Hi all, A constant all-day drizzle didn't make birding easy, but I saw a few things of note. The Northern Shrike was right there at the entrance to the Deer Creek beach at the junction with State Route 207, just as it has been reported many times. I parked at the gated off entrance to the beach parking lot and walked down to look at the lake from the beach area. The American White Pelican was along the shore on the far side of the lake. Three Black Vultures were sitting on the chimney at the Deer Creek State Park lodge. The area of Charlie's Pond just south of Circleville is very interesting now, thanks to the establishment of some enormous tracts of Conservation Reserve Program fields. They are mostly in Indian Grass, and give one a taste of what our former prairies looked like. These fields were barren soybean and corn-scapes a year ago. Today, there were at least 12 Northern Harriers hunting this site, and two Short-eared Owls. I'm sure there were more owls than that, but this kind of weather isn't the greatest for seeing them. If you get a chance, go down there and check this place out. Just follow U.S. 23 south a few miles from Circleville, turn right on Radcliff Rd. and when you get near the point where it ends at River Rd., you'll be in these grasslands. Jim McCormac Columbus, Ohio ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. 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]