Waterfowl are basically absent at Hoover Reservoir. I took a quick spin to see if anything new had shown up and the water is empty on most of the reservoir. The only species to be seen were Double-crested Cormorants, Canada Geese, Mallards, some Hooded Mergansers, Ring-necked Ducks, Pied-billed Grebes and a lone Horned Grebe. There are lots of Bonaparte's Gulls around. Since the water was barren I decided to scout ahead for the Hoover Christmas Bird Count which will be on December 16th. It seems as if there are Barred Owls all over the circle. Earlier this week I checked the pine grove behind the Headquarters Building at Alum Creek and located 3 Barred Owls. Today I visited the pine grove next to the Soaring Club field off East Walnut Street and the ravines past them and located 2 Barred Owls. There was also a Barred Owl at the cemetery along the spur road section that goes to the water's edge at East Walnut. Next I checked the pines and oak groves north of the Twin Bridges Boat Ramp on Red Bank Road just east of Sunbury Road. This area yielded 2 more Barred owls and a Great Horned Owl. Then at Hoover Meadows I located a Barred Owl in the pine grove near the entrance, probably the one Ben Warner saw recently. Across the road I walked Old Sunbury Road to the first pine grove and located another Barred Owl and then further down the road I finally located the Eastern Screech owl that I hadn't seen since last winter. It was a good thing I located the owls because not much else seemed to be around today. Other than Yellow-rumped Warblers and White-throated Sparrows things were pretty quiet. My scouting has also located Barred Owls at Inniswood, Sharon Woods and Highbanks Metro Parks, plus a small number of Great Horned Owls. My Christmas Bird Count Elves, if they are alert, should turn in some nice numbers for Barred owls. The species seems to be thriving in the area. 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]