The reservoir at this State Park north of Columbus was almost completely frozen, but had enough holes, man-made or natural, to collect some interesting waterfowl. I stopped at the dam spillway, the beach, the kayak launch, Hollenback marina, Cheshire causeway, SummerRidge access, and New Galena, circling the lower reservoir in the process. A sizeable hole near the dam was largely empty, but holes at the marina and the causeway were much more lively, with lots of waterfowl.
The marina hole, kept open largely by dock bubblers, had decent numbers of Mallards, Redhead, and Lesser Scaup, but the big surprise here was Coots. Not only were they in the water, but they were also grazing the lawns around the marina & parking area. A distant hole offshore also had some ducks, but was too shimmery in the distance for good IDs.
The hole off the causeway was mostly along its northeastern edge, and could be easily surveyed from the Cheshire boat launch and mountain bike trail lots. It was chock-a-block full of diving ducks, along with some geese and mallards. Included in the haul were 300+ Redheads, 260+ Lesser Scaup, 30+ Greater Scaup, 120+ Ring-necked Ducks, 15+ Bufflehead, 6 Common Goldeneye, 1 Common Merganser, 1 Hooded Merganser, and 1 Ruddy Duck. Probably missed a Tufted Duck in all the commotion :-).
The spillway was also open, but only had modest flocks of geese, mallards, and Lesser Scaup. Most of the other sites were frozen solid, with paltry landbirds. The only unusual landbirds were a small flock of Tree Sparrows near the beach, and a Hermit Thrush & Mockingbird at New Galena.
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