The Columbus Audubon trip to the Scioto River near downtown found a strange mix of features this morning. The weather was frigid, but the river was high with melt-off from the thaw of 3 days ago, so there was little ice to restrict bird movement. Gulls and ducks were scattered all along the river, nowhere in very big numbers. The trip covered both Scioto Audubon and Berliner Parks, and I stopped at Confluence Park and Long St. Dam afterwards, and the situation seemed the same everywhere: frigid snowy landscape with a fast-running river. Still, we did find some interesting birds, including Hooded Mergansers - small groups at Scioto, Berliner, and Confluence Common Mergansers - 3 at Berliner, but had 16+ at Confluence Common Goldeneye - 1 at Confluence and a pair at Long St. Dam Pied-billed Grebe - 1 at Confluence Cormorant - 1 fly-by headed downriver at Berliner Ring-billed Gulls - sizeable flocks at Scioto, Greenlawn dam, and Confluence, perhaps 300 in all Herring Gulls - a few with Ring-bills on an ice shelf at Scioto, plus 1-2 at Confluence Landbirds were nothing unusual, with the largest number around the feeder area at Scioto. Berliner was unusually low on landbirds, with few woodpeckers and no creepers. ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]