Seen yesterday (March 9) and today (March 10) at the T J Evans Family Park, a City of Newark park off Route 13 in north Newark: Pied-billed grebe at least 4 Double-crested cormorant yesterday around 4 p.m., watched 4 fly in Mute swan 1 Canada goose XXX (This morning I watched a V very high, moving directly north, that numbered in the hundreds possibly 1000) Wood duck 9 males and 2 females American wigeon 2 males, 1 female Mallard XX Blue-winged teal 2 males, 2 females Canvasback XX yesterday, only 6 today Redhead XX yesterday, about 10 today Ring-necked duck XX, with more yesterday than this morning Bufflehead 1 female, this morning Hooded merganser three males, yesterday and possibly some females, but very distant and hard to ID Turkey vulture 5 American coot XX Killdeer XX Ring-billed gull 2 Mourning dove XX Tree swallow 4 American robin XX Carolina chickadee X Tufted titmouse X American crow X American goldfinch X Song sparrow several, in full song this morning Dark-eyed junco X Northern cardinal XX Red-winged blackbird X, doing their territorial calls Common grackle XX TJ Evans Park is within the Newark city limits, off State Route 13 north. I believe that it was created from the remnants of old quarries along the North Fork of the Licking River, just north of the citys water treatment plant. There are several water containment ponds, only one of which is fully open water at this time. Yesterday, there were over 1,000 waterfowl on the open water. This morning between 8 am and 9:30 am, there were only around 75 to 100, and those that were there were very wary. The waterfowl are moving! As I was there, the wood ducks came in, and went out again after resting about 15 minutes. The cormorants that came in yesterday as I watched were gone this morning. The widgeon came in, swam around for about 30 minutes, and then left, the three of them together coming and going. There were no tree swallows last evening, but four in evidence today, actively working over the open water. I birded in a steady misting rain this morning until it started coming so hard that I couldnt keep my binocular lenses clear. Also of note, I took Cookie out to Black Hand Gorge yesterday from 5:30 to 7 pm, mostly for exercise as I didnt expect much in the way of birds. However, I was treated to as close a view of our bald eagle that I have ever had of any bald eagle. This guy was sitting on a sturdy limb directly over the river bank where it comes closest to the bike path about Ύ mile from the western end. He swiveled his head to keep an eye on us, but otherwise didnt move a muscle. We passed almost directly beneath him. His mate was on the nest, barely visible from the bike path, maybe Ό mile from this spot on the river. This was the closest I have been to a bald eagle since I visited Homer, Alaska, in 2002, where people feed the eagles and they are pretty tame. Simply amazing! There were also two pair of hooded mergansers in that river bend pool. Likewise, it was the closest I had ever been to this duck, and I was impressed with the beauty of the drakes in full breeding plumage. So, although I had hoped to get a look at an early eastern phoebe, it was not a total bust and the exercise was needed by both my dog and myself. For those who are counting, I already have 55 species in the first ten days of March, in Licking Co. 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]