Yesterday evening, I checked out the Cowan Lake heronry with my Wilmington
College ornithology class and found 14 nests occupied.  It was very cloudy
with intermittent rain limiting the visibility, so we may have overlooked a
few.

The heronry can be seen from Old State Road, which runs parallel to the dam
just to the west.  There is a parking pullout on the east side of the road
just opposite the Spillway Lodge.  Click
here<http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=104411027825639848188.000001120143706692393&ll=39.391997,-83.922415&spn=0.022586,0.028582&z=15>to
bring up an interactive map to the area.

We used the last of the daylight to follow up on a tip from Larry Gara about
an unusual wildlife event at Caesars Creek.  The Corps of Engineers,
pursuant to their mission of saving Cincinnati from the ravaging waters of
Caesars Creek, are hanging on to a great deal of water, so much so that the
beach is inundated almost to the level of the pavilion.  This means that a
vast expanse of lawn is under water, providing a vast load of grass and
inverts for the ducks to feast on.  We found several hundred coot in a tight
flock, plus about 200 Lesser Scaup, perhaps 100 Bufflehead, and a smattering
of other ducks.  Strangely, there were very few puddle ducks present.

Cheers,

Bob

--
Robert D Powell
Wilmington, OH, USA
[log in to unmask]
http://rdp1710.wordpress.com

Nulla dies sine linea

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