Greetings from Columbus.  I spent the last couple of days looking for these
now-famous birds, with varying degrees of success...

SNOWY OWL, northwest of Circleville
Allison Shaw and I searched on Thursday between 10:30-11:30 and never saw
it.  Other birders in the area didn't see it either.  Sounds as if it may
have flown the coop?

WESTERN TANAGER, Grandview
On Friday (12/29) David Hughes and I stopped by the Fairview/Merrick and
Ridgeview sites around 1 p.m., with no luck.  Some folks had been there
looking in both spots since 9 a.m. and they, too, had no luck.  Has anyone
seen this bird lately?

MERLIN, Greenlawn Cemetery
A merlin was perched in a tree (with flowery-looking buds) right next to the
mausoleum on Friday afternoon, around 1:30-2 p.m.  Several birders and
photographers got to see it, as posted by others yesterday and today.  As
David and the others watched, I decided to walk down the road a bit to get a
side view.  This, of course, made the bird fly and we didn't see it again
within the next 15 minutes.  Jimmie's posts make it sound like the bird
returns to its post frequently, so I hope it came back for anyone else
wanting to watch it more.  (Sorry!  I feel bad that I made the bird fly!)

NORTHERN SHRIKE (and more), Deer Creek State Park
After losing the Merlin, David and I headed to Deer Creek for the shrike.
It was exactly where it has been recently seen - just beyond the beach gate,
on the right hand side in the shrubby areas.  Two other birders had been
there for an hour before we got there, looking for it.  Within a few minutes
of our arrival, (about 2:30 p.m.) it popped up to a tree top and we all got
gorgeous looks at it.  It flew around a bit (got spooked by a car going by -
not me, this time!) but stayed up in the tree tops for a little while, then
disappeared.  The AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN as well as RING-BILLED GULLS (maybe
others, we didn't look that hard) and a RED-BREASTED MERGANSER were on the
side of the lake, accessed by turning right out of the beach and then right
again (maybe onto 207 - I can't remember for sure).  There's a long road on
the right side of the road that leads down to a parking lot at the end of
the lake where the pelican, gulls, and merganser were easily seen.

On another note, I've been seeing a RED-SHOULDERED HAWK at Slate Run Metro
Park (southeast of Columbus in Pickaway County, part of the Columbus and
Franklin County Metro Parks) over the past few weeks.  I've worked there for
6+ years now and each winter a red-shouldered shows up sometime in December
and sticks around through the entire season.  I see it at my office (the
naturalist office/ranger station), toward the Shady Grove Picnic Area,  and
also by the maintenance shop.  It sits in the trees throughout this area,
and I have heard it calling nearly every day this week.  There's also an
abundance of PILEATED WOODPECKERS all of a sudden, too!  I've seen two by my
office, and two in the Shady Grove area at least a few times each week.  A
HAIRY WOODPECKER stopped by on Thursday, too.

Good luck birding during these last days of 2006 or the first days of 2007!

Andrea Haslage
Columbus

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