Several stops along the Scioto River corridor this morning found side ponds & lakes frozen (Including big ones like at Haul Rd and Watermark lake), but the river was still largely open, except above the Greenlawn dam. Most of the bird activity was close to the river; any areas further away had substantially fewer birds. I stopped at Haul Rd, Scioto Audubon, Berliner Park, Confluence Park, Long St. Dam, Watermark Lake, Marble Cliff/RiversEdge, 5th Ave bridge, and Quarry Trails. Notables included:
Great Egret(s) - I had 1 roosting on an island just below the Greenlawn Dam; later observers had 2 Great Blue Herons - only a few around Scioto Audubon & Berliner, but I had clusters of 5 roosting along the river at the 5th Ave bridge and at Quarry Trails DabblingDucks - mostly mallards, though a Black Duck was at the 5th Ave bridge DivingDucks - a big flock of 125 Ring-necks, along with 3 Redheads, was in the river at RiversEdge offices. Small numbers of Hooded Mergansers were at many locations. OtherWaterbirds - a Pied-billed Grebe was in the river at Berliner, while a Cormorant was along the river at Quarry Trails Gulls - nothing but Ring-bills, but they were all along the river; Scioto Audubon had nearly 90 on the ice. Raptors - Red-tailed Hawks were at several locations, while a juvenile Bald Eagle was at Scioto Audubon. BeltedKingfishers - 2 were along the river in Berliner Park, while another 2 were on the river at the 5th Ave bridge. Woodpeckers - hard to come by, with only a few Red-bellies and Downies, though I did have Hairy Woodpeckers at Scioto Audubon and Long St. Dam PerchingBirds - slim pickings, with Cardinals being the only widespread species, Tree Sparrows were at Haul Rd and at Quarry Trails
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