I had a great morning at the Darby Creek Wetlands, arriving at daybreak as
Ben Warner suggested.  There were hundreds of ducks on the pond that took
off almost as soon as I saw them (and they saw me).  I managed to identify
Mallard, Blue-winged Teal and Shoveler, plus flyovers of Canada Goose.  A
large raft of Coots was accompanied by at least two Pied-billed Grebes.

I caught a glimpse of a Nelson’s Sparrow in the cattails east of the pond,
and soon after a second one popped out onto a weed in front of the cattails,
sitting there for a minute or two and allowing me to check out all of its
field marks!  There were also numerous Savannah and Swamp Sparrows.

Shorebird diversity was good: Killdeer, Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs,
Least, Pectoral and White-rumped Sandpiper, Dunlin, Sanderling, and American
Golden Plover.  Also of note were two Northern Harriers.

Avi Eitam
Gahanna

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