I took advantage of today's nice weather to do some pre Christmas Bird Count scouting for the Hoover Reservoir Circle. I started at Char Mar Preservation park in Genoa Township (Delaware County)to check up on the resident Barred Owl. There I met Dan Hall (a new owner of the Westerville Wild Birds Unlimited) who was looking for the Barred Owl because of a previous posting by me. I located the owl which was well camouflaged in the thick boughs of an evergreen green tree and Dan and I enjoyed watching it for a while. Dan then joined me and we birded together the rest of the afternoon. We went to Alum Creek Park South in Westerville and located three Eastern Screech Owls, one gray and two rufous morphs. There we also added Belted Kingfishers and Hooded Mergansers. Our last stop was Area S at Hoover Reservoir. There we drew a blank, likely because of the folks enjoying the afternoon with their dogs (two of the four were Great Danes). The dogs were beautiful and I look at their sharing time with their pets as I do my birding. a good thing. If the weather causes missing the owls Saturday during the Hoover Reservoir Christmas Bird Count, they will at least be on the "Week" list. Dan was great company and I see more birding in the future. If you get to Wild Birds Unlimited in Westerville say hello to Dan. He's a very nice guy.

Promotion time - Saturday, December 15, 2012, is the Hoover Reservoir Christmas Bird Count. It will be Lee McBride's first year as Compiler as I have passed the torch to him after 21 years as Compiler. Join us (I will be doing the count) and welcome Lee to the new position, enjoy birding, meet new birders, and remember, this year there is no fee - everybody is FREE. Other locations to participate in the Hoover CBC include Highbanks Metro Park, Sharon Woods Metro Park and Inniswood Metro Gardens. We would love to see you at any of the areas.

Charlie Bombaci


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