I took advantage of this beautiful weather and an afternoon off work to visit a couple of birding spots around Milford, OH (western Clermont County, DeLorme 75, C5) As I approached Milford, traveling along SR 50, which parallels the East Fork of the Little Miami River, I saw 5 BLACK VULTURES circling. I was psyched, as I haven't seen Black Vultures since April. After a stop at the bird supply store, I proceeded on to the Camp Dennison gravel pits. I scoped several locations from the road (SR 126) and saw 100s of American Coots, a few Ring-billed Gulls, Ring-necked Ducks, Buffleheads, 1 American Widgeon, and a lone grebe, probably Pied-billed. I did not see the bald eagle which has been frequenting the pits and has been seen along the East Fork of the Little Miami in Milford recently. Leaving the pits, I returned along SR 50 and the Black Vultures were still there. I then went to the Cincinnati Nature Center (Tealtown Rd) where I explored the area around the Rowe building, the Edge Trail around the lake, and the bird blind. All the usual feeder birds were present: Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, 1 White-breasted Nuthatch, Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays, Downy & Red-bellied Woodpeckers, House Finches, Amer. Goldfinches, and White-throated Sparrows. The best sight was the Cooper's Hawk which flew from a tree near the bird blind. She (he?) flew over my head and towards the building. I found the remains of her most recent meal, a female cardinal, including a pile of feathers, part of a wing, and the head, on the ground below her perch. After observing the feeders from the blind and adding Carolina Wren to my trip list, I retraced my steps toward the building. The Coop flew back from the feeders at the building towards the perch tree again. She seems to have staked out a good spot. An enjoyable way to spend couple of hours; the Black Vultures and the Coop were pretty exciting. ~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]