Got out to Black Hand Gorge for the first time since I walked with the Franklin Co. Retired Teachers Hiking Club. Not much going on - no obvious migrants. Nothing along the river except the resident kingfishers and some feral geese. However, the male bald eagle was perched in the dead sycamore at the big bend in the river, where I have seen him several times before. He has no objection to bikers, joggers or walkers, but don't stop to admire him. He takes offense at gawkers, and flies off in a huff to hide in a leafy tree. I can see why he might be embarrassed - he appears to be a fairly small bird for an eagle. It's interesting to see him with the female, which is quite large in comparison. A few Carolina chickadees and cardinals, and some very vocal red-bellied woodpeckers were all that I saw other than the eagle. I worked in and around my house most of the day Saturday, and was able to make quite a few observations, which I posted yesterday. A lot of birds are looking very scruffy just now, some in partial molt, and some with quite worn feathers. It's particularly easy to identify the juveniles, with their fresh plumage. It was interesting to note the individual characteristics of the red-breasted nuthatches that were coming to my feeders. The summer hatchlings had beautiful fresh plumage, while at least one of the others looked just plain ratty. Especially noticeable were the head stripes, which "bled" together in the worn plumages, but were crisp and sharp in the newbies. This was the first time I have ever had an opportunity to study these birds in detail, and I appreciate mother nature's making this possible, even though it must be a very stressful time for the birds which are forced to venture so far afield in search of sustenance. 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]