We made a short but very satisfying trip along the Cleveland east lakefront today (Dec. 19) between 1 and 2:30 PM. First stop was Gordon Park where we quickly found the female Long-tailed Duck reported yesterday and then spotted an EARED GREBE in with 8 Horned Grebes. At the E. 55th marina we found 10 Gadwall and a Pied-billed Grebe among the waterfowl collected there. We didn't spend a lot of time looking for unusual gulls but noted several Great Black-backed Gulls near by and saw only a few Bonaparte's Gulls. Proceeding west along North Marginal Drive we found a pair of Hooded Mergansers in the lee of the impoundment behind Cleveland Public Power and had an adult Bald Eagle in a bare tree behind the Whale Wall there. Continuing west, at the east end of Burke Airport we were surprised to find a Short-eared Owl interacting with a Northern Harrier. Scanning the lights along the runways turned up two American Kestrels and we found an immature Red-tailed Hawk on a light pole along the Shoreway. Heading for home, we detoured through Lake View Cemetery where we found a male Merlin in an oak tree near the maintenance area close to the ponds where we'd had one on our Christmas Bird Count on Saturday.(This is the fourth year in a row for a Merlin wintering in this spot.) Including the Cooper's Hawk found earlier on our street in Cleveland Heights, it was a six raptor day. Dick & Jean Hoffman Cleveland Heights ______________________________________________________________________ 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]