Columbus Audubon

Our local MetroParks have done some amazing, heartening habitat restorations, but few have had more impact on local birders than their wetland restorations. Starting with Slate Run, then following with Pickerington Ponds, Glacier Ridge, and Battelle Darby, they have created or restored over 500 acres of wetlands. A habitat that was formerly rare around central Ohio is now on the rebound, and birders who had to struggle to get rails, shorebirds, harriers, and marsh wrens locally now can find them quite quickly.

Battelle-Darby has the newest of these wetlands to be developed, and is the largest. Covering over 200 acres, these wetlands were scooped out of the old Darby Dan Farms south of U.S. 40 along Darby Creek Drive. In fact, there is a whole string of wetlands along this route, and I usually subdivide them, naming them by their nearest landmarks. Many of the pools are far off the road, so that they can only be seen along the Greenway Trail that winds through the area. I'll focus on those areas that are easily accessible from the road. Here's a link to the MetroParks map of the area so that you can see their locations: 

http://www.metroparks.net/MapBattelle.aspx

 Northernmost are the Racetrack wetlands, which sit west of Darby Creek Drive, between the Darby Dan Airport and the old Darby Dan racetrack. These are the most difficult to see from the road, but include several deep pools that often attract waterfowl and herons. You can best access them by parking at a small gated road on the west side of the road just south of the last houses, and walking in (or climbing on the fence) to see the first one. These ponds are much more visible in Spring, when winter snows have flattened down the screen of grasses that hides them from view.

The other 2 blocks of wetlands that are further south are easier to see, and have become a magnet for birders. I recently visited them, and found them active with interesting birds even in late Fall. The Kuhlwein wetlands include 5 marshes that sit just northeast of the intersection of Kuhlwein Rd and Darby Creek Drive. You can park at a parking lot along Kuhlwein here and walk back along the Darby Greenway trail to see these wetlands. I use the verb 'see' liberally here because the growth of reeds and the surrounding prairie plantings has greatly obscured seeing the open water in these pools. You can walk off trail to reach their edges, but its still not easy to see the water. These wetlands have become great for seeing wetland-associated landbirds. When I walked around here recently, I found a Marsh Wren and lots of Swamp and Savannah sparrows. Several Northern harriers sectored the marshes on this Fall day, and the occasional small flock of blackbirds flushed up. Flocks of Bobolinks used these fields and marshes earlier in the Fall, and Virginia Rails and Soras could be heard here for much of the Summer, with American Bitterns were sporadic callers as well. Short-eared Owls were regulars here in the winter of 2010/11, but I was a bit early for them here in November.

 

Further south are the Silo wetlands, a set of large pools east of the road, across from the Bison enclosure. I had to park carefully to avoid the workers at the silos; they were still being used by the leasing farmers, but the MetroParks has plans to replace them with a parking lot in the future. From the silos, a series of mowed paths curves out into the wetlands and offers the best wetland experience here. The main path curves north to a long open water pool with shallow muddy edges. For much of the late Summer and Fall, this pool produced a shorebird bonanza, with over 14 species of sandpipers. Recently it had started to become a waterfowl magnet; on a stop here after Darby Creek Day in October, several of us were treated to the spectacle of many flocks of ducks coming in to roost. Now in November I expected more waterfowl, but nature threw me a curve. As I approached the pond, an adult eagle swooped over the pool, but nothing flushed up. Tim Taylor, the Park naturalist, had mentioned that this eagle was becoming a regular here, and he's apparently forced the ducks to find other, more hidden parts of the wetlands. It's still hard not to be impressed by this area, and I suspect that many birders will visit these gems often in the upcoming year.

Each Fall we try to find the birds that linger longer than others, playing brinksmanship with the advancing cold temperatures. This year we have an unusual opportunity to find late birds because of the extended warm snap that has gripped early October. Yes, we've had Indian Summers like this before, but usually they occur later in the month, well after the departure of most migrants. This year's warm weather hit so quickly that many migrants that would normally be on their way to Central America or the Caribbean are still here. Let's peer into the crystal ball and see which birds seem likely to linger. These are the birds that might set late date records, if we know where to look for them.

 

Least & Pectoral Sandpipers – increasingly, these hardy little sandpipers are being seen late into Fall migration. We've had both into November before, and both have been regular at the Darby Dan and Pick Ponds wetlands this fall. Look for them in muddy little bays at both sites.

 

Cuckoos – already this year has produced a bumper crop of October cuckoos. Dare we hope for November birds? As long as there are mild temps and a big crop of caterpillars, these birds will stick around. Watch for them around tent caterpillar infestations and Walnut trees with walnut worms.

 

Contopus flycatchers – Wood Pewees & Olive-sided flycatchers are fairly hardy as flycatchers go, but they're still rarely seen into late October. This year both have been seen often in early October; and could hang around swamps and shorelines for quite a bit longer, as long as warm temps keep flies hatching.

 

Swainson's Thrushes – Not as hardy as Hermit Thrushes, these birds can still take cold quite well. They're still being seen & heard, so keep listening for them as overhead night migrants, or looking for them in isolated thickets and woodlots.

 

Marsh & Sedge Wrens – these little mites are much hardier than you might think. Their paucity of recent late records probably had more to do with lack of habitat than any sensitivity to bad weather. The new wetlands at Darby Creek, Pick Ponds, and Walnut Woods should take care of that.

 

Riparian Warblers – we often think of boreal warblers like Blackpolls and Cape Mays as the most cold-tolerant warblers (outside of Yellow-rumps). In fact, though, more temperate warblers like Parulas and Yellow-throated have started to show up late in recent years. Look for them along Columbus' many streamside woods.

 

Vermivoras – this warbler genus includes some of the most rugged warblers, birds like Orange-crowned, Nashville, and Tennessee that breed in the arctic forest and in cold mountains. Many of my latest warbler migrants come from this group, and they can show up almost anywhere. Look for dull green little birds with chickadee flocks, especially around thickets in town.

 

Indigo Buntings – these birds seem to be staying later and later. They're adapting to feeders and to ornamental plantings, as well as prairie grasses, so they seem to have a decent late food supply.

 

 

 

Who seem unlikely to show late records this year? Several species are already tipping their hands, by departing early or staying only in very scant numbers. These include:

 

Great Egrets – normally they have very high numbers in October, but not this year. The high water this fall has probably interfered with their feeding, and has pushed many of them further south.

 

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds – much as we keep the welcome mat out with extended feeder days, these birds are very cognizant of day-length. Nearly all of them are gone now, and there are very few late records so far this year, so they all seem to have taken the same cue.

 

Barn Swallows – usually they are among the latest swallows, but not this year. Perhaps the cold snaps of prior years did in the ones that normally would stay late.

 

Gnatcatchers – often these doughty little diurnal migrants will linger into late October, but their numbers are gone now. Past lingering individuals may have been 'culled' by severe weather in Fall of 2010.

 

Cedar Waxwings – yes, they're still common now, but they've been in 'migration mode' for over a month now, ganging into little flocks that are flying everywhere. They're very sensitive to fruit levels, and this does not look like a very good fruit year.

 

Understory warblers – Hooded, Kentucky, and Ovenbirds can linger in some years, but this year looks unlikely. Few records have popped up since late September

 

Scarlet Tanagers – they've had an underwhelming migration so far, which leads one to suspect that most of them flew past Ohio. Don't look for too many this late Fall.

 

 

 

 

It's Fall, and time for wild turkeys to wander (which is a nice way of saying that the youngsters are forced to seek new territories). This is the time to start seeing Turkeys in unusual places in Columbus and its suburbs as they spread south (the turkeys, not the suburbs). I bring this up because of the rapid progress of Wild Turkeys along the greenway corridors along the east side of Columbus.

Here's the status so far:

Alum Creek – stable population in Sharon Woods; recent reports of birds from further south along the greenbelt near Champions golf course and Bridgeway golf course. I've even found feathers along the bikepath almost to Mock Park, and there are reports near there.

Big Walnut Creek – stable population in Blendon Woods; recent report of a bird along the Big Walnut Greenbelt in Gahanna (My son just recently saw one crossing Old Ridenour Rd near the Gahanna Golf Course. What is it with these birds and golf courses?)

Blacklick Creek – stable population apparently in Wengert Woods (new Jefferson Township park at the end of Wengert Rd); report at Blacklick Ridge Park (just south of Wengert Woods), and an unverified report of a bird near, unsurprisingly, Blacklick Golf Course (quite a bit further south).

So turkeys are seeping south down theses 3 drainages. It's hard to imagine them getting much further down Alum Creek or Big Walnut as there are big interruptions in the greenbelt just to the south (urban Columbus and the Airport). But if they can bypass these problems, more parkland is available further south along both drainages.

Where else are they around Columbus? I know that turkeys are at many places along Darby Creek, but that's still fairly rural. The Scioto has parkland all the way down to Marble Cliff, but few reports of turkeys. I've had several folks in Dublin report them coming to feeders(!), but the real notice that they've arrived will be a report from Muirfield :-).  Along the Olentangy, turkeys have been reported regularly from Camp Lazarus, Seymour Woods, and Highbanks, but I don't know if they've reached Worthington yet.   If any of you see or hear of them along these river-courses, please spot me an Email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  Let's chart their progress into central Ohio.

If you live on the east side of Columbus, you've driven Sunbury Road, either out to Easton or to Hoover Reservoir. And if you're like me, you've always marveled at how much greenery is along the route. From Ohio Dominican University north, it seems there's a surprising amount of green fields and forested bluffs for so urban a route. It's no illusion; much of the route is in parks, golf courses, or preserves. Sunbury Road follows the Alum creek corridor almost all the way to Easton, and much of the creek corridor is protected in one form or another.

 

Other than a few tantalizing tidbits like Innis Park, much of this corridor has been unavailalble to birders and other nature enthusiasts, but that's changing. The Columbus Rec & Parks has been steadily linking all of these greenspaces with an ambitious bikeway, and the newest section just opened in July. It runs south from Innis Park almost all the way to Mock Rd. Eventually it will reach down past ODU to link up with the southern portion of the Alum Creek Trail. Along the way, though, it's running through some of the best hidden parkland in this part of Columbus.

 

I had a chance to bike this trail several times this past Summer. I've always appreciated Innis Park as a birding locale, and wondered if the corridor south of it would be equally interesting. Just south of Innis, the path runs through an overgrown field to reach the forested mouth of Mecca Park Creek; this spot had a neat mix of forest and field-edge birds, including locally-unusual species like Brown Thrasher and Orchard Oriole. Mecca Park creek flows out of a forested ravine snuggled between the field and Bridgeview Golf Course, and maintains a semi-wild appearance.

 

Rather than run next to the Golf Course, the path bridges Alum Creek and runs along the east side of the creek through a neat riparian woods in Alum Creek park. Wood Thrushes and more common forest birds lurked here during earlier visits. As it passes under the Agler Road bridge, the path crosses back to the west side to curve along the margin of the creek next to the golf course driving range. A Yellow-throated warbler was feeding a fledgling in a sycamore along this stretch back in July, and Warbling Vireos were a regular feature in the narrow riparian strip.

 

South of the driving range, the trail again enters a wilder stretch around the mouth of Rosemont Creek. Here several small creeks join Alum, and the area is a mix of overgrown meadow, pocket wetland, and riparian forest. Several rough side trails splay to the east and the west. While exploring one of the west trails, I found several freshly shed Wild Turkey feathers. Several people had shared reports of Turkeys from along the trail, but this was my first direct evidence of the birds. That they could survive so close to urban Columbus gives a stamp of wild approval to the efforts to preserve this greenbelt.

 

The final portion of the trail emerges onto Mock flats, the flat area along the creek east of Mock Park. Along Sunbury Road, the area is dominated by the large Mt. Hermon Baptist Church, but the trail skirts along the far western edge, next to the creek and wooded bluffs of Mock Park. Field edge birds, like Indigo Buntings, Field Sparrows, and Common Yellowthroats were abundant here. Forest birds like vireos, Chickadees, and Crested Flycatchers also worked along the forest edge. A White -eyed Vireo was singing here for part of the summer, and represented an unusual record so close to urban Columbus.

 

The bikeway dumps out into a new housing development at the south end of the flats. It doesn't reach Mock Park, which is a wonderful forested bluff-and-ravine area on the other (west) bank of the creek. You can bike the 2 blocks over to Sunbury Rd to peer into the reeds and willows of Mock-Sunbury marsh. This private marsh hosts one of the larger Spring frog choruses close to Columbus and has displaying Woodcock, but it's fairly sedate now in late summer. It's just another reason why this area is a wildlife magnet hidden in plain sight. Hopefully, the new access afforded by this bikepath will make people appreciate this area more.