Red-shouldered Hawk

It was a very wet summer that kept reservoir levels full throughout the fall and into the winter. Unfortunately for visiting shorebirds, this deprived them of their usual Columbus area mudflats. In a typical year the water levels at Hoover Reservoir drop exposing mudflats at the north end near Galena. These mudflats are feeding grounds for passing sandpipers, plovers and other shorebirds. The rain also washed out plans on the construction of the Hoover Mudflats Boardwalk this year. Water levels were too high to begin construction. The project is now scheduled to begin next fall.

Common Redpoll Red-breasted Nuthatches

Winter is not as lifeless as one might think. This is the time of year to look for wintering migrants visiting from their northern summer homes. The list includes small passerines such as pine siskins, evening grosbeaks, common redpolls, red crossbills, lapland longspurs, dark-eyed juncos, white-throated sparrows, and snow buntings among many others. Common Redpoll and Re-breasted Nuthatches can be seen in parks and around feeders in Columbus during the winter. This is also a great time of the year to visit nearby reservoirs and wetlands. Migrating ducks, geese, swans and other water birds are making there way south from their breeding grounds. Many of these ducks and grebes are coming from the prairie "pothole" country of the northern plains (North Dakota, South Dakota, Canada...). Hoover Reservoir is a great place to find unusual species such as common loon, hooded merganser, ruddy ducks, and many others.