Well I awoke today at 5 a.m. with many conflicting and various options. I could drive down and join in on the Owl Symposium, I could go up to Lake Erie and hopefully score some life-bird gulls. I could do nothing. I didn't want to do nothing, I wanted to see lifebirds but didn't want to drive up by myself (I'd missed getting ahold of the avids in time). I knew I'd have a fun/interesting time at the Owl event but didn't feel like driving a long distance to someplace I was unsure of how to get there etc. So I decided to lump it all and go to Killdeer Plains for the hope of some fun birds and new "year-birds". I started out from my house and heard a new for the year Yard bird here in Delaware Co. where I live, it was a male RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD declairing his territory over our field already (got him in the bino's to make sure). Then a TURKEY VULTURE arose and started attempting to soar around, another first of the year for my yard, or anywhere north of circleville for me. Last night around 11:00 I heard the melodious Hoots of a GREAT HORNED OWL. I took this all as a good omen and proceeded on my way. I wasn't dissappointed. On the way to and from Killdeer Plains, while I was driving, I saw a huge amount of HORNED LARKS but never in a very large flock together. They are fun, I love their little masks, and they make me smile every time. I also saw many RED-TAILED HAWKS, many of which are pairing up and soaring together/perching etc. Also on my travels and especially near Killdeer and back around Delaware co. W.A. there were many Kestrels. No real waterfowl but CaGo's looking hopeful by all the frozen solid ponds. I did see Black Ducks on my land the other day though, 6 came in to land on the creek. Todays list: Roadsides: Horned Larks Am. Kestrels - 4 N. Harriers Red-tailed Hawks + other usuals. Killdeer Plains: Horned Larks - Lots 'n lots. Song Sparrows AM. Tree Sparrows E. Meadowlarks - new year bird, and there were about 50 of them hanging out together with some flickers. N. Flicker - 10+ I don't remember ever seeing so many in so short a time. Red-headed Woodpecker - stopped on road and wondered if I could see it from there, and sure enough. pond w/ dead trees. Downy Woodpecker- several Red-bellied Woodpeckers Am. Kestrels - 6 about even ratio males to females Rough-legged Hawk - 3 including a real neat dark phased one. N. Harrier - 7 Red-tailed Hawks- 8 or so Cooper's Hawk - 1 jumbo adult (maybe female) made me thing it was something else at the very first glimpse. Owls - Yes, I feel kinda guilty about it but I went to the owl grove and found LEOWs. I feel guilty because of all the other footprints in the snow there, and while I was there the poor owls were obviously nervous (most of them, some stayed put) and hopped over to the next trees over. I had inadvertently gotten too close to their tree. The second group I stopped immediately when I saw them and walked away as slowly and quietly as possible (the whole time I was moving as slowly and quietly as possible). This seemed to work better, since these did not flush. This seems to be the best tactic if you can accomplish it, don't get right under their tree if you can, give it space. I don't think I disturbed them too much, They didn't move very far away, but I feel bad doing it at all, since this place sees so much human traffic. And I was alone and trying to be quiet and move very slowly. Please avoid overcrowding this locale, don't take larger groups there, and maybe we shouldn't go at all if we don't need to. I don't know. Try to respect them. I know I for one will seek other, new places to find these amazing and beautiful birds, with less human traffic. So anyways I had a good day of it, and it was a pretty nice day dispite the cold. My misses included any Longspurs and or Snow Buntings I had hoped to come accross. If there are any questions please feel free to ask me by e-mail, off - list. Good Birding. - Ben Warner Sunbury, OH, Delaware Co. ________________________________________________________________________ Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL Mail and more. ______________________________________________________________________ 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]