My apologies for this report being late but the ending time for our team Monday and commitments Tuesday prevented me from preparing a summary earlier. Monday the Westerville Wild Birds Unlimited team conducted its initial participation in the Columbus Audubon Society Birdathon. The team consisted of Dan Hall, Mike Flynn, Leslie Sours and myself, Charlie Bombaci. We started the day at Blendon Woods Metro Park (Franklin County), and then we birded at Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area (Wyandot County), Big Island Wildlife Area (Marion County) and finished at the Hoover Nature Preserve (Delaware County). To count a species a minimum of two team members must observed or make audio identification of the species. Our team recorded 113 species for the birdathon and had an additional 7 species that only a single member of the team observed, giving the team 120 total species. If we were slightly faster the team would have had several great additions to the “official” list. A recap of highlights for the day. At Blendon Woods Metro Park (Franklin) the team recorded 20 species of warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Palm Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, American Redstart, Black-and-white Warbler, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Kentucky Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Mourning Warbler and Wilson’s Warbler. Other notables include Green Heron, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Red-headed Woodpecker, and Summer Tanager, Scarlet Tanager, Lincoln’s Sparrow, White - crowned Sparrow and Rose - breasted Grosbeak. At Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area (Wyandot) the highlights were shorebirds. We drove around and scanned the flooded fields and were rewarded with 8 species. This included 5 Wilson’s Phalaropes, 4 Short-billed Dowitcher, 5 Semipalmated Sandpipers, single Greater Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Dunlin and 10 Killdeer. A few of the finds included 8 Great Egrets, a Bobolink, Baltimore and Orchard Orioles, many Eastern Meadowlarks, a several nesting species at Pond 3. The nesting birds were Trumpeter Swan, Wood Duck, Hooded Merganser and Pied-billed Grebe. Many years I have also found nesting Ruddy Ducks at this location. At Big Island Wildlife Area (Marion) again our best finds were water loving species. The highlights include 2 immature Black-crowned Night Herons, Common Gallinule, Sora, Hooded Merganser, Lesser Scaup, Blue-winged Teal and Trumpeter Swan. Grassland species also were well represented as we located Horned Lark, Bobolink, Field Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark, Yellow Warbler Common Yellowthroat and Ring-necked Pheasant. Another bird we found sitting in the grass next to the water was an adult Bald Eagle. Our final stop of the day was home ground, the Hoover Nature Preserve. I couldn’t see a century day lacking a Prothonotary Warbler. We checked Area N and Wiese Road and quickly added the Prothonotary Warbler to the list and a few of his friends such as Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler, Osprey, Caspian Tern and Red-headed Woodpecker. We called it a day at this point as the light was fading and so were a couple of us. We did conclude it was a good day and enjoyable time birding for friends and supporting a good cause, the Columbus Audubon Society Birdathon. The birdathon is a major annual event to raise funds to support local conservation, grants and projects, research projects and youth scholarships. So if you haven’t already made a pledge to a team, any team, not necessarily the Westerville Wild Birds Unlimited Team, think about doing it now. You will be investing in protecting habitat and promoting conservation now and in the future. There is a sponsorship form in the May-June issue of the Song Sparrow, the Columbus Audubon Newsletter, or you ca sponsor a team and pay a pledge at www.columbusaudubon.org/birdathon. Charlie Bombaci ______________________________________________________________________ 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]