It was one of those miserable hot August days. The only upside, if it can be called that, was that the water levels at Hoover Reservoir had been dropping and exposing some mudflats. (Note: With Columbus’ increased growth, the Water Department doesn’t let this happen much anymore.) That’s good shorebird potential, and we slogged out to take
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) Read More »
It was a cold April morning, long before most neotropical migrants arrive. We were looking and listening for one of the first real sounds of Spring in Ohio – a singing Yellow-throated Warbler (Setophaga dominica). These colorful little birds return much earlier than most warblers, and often start to set up territories along central Ohio
Creature Feature: Yellow-throated Warbler Read More »
Many of you have had this experience: canoeing or walking the bank of a river or creek, we see a flash of blue and white and hear the dry rattle of a kingfisher….
Belted Kingfisher    Read More »
We’d hiked along the woodland in southern Indiana in late fall, reveling in the piles of downed tree leaves. But here were green leaves, and they weren’t on trees. They were sprouting from the ground! Not only that, but they seemed to be in 2 varieties. One had closely spaced white veins running the length of
The Orchids of Winter Read More »
On December 19, 88 observers sponsored by Columbus Audubon spent the day counting birds in different areas of Columbus in the Christmas Bird Count. Relatively mild weather reduced the numbers of waterfowl, but allowed a good diversity of dabbling ducks to linger.  The effects on landbirds were even more striking, with large numbers of fruit-eaters
2021 Columbus CBC Gathers Up the Strays Read More »
We crept up to the edge of the old quarry, looking for waterfowl. Not much beyond a few Scaup, but then we noticed the big white birds on the far side. Swans. But now came the real trick – which species were they? Like a lot of places, we now have 3 swans to choose from,
Swans of December Read More »
