After a morning of volunteer work I managed to shake free in the afternoon and check the north end of Hoover Reservoir. Linda joined me with hopes of finding the Red-throated Loon. It is now on her "list" along with the Eastern Screech Owl on Old Sunbury Road. This is not the nice list, but rather the lump of coal for Christmas list, as both birds keep eluding her. Our luck wasn't all bad though as we managed to locate the Eared Grebe at Area M. At Oxbow Road we located two nice sized rafts of Northern Shovelers, the first with 53 individuals and the second with 62. Both were in fairly close to the island and easy to view. Further off the east side there was a raft of 70 Bufflehead and a raft of over 200 Lesser Scaup, plus a few scattered Hooded Mergansers. Where we had high numbers of Common Loons when I visited Saturday there was a lone Common Loon there today. Add 1 Belted Kingfisher and some Canada Geese and that was it at Oxbow Road. Area I had 39 Hooded Mergansers, 5 Pied-billed Grebes, and a few Mallards and Canada Geese. Area M was highlighted by the Eared Grebe. In addition there were several Pied-billed and Horned Grebes. Off the east end of the boardwalk toward Area N we located a nice raft of Hooded Mergansers, some American Black Ducks and Lesser Scaup. Scanning the shore I managed to locate 2 Bald Eagles perched in a cottonwood tree. The number of waterfowl seems to be fluctuating almost daily with one day having high numbers and the next practically none in comparison. From now through spring Hoover Reservoir will constantly hold the opportunity to find the unusual if one looks often enough. Charlie Bombaci Hoover Nature Preserve Delorme 58 C (2) & (3) ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. 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]