I stopped for an hour at this MetroPark southeast of Columbus this afternoon, checking on shorebird & waterfowl habitat, and hoping to snag a few migrants as well. Teal Pond is down to its last few acres of water, and neighboring Arrowhead, Mallard, & Wood Duck marshes are dry. Ellis Pond, on the other hand, is still quite wet, and actually has the best shorebird/wader habitat now. Notables for the afternoon included:
Great Egrets - 15 total, with 10 of those at Ellis Pond
Waterfowl - mostly at Teal pond, which had Mallards, Shovelers, and Green-winged Teal. Ellis Pond had mallards & teal, along with a single Pied-billed grebe.
Shorebirds - all at Ellis Pond's east end, which can be seen (barely) from the Wright Road parking area: Kildeer (10), Greater yellowlegs (1), Lesser yellowlegs (4), Solitary Sandpiper (1), Pectoral Sandpiper (6), Semipalmated Sandpiper (5), Dunlin (3). I could only see a portion of the flats, so the shorebird #s here could be higher. Pity that there isn't a good place to view this large cove.
Landbird migrants - not much, although there were small flocks of Robins and waxwings along the Meadowlark Trail, and a flock of 10-15 Rough-winged Swallows were cruising over Ellis Pond. Wood Duck picnic area had a few indigo Buntings and Palm Warblers, but little else.
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