I live in the far north end of Clintonville, a suburb on the north side of Columbus. I have been keeping a daily record of birds in my yard (which is pretty small) for about 3 years now. Yesterday, Sat., Dec. 9th, I tied my all time daily record of 18 species. They were, in order of appearance: Carolina Chickadee (2) Junco (6) Mourning Dove (19) Goldfinch (5) Downy Woodpecker (1 male, 2 females) House Sparrow (xx) (I don't count these) Mockingbird (1) Blue Jay (2) House Finch (xx) (don't count these either) Cardinal (male, female) Grackle (1) Crow (2) White-breasted Nuthatch (1) Brown-headed Cowbird (female) Red-bellied Woodpecker (female) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1, in Sibley's juvenile plumage) Robin (2) Cooper's Hawk (1) There were starlings flying around and they usually descend on my suet feeders, especially on such a cold day when so much is still snow-covered. I was - I can't believe I'm saying this - actually hoping for just one to land so I could break my all time record! Also absent were pigeons, and it isn't unusual to see a Carolina Wren or even a Song Sparrow coming through. Who knows what I may have missed when I was away from the window though! Was trying hard to make at least one of the female House Finches into a Pine Siskin, and the males into Common Redpolls, but it didn't work. :) Today, Sun., the Grackle was in early, and I also had one Tree Sparrow and two Starlings (gee, thanks.... where were you yesterday?!). I'm at 14 species for the day, but this afternoon has been dead quiet. Yesterday had some quiet periods but was pretty steady all day. Don't know if it's the rain, the Cooper's Hawk, they're eating better somewhere else, a neighborhood cat is hiding under the deck, there are just fewer birds than in years past, or something else. Theories abound, answers do not! Debbie Woischke Columbus **************************************Check out AOL's list of 2007's hottest products. (http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001) ______________________________________________________________________ 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]