What wonderful weather for my spring break. Sunday, I birded the Dawes Arboretum area: Canada goose - XX Wood duck - X Gadwall - 1 m Green-winged teal - XX Mallard - XXX American black duck - X Blue-winged teal - 6 Northern shoveler - XX Ring-necked duck - XX Lesser scaup - X Bufflehead - pr. Hooded merganser - X Black vulture - 1 Turkey vulture - XX American kestrel - 1 Belted kingfisher - 2 (1 taking goldfish from the Japanese garden pond) Red-bellied woodpecker Downy woodpecker Northern flicker Pileated woodpecker Eastern phoebe Tree swallow Golden-crowned kinglet Eastern bluebird Carolina chickadee Tufted titmouse White-breasted nuthatch Blue jay American crow Yellow-rumped warbler Eastern towhee American tree sparrow - 2 Field sparrow - many singing - 2 seen Swamp sparrow - many singing - 1 seen Northern cardinal Red-winged blackbird - XX Eastern meadowlark - 1 singing Brown-headed cowbird This morning I took a friend on her first birding trip, to Black Hand Gorge. It was a most enjoyable day, especially in view of my companion's enthusiasm and the cooperation of several first-of-year birds (noted with asterisks). Great blue heron Canada goose Mallard Turkey vulture Mourning dove Belted kingfisher Downy woodpecker hairy woodpecker Eastern phoebe Golden-crowned kinglet - XX (the trees were dripping with them!) Ruby-crowned kinglet* - 1 Winter wren* - 1 American robin Carolina chickadee White-breasted nuthatch Brown creeper Blue jay American crow Louisiana waterthrush* - 2 Eastern towhee - many singing Chipping sparrow* - many singing, 1 seen Song sparrow - many singing Dark-eyed junco - many White-throated sparrow - heard only - what a lovely, haunting song! Northern cardinal Brown-headed cowbird I don't always see hairy woodpeckers at BHG, but today there was a very cooperative pair, who posed quite near a pair of downies, for comparison. My friend declared the male hairy woodpecker as her very favorite bird of the day. She thinks the downy was "behind the door" when bills were passed out! I also took her to see the eagle's nest with my spotting scope, and she was duly impressed, but what impressed her more was the heron rookery. She also liked the golden-crowned kinglets, and got pretty good at spotting them. She was also the first to spot the Louisiana waterthrushes and the brown creeper. She's a musician, and was telling me what note each bird was singing - "That's an A; that's an F", etc. Margaret Bowman Licking Co., OH ______________________________________________________________________ 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]