With an additional night of cold and with this morning's snow, the two holes in the quarry lake adjoining the intersection of US 33 (Dublin Road) and the exit ramp off of I-670 westbound are now down to one. The coot population from yesterday appears to have dropped by half -- but they are now so tightly bunched that they are really tough to count. At one point yesterday, an estimated 150 (by count) Canada geese joined the party -- but they were a bit too far away to scan the group for other goose species with binocs. This morning, the group was joined by a bald eagle -- probably the same bald eagle that is at least semi resident along the Scioto and along Griggs reservoir. The eagle spent a good deal of time just standing along the margin of the one remaining open hole. The coots did not seem bothered. At one point, the eagle flew up around 15 feet and flew over to a neighboring group of gulls -- who decided that they needed to be elsewhere and scattered, flying off. The eagle wheeled and settled back down alongside the same hole. About 20 minutes later it flew up and then flew over the group of coots, stooping for a good bit of time. The coots didn't fly, but bunched up into a tight knot, splashing about in the process of getting closer. The eagle then settled back down to its spot, then left the area about a half hour later. When it settled back down, the coots opened up the knot a bit more. Great behavioral demonstration -- different responses to a perceived threat. And great views of the eagle -- a really nice treat on a snow-covered lake. Howard Mueller Columbus, OH **************Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape. http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489 ______________________________________________________________________ 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]