrush, but no Black-thr.Greens in any of the hemlock groves (and it was a target species for the hike). Sparrows - small #s of Field, Song, and White-throated, mostly in the fields along the creek. Butterflies were fairly numerous for the date, and included several swallowtails and quite a few Red Admirals and American Ladies. The bugs are clearly taking advantage of the early Spring, and it should be interesting to see how this affects the waves of neotropical migrants later on. They may have a bigger selection of prey items this year. ______________________________________________________________________ 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]