I got a late start yesterday and didn't leave home till late morning. On the drive up to Conneaut, I saw Am. kestrels at two places along Rte. 7 in Ashtabula Co. Another kestrel was at Ashtabula. I had hoped to see some raptors while driving in rural areas yesterday, but all I saw was a couple red-tailed hawks. One thing I did see was more ice than I had expected. Most of the ponds I passed were frozen over. At Conneaut, half of the lagoon was iced over. There were waterfowl hunters at Conneaut (and Ashtabula) out by the breakwalls, perhaps that's why there weren't many ducks gathered in the harbors at these 2 sites. Conneaut did have Am. black duck, buffleheads, c. goldeneyes, red-breasted mergansers, horned grebes, Am. coots, and Bonaparte's gulls. That was probably my last trip there until next Spring, as birding there is usually not too productive during winter. Ashtabula was very slow yesterday. Other than the one snowy owl,
the only birds of interest were red-breasted mergansers, horned grebes, and a couple double-crested cormorants. The black-tailed gull was not seen, but I heard from other birders there that it was seen on 12/10. I left Ashtabula and stopped at Mosquito L. on the way home. The bay on the NW shore (along Hoagland-Blackstub Rd.) was already frozen. Rats!! What waterfowl were there were way out at the edge of the ice. All I could ID for sure were Canada geese and mallards. There were only a few fowl seen from the causeway. My last stop there was at the state park at the SW end of the lake. There were lots of birds there, it was the best birding of the day. Highlights for Mosquito L. were: 2 n. shovelers, 28 redheads, 2 greater scaup, 10 lesser scaup, 8 buffleheads, 2 c. goldeneyes, 2 common mergansers, 1 common loon, pied-billed grebe, 4 horned grebes, and 425 Am. coots. I didn't see any raptors there, though. Craig Holt, Lowellville
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