fellow birders,

     Two days ago my co-landowner, Vicki Derr, told me she had a Rusty
Blackbird at her feeder.  She may have been drinking at the time, so I spent
two days trying to refind this bird. Today, I found it, at my feeder, one
hundred yards from hers,  and got great scope views from the sunroom.  It
was with a group of Grackles, and the size contrast was the first clue.

     This is January # 101 for me, so I've made that goal.  More amazingly,
it was January YARD bird # 53!!!!!.  I didn't really think there was much of
a chance to reach that goal (50) but it happened even before the state 100.


     A special thanks to the Columbus Avids group for helping get nine of
those birds on a trip to Lake Erie last Saturday.  The single Iceland Gull
and the Lesser Black Backed Gull would have been difficult without them.  On
that note, if you haven't gotten up before 5:00 AM, driven through near
blizzard conditions, stood in 20 mph winds and 15 degree temps to look at
gulls, then you have to ask yourself what kind of birder you really are.

Joe in the woods
Somerset, Ohio
Perry County

______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.

You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]