Greetings all, Went to Teal/Herrier wetlands as an afterthought, looking for northern Herriers. The first bird we saw wasn't an NH but a RARE dark ad Swainson's(see below). We saw a nice assortment of flycatchers in open deciduous wooods at park entrance and then several forest flycatchers (OSFL,YBFL,ACFL) mid to upper canopy levels at the ravine overlooking Darby creek...what a beautiful site this is....we spent some time here and while it was quiet for long periods we managed to eek out 15 species of warblers as well as Scarlet Tanagers, warbling and Philadelphia Vireos, Brown Creeper and more. Swainson's Hawk (dark, apparently ad) from T/H wetlands parking at ll:30 a.m. observed for 8 minutes at 200 yards briefly hunting,quartering over marsh/grasslands before cruising north toward Kuhlwein Road. Bird when first seen just over grass tops before gaining altitude, under 100 ft.quickly realizing thoughts of NH were not accurate, large size long tapered, pointed wings overall dark blackish plumage made it a Buteo. The dark plumage mostly slaty gray above and underbody mottled gray, black and white; the undertail coverts were white apparently unmarked most obvious was a patch of white as the hawk headed away. Tail appeared as wide gray rectangle from below and entirely gray paler than the mantle from above.The tail on both sides showed a murky black band on tip. The bird clearly as large as a red tailed but more slender porportionately longer more tapered wings pointed at tip. The bird continued north with purposeful stiff wing beats. Perhaps in describing details for a rare Swainson's Hawk, the most diagnostic unique traits of Swainson's Hawk, the wing shape and pattern, is all that is necessary.......but then it wouldn't be complete. The wings, however, are diagnostic, and when seen well at virtually any distance can leave an experienced observer confident of its identification. SWHA is a large buteo long winged, long tapered pointed wings, necessary for aerial manuvering with a small head and bill (obviously a long distance migrant, foraging on insect and small rodents). In most styles of flight the long wings especially long hand and pointed tips are unique among our large buteos. The long hand, equal to or greater than length of arm coupled with the bulging secondaries gives the impression of an S shaped trailing edge. The wing pattern, consistent among all plumages, is one of high level contrast between lighter coverts and black flight feathers visible, depending on light, as far as you can see. While this was a well marked dark adult possessed the characteristic and diagnostic wing shape and pattern, overall dark plumage, including tail, and white undertail coverts together are unique and leave identification relatively straightforward. Like many species and strays in migration its difficult to speculate on route but here at the east edge of the Darby Plains is many vagrants folow this corridor otherwise known as Ohio Valley. Details will be forwarded to the Ohio records committee. What follows is a full list of birds separated by location: BDMP Mature hardwood forest Overlook Trail and Darby Creek TV 20 SSHA 3 COHA 4 BWHA 3 MODO 10 CHSW 14 RBWO 8 DOWO 8 HAWO 5 OSFL 1 EAWP 5 WBFL 2 ACFL 1 (calling in ravine at platform) ALFL 1 (distinctive HAWO like call, low shrubs at park manager office) LEFL 3 BLJA 38 COCR 50 WAVI 1 PHBI 2 (both VIs in creekside shrub below overlook) CACH 15 TUTI 10 WBNU 15 BRCR 3 CAWR 12 EABL 16 SWTH 9 AMRO 55 CEWA 35 GOWW 1 ( F. in open canopy ravine at overlook) BWWA 1 TEWA 9 NAWA 7 NOPA 2 CSWA 4 CMWA 11 MAWA 4 BTBL 3 BBWA 8 BWWA 4 AMRE 3 OVEN 6 WIWA 4 CAWA 3 SCTA 8 NOCA 4 COGA 1000 RWBL 100 AMGO 13 T/H wetlands (teal pond) WODU 1 MALL 20 LEBI 2 TV 30 NOHA 2 SWHA 1 RTHA 8 VARA 2 WISN 5 MODO 30 HOLA 22 NRWS 75 TRSW 6 BANS 8 CLSW 2 PAWA 2 ("Western") GRSP 1 SOSP 4 BOBO 55 RWBL 150 EAME 22 BHCO 2 HOSP 40 Good birding to all! -- Patty and David Tan Columbus [log in to unmask] <[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]