2/11/2009 OSU campus, Franklin County I did a little birding on campus this afternoon before the rain came in, hoping for some flyover icterids, killdeer, or turkey vultures, or maybe something better. No luck with any early migrants on my short walk. There were 11 Black-crowned Night-herons at the Drake Union and 2 Peregrine Falcons roosting on the north tower, however. Best of all though was a Pine Warbler at the north end of the pine stand north of the Drake Union. This is almost certainly the same overwintering male bird that I saw at the Drake Union on January 13, although I know of no sightings since and I pass through this area at least a few times a week. When I first spotted this warbler I was confused because the entire face and throat were dark black, forming a spectacular black hood! Thoughts of hybrid warblers went through my mind before I decided the the hood was most likely just a stain. The Olentangy River flooded last night bringing up some sediment, and the OSU grounds crew was also putting down some fresh topsoil today. I'm assuming the bird got its head dirty foraging in one or the other. An interesting observation was large numbers of dead fish, and fish parts, floating down the Olentangy among the flood debris. I saw a female mallard trying to eat one but it wasn't successful. For anyone interested in birding this area, check out www.osu.edu/map and search for Drake Union. This will also let you view the satellite photo of where the pine stand is. Good birding, Dave Slager Columbus OH -- David L. Slager Graduate Research Fellow Terrestrial Wildlife Ecology Lab School of Environment and Natural Resources The Ohio State University 210 Kottman Hall, 2021 Coffey Road Columbus, OH 43210-1085 [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]