There were still interesting waterbirds to be found in the ponds and backwaters of the Scioto River in Columbus, along with a decent assortment of winter migrants and raptors. I stopped at SCioto Audubon, Long St. Dam, Watermark Lake, Quarry Lake Apartments, McKinley Quarry Lake, Quarry Trails, and Griggs Dam Park. Plenty of bugs were out on the warm day, but few insectivores were around to really take advantage of them. Notables included:
Waterfowl -- Quarry Apartment Lake shined, with a big flock of Ring-necked Ducks and a few Redheads, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, and Hooded Mergansers. Most of the other spots had little besides Mallards & Geese, though SCioto Audubon had a few scaup and some Pied-billed Grebes.
Cormorants -- Loads of Double-crested all up and down the river, culminating in the colony on the island at Mckeley Quarry Lake, numbering around 300 birds. Mixed in with them was a Neotropical Cormorant, sitting around its nest site on the east shore of the island.
Herons,Egrets -- McKinley Quarry Lake also had 12 Great Egrets and 8 Great Blue Herons, and Scioto Audubon also had 1 Egret and 5 Great Blues.
Shorebirds -- nothing but Killdeer, but they were widespread Gulls -- pairs of Herring Gulls were at McKinley Quarry Lake and Griggs Dam. Single Ring-bills were still around Scioto Audubon and Griggs Dam.
Raptors -- an Osprey pair was soaring over the river at Scioto Audubon, which also had a scruffy molting Bald Eagle and a Merlin on a powerline pole. An adult Eagle was around the Long St. Dam, near their old nest site, and another juvenile was flying N over Griggs Dam. A Red-shouldered Hawk was perched by the wetlands at Scioto Audubon, and Red-tailed were at several spots.
Woodpeckers - lots of Downies and a few Hairies already jousting for territories in the woods along the river at several spots. Flickers were at multiple locations, and an immature sapsucker was along the bikepath at Scioto Audubon.
Phoebes,Swallows -- Phoebes were at several spots along the river, and Scioto Audubon already has Tree Swallows chittering around their wetlands
Creepers,no kinglets -- 2 Brown Creepers were along the bike path at Scioto Audubon, but no kinglets of any sort could be found along the river.
Sparrows -- many Song Sparrows, little else, would summarize this group. A Field Sparrow was singing at Scioto Audubon wetlands, and a few White-throated & Juncos were still around, but their big Spring push hasn't occurred yet.
Blackbirds -- Redwings, Grackles, and Cowbirds were widespread, but no other icterids were found.
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