Late this evening I found a pair of Surf Scoters at Cowan Lake. Although the birds were at nearly maximum range, the light was good and the wind was calm, allowing use of the scope at nearly full magnification. The birds were considerably larger than the Lesser Scaup they were with. The bodies were very dark, no light markings at all. The bills were tucked away, but one of the birds very clearly showed a large white patch on the back of the head and another on the front of the head. The other bird showed no white markings about the head, but was otherwise virtually identical in conformation. I presume it was a female. The birds were seen from the boat ramp at the South Shore Marina. The turn off OH 730 is 1/4 mile south of the dam and is clearly marked. From the boat ramp the birds were across the lake in line with the campground boat ramp on the other side. I reckoned that the birds would have been closer to the point just downhill from the group shelter at the dance pavilion, but when I got there, I was unable to relocate them. To reach the dance pavilion parking lot, enter the park from Yankee Road off OH 350. Drive north and take the first left, then follow the signs. Park in front of the group shelter to the left (west) of the dance pavilion and head straight downhill. In other news, the turkey vulture roost on the north side of the lake held 147 birds this evening. There are always some vultures roosting in this area, sometimes on the north side, sometimes on the south side and sometimes on both sides, but this number exceeds the previous maximum by a factor of three. Cheers, Bob -- Robert D Powell Wilmington, OH, USA [log in to unmask] Nulla dies sine linea ______________________________________________________________________ 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]