Winter still had a good grip on this MetroPark south of Columbus, with few unusual birds around. I mostly worked the lakes around the park, including Cruiser Pond, Confluence Area, Heron Pond, the Borrow Pits, and Winchester Cove lakes. Best finds were a Great Egret hunting along the edge of Cruiser Pond, and a cluster of 5 Towhees in the Heron Pond area, likely move-ins from further south. Other notables were: Waterfowl - scant, with the only concentrations being at Cruiser Pond and the Shannon Road Ponds, which had large flocks of geese and some Mallards. Raptors - only common around Winchester Cove, where there was a Cooper's hawk, 2 Red-tails, and a Kestrel. Woodpeckers - regular species widespread, but also had a Pileated at the Confluence area Mockingbirds - singles were at Cruiser Pond and Winchester Cove lakes Thrushes - Robins & Bluebirds wee surprisingly scarce hereabouts, with only 2 of the former (at Heron Pond) and 1 of the latter (at Confluence area) Sparrows - flocks of White-throated were at many locations, suggesting an early movement (along with the Towhees), but other species were scarce. ______________________________________________________________________ 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]