The Columbus Audubon trip to these two reservoirs north of Columbus found some expected late migrants this morning.
At Alum Creek Lake, we stopped at the beach and Visitor’s Center area and the New Galena Boat launch area, but found little in the way of migrant fallout. At Hoover, stops at Plumb Road access and the boardwalk found a god amount of mudflats, but only the latter site had shorebirds. Notables for the day included:
- Waterfowl – no ducks other than Mallards at Alum Lake. The Hoover Boardwalk had a fly-by flock of 40+ Wood Ducks.
- Herons,Egrets – Great Blue Herons were common on the Hoover mudflats, and there was still 1Â Great Egret on the flats off the Boardwalk.
- Shorebirds – Killdeer were at most sites, but the Boardwalk mudflats also had 1 Greater Yellowlegs, 1 Lesser Yellowlegs, 3 Pectoral Sandpipers, 1 Long-billed Dowitcher, and 30+ Dunlin
- Gulls – nothing but Ring-bills in the big flock of 270+ birds on the Alum Creek Lake beach. Smaller groups of Ring-bills were on the mudflats at Hoover.
- Vultures – Turkey Vultures were common at every site, and New Galena and the Boardwalk also had 2 Black Vultures each.
- Blue Jays – fair numbers at Alum Creek Lake (perhaps 15-20 at each site), with fewer at Hoover.
- Kinglets – decent numbers of Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets both kinds at Alum Creek Lake; Hoover had only Ruby-crowns.
- Thrushes – plenty of Robins, and small groups of 3-4 Eastern Bluebirds at the Alum Creek Lake sites, but the only other thrush was a Hermit heard along the Visitors Center trails.
- Warblers – nothing but Yellow-rumps, with 4-8 at each site
- Sparrows – Alum Creek Lake Visitors Center area had good diversity, with Song, Chipping, Field, White-throated, and White-crowned Sparrows
- Blackbirds – a flock of 120+ Redwings flew by the beach area at Alum Creek Lake, where there were also a few grackles and cowbirds