A modest fallout of Common Loons and Horned Grebes graced the southern waters of Alum Creek Lake this morning.  This reservoir north of Columbus often has good fallouts of waterbirds, and I found 16 Loons and 35+ Horned Grebes in a few hours of checking southern access points this morning.  Most other waterfowl were lacking because of the hunting here, except for a flock of 35 Coots close to the dam.  Bonaparte's & Herring Gulls also showed an uptick, with 140 of the former and 30 of the latter, all in the southern area of the reservoir.  The flock of Ring-bills around the southern end, mostly on the beach, totalled about 300 birds.

Landbirds were harder to come by, held down by the gusty SW winds.  Flocks of White-throated Sparrows and Robins were at every stop, and small numbers of Yellow-rumped warblers could be found wherever there was poison ivy berries.  New Galena and the nearby east dam area had small flocks of E.Bluebirds, as did the Visitor's Center area.  Sparrows other than White-throated were scarce, except for a Tree Sparrow in the fields near the Visitor's Center, and a Fox Sparrow and a flock of 30 Juncos at the New Galena boat launch.

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