Paul Gardner, Jeff Grabmeier and I birded several locations in Pickaway County this morning. We made stops at the East Street wetlands/grasslands at New Holland, Deer Creek beach, Egypt Pike/Dick Road wetlands, Calamus Swamp, the Charlie's Pond area, and the Slate Run wetlands. Highlights follow: East Street: We arrived early hoping for rails but had none; however, two early, singing Henslow's Sparrows were a great consolation prize, with decent looks at one. Loads of American Coots and Blue-winged Teal dominated the waterfowl here, with only a handful of other species. We also had Savannah, Field, Chipping, and White-crowned Sparrow here. Deer Creek Beach: Despite a lack of dog-walkers, the beach was only occupied by two Ring-billed Gulls and a Killdeer. Waterfowl out on the lake was limited to Canada Geese and a Double-crested Cormorant. Egypt Pike/Dick Road wetlands: A controlled burn at the large overlook blind was drawing in a horde of swallows, both Tree and Northern Rough-winged. Mixed in with them was a single Chimney Swift, one of the birds I look forward most to its return in spring. Waterfowl numbers were low, with handfuls of shovelers, a few Ruddy Ducks, and some Ring-necked Ducks, Lesser Scaup, and Bufflehead thrown in. Lots of coots, which seemed to be the theme of the day. A Palm Warbler was a nice surprise foraging in the bushes nearby, and we heard a House Wren singing as well. Jeff spied a Green Heron as we were leaving. Calumus Swamp: We stayed briefly, but long enough to observe a pair of Rusty Blackbirds. Charlie's Pond area: We mainly birded a small wetland on River Road northwest of Charlie's Pond, which in the past has produced some really cool wetland birds, despite its rather limited size. Today it had a Wilson's Snipe and a Sora. Slate Run Wetlands: The highlight here was being greeted by a singing Yellow-throated Warbler as soon as we stepped out of the car. A Sora was also present in the wetlands, but attempts to locate Sandhill Cranes failed. Again, coots were the most common water bird. A pair of Northern Harriers circled together above the wetlands - perhaps a pair looking to nest? Notably absent from our day list were shorebirds - very little good habitat was present, but even some of the shallower wet areas, like at the River Road wetland and East Street, only produced a single shorebird each (snipe at the former, Lesser Yellowlegs at the latter). If you're looking for shorebirds, look north, not south. Good birding, Andy Sewell Columbus ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]