A Marsh Wren (
Cistothorus palustris) peeks curiously from its typical milieu, a dense stand of cattails. Like most wrens, they are busybodies and quite curious about anything going on, including people. These tiny fluffballs (11 grams!) are surprisingly hardy and regularly linger into winter, and even overwinter on occasion. This bird could be a local nester, or a migrant. He shared company with scads of migrant sparrows, including at least two Nelson's Sparrows (
Ammospiza nelsoni). The latter species is a rare but regular migrant in Ohio, but hard to clap eyes on. I saw the birds well with binoculars but was unable to photograph them. As is typical, the secretive sparrows spent their time on the ground, moving about like mice. When they did cross an opening, they raced through at top speed. Battelle Darby Metropark, Franklin County, Ohio, October 13, 2022.
