Blendon Woods
Metropolitan Park

To get there: From I-270 in Columbus, exit east onto Ohio I6I and proceed for 1 mile. An alternate route is to take Sunbury Road north from Columbus and turn right at Ohio 16I.

In addition to extensive wooded ravines and uplands, this splendid park embraces the 118-acre Walden Wildlife Refuge with its 11-acre Thoreau Pond and elevated observation shelters equipped with spotting scopes for viewing waterfowl. The pond is kept free of ice during the coldest winters by an underwater aerating system; ducks and geese are attracted by the grain put out for them. The refuge is open year-round.

A new nature interpretive center with a "window on wildlife" was recently completed and, along with all the Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks, many of the facilities are being made handicapped accessible. There are miles of hiking trails and bird walks and other nature activities are scheduled on a regular basis.

Waterbirds frequently seen at Thoreau Pond in season include: Pied-billed and Horned grebes, Great Blue Heron, Green-backed Heron, Canada Goose, Wood Duck, Green-winged Teal, American Black Duck, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Blue-winged teal, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Hooded and Common mergansers, and Ruddy Duck. Less common species have included the Double-crested Cormorant, American Bittern, Great Egret, Tundra Swan, Snow Goose, Greater Scaup, Oldsquaw, and Black Scoter. Ospreys,gulls and terns occasionally investigate the pond. On one occasion, a Bald Eagle stopped by.

Migrants at Blendon Woods are essentially the same as those described for Greenlawn Cemetery. An impressive list of nesting birds includes the Green-backed Heron; Canada Goose, Mallard, Wood Duck, Red-tailed, Red-shouldered, and Broad-winged hawks, American Woodcock, Spotted Sandpiper, Eastern Screech-Owl, Great Horned, and Barred owls; Ruby-throated Hummingbird, all of the summering woodpeckers, Eastern Kingbird, Great Crested, Acadian, and Willow flycatchers; Eastern Phoebe and Eastern Wood-Pewee, House and Carolina wrens, Wood Thrush, Eastern Bluebird, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Cedar Waxwing, White-eyed, Yellow-throated and Red-eyed vireos; Blue-winged, Yellow, and Cerulean warblers; Ovenbird Louisiana Waterthrush Kentucky Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Chat, Scarlet and Summer tanagers, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Rufous-sided Towhee, and Northern Oriole.