Knowing that bad weather was approaching and that Thurs would the last nice day for a while, I spent 2 hours birding the Camp Dennison gravel pits. For those not from the Cincinnati area, Camp Dennison is on the Little Miami River, along the border between eastern Hamilton and western Clermont County. (DeLorme 75, 5C) The former gravel pits have become a string of ponds which are quasi-famous for their collection of waterfowl, and my target bird was the reported EARED GREBE, a Life Bird for me. I found it, along with a nice collection of avian life. Somewhat surprising was a calling EASTERN PHOEBE. Trip List: Common Loon Pied-billed Grebe EARED GREBE* Canada Goose Gadwall Mallard Canvasbock Ring-necked Duck Bufflehead Hooded Merganser Ruddy Duck American Coot Ring-billed Gull Eastern Phoebe Carolina Chickadee Carolina Wren American Robin Northern Cardinal *Life Bird Today, December came roaring in like a lion, so I'm glad I took the time to get out yesterday. Regarding kestrels: I have not noticed any shortage of kestrels here in rural SW Ohio. I generally see 2 or 3 a day, sitting on wires or flying across harvested fields. If leaky barns are good for nesting kestrels, then they must be happy here. We have plenty of tobacco barns, which are designed with lots of narrow slats along the sides that open for ventilation to allow the tobacco to dry. Even when the slats are closed, most barns around here have plenty of gaps, so I wouldn't think kestrels are in any danger in my neck of the woods. ~Kathi Kathi Hutton Felicity, Clermont Co. Delorme pg 82, B3 Lat. 38.828, Lon. -84.063 ______________________________________________________________________ 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]