I’m sure that hundreds – if not thousands – of people drive by today’s DelawareOH365.com location and doesn’t even know its there.
A bird box sits along the shore at Mud Hen Marsh in Westerville's Hoover Reservoir. (toby boyce)
The Mud Hen Marsh, part of the Hoover Reservoir, is located just west of the Sunbury and Big Walnut Road intersection in the southeast Delaware County community of Westerville.
I have to admit that I’d driven by the location numerous times and always made a connection in my head to the baseball team with the same name in Toledo, but nothing more.
Well on a recent day, I took a moment to visit the location. Now it was a blistering day and there wasn’t much activity in the water or the air — with it being 90+ degrees who said birds were dumb?
Upon entering the gravel trail you work your way through an area of think brush that meanders along Big Walnut Creek. After about a 1-/4 mile walk it opens up to an area where the trail is above a collection of marshes and ponds. A bird-watching hut has been built and gives a great view of the ponds.
About the only wildlife I was able to witness on this sweltering day was Deer Flies but it is certainly worth the trip again when the weather is more conducive to birding.
