This past weekend, Saturday, 01/13/08 and Sunday, 01/14/08, I remained here in southwest Ohio, to try for birds I believed could be found more easily in the south in anticipation of the weather turning colder this week. On Saturday, I started late at Camp Dennison not far from my home to look for the Bald Eagle that has been seen there and hoping that the Northern Shovelers might venture to the gravel pits from the private location at Camp Friedlander up the hill from Camp Dennison. Unfortunately, I did not find the eagle or the shovelers. Then, I went to east Fork SP to several locations where I have seen kinglets, Brown Creeper and Winter Wren. I didn't find any of these birds, but I got a lot of exercise walking on a bright, sunny and beautiful afternoon. Finally, I went to the Riverside area in Hamilton along the Greater Miami River, and walked from the sewage treatment plant to north of the low dam in search of American Pipits and Killdeer, reported there by Mike Busam. North of the low dam I found six Killdeer, number 77 in Ohio for January. After walking back to and south of the sewage treatment plant, I had only a fleeting view of a potential American Pipit, but too fleeting to count a silent, distant and fast moving bird. Oh well, the exercise was good for me! On Sunday, I started the day at Spring Grove Cemetery looking for Golden-crowned Kinglet and Red-breasted Nuthatch. I arrived between 9:00 and 9:30 am, but things were very quiet. I walked the area around the woodland area and the small pond near section 118. I soon met Lori Brumbaugh and Lou Gardella nearby. After about an hour I heard a Golden-crowned Kinglet call several times, but I could not find Red-breasted Nuthatch after searching all the conifer stands in the area. I finally found a single Red-breasted Nuthatch in a mixed feeding flock in an area near the main entrance. It seemed relatively easy to find Tufted Titmice, Carolina Chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardina, a Northern Flicker, American Robins, American Crows, the ubiquitous Starlings and a single Eastern Towhee, but the new birds for January were hard. I left Spring Grove Cemetery with 79 birds for January, 2008. I then drove north intending to try to get to Deer Creek Reservoir hoping for some missing waterfowl. I stopped on the way at Caesar Creek SP to check for waterfowl, but found mostly waterfowl hunters, and found an immature Herring Gull (80) on the beach with about 25 Ring-billed Gulls. I continued to Deer Creek, but it was notable for the lack of birds. I found a Red-tailed Hawk about 20 Ring-billed Gulls and few Canada Geese and a single swimming Mallard at the dam. There was a waterfowl hunter on the exposed ground at the edge of the dam, so no wonder the waterfowl were scarce. There was still enough time to get to Columbus to try for the OSU Black-crowned Night Herons. I discovered that I didn't have exact instructions with me, but I knew that it was along the Olentangy River at the Herrick Rd/Street/Boulevard bridge, as the location has been variously described by previous posters to Ohio Birds. I wished that I had printed out Bob Royse's directions from one of his posts. However, I drove up Rt. 315 hoping that I would recognize an exit to OSU from Bob's instructions. Once I was north of exits marked for OSU, I turned around and returned south on Rt. 315. I took my best guess and exited 315 at the Lane Ave. exit, and crossed the Olentangy River quicker than expected. So, I turned around again, crossed the river again and turned south on Olentangy River Road hoping to find Herrick Street. The first intersection south of Lane Ave on Olentangy River Road was John Herrick Drive. I crossed the river and found a quite empty parking lot directly in front of me after crossing the bridge. Just lucky I visited on a Sunday evening. The parking meters provide parking for a quarter for 15 minutes and a dime for 6 minutes. At this point I was not exactly sure I was at the right place, so I spent $0.45 (last of the big time spenders! Ha! Ha!) to look for the Black-crowned Night Herons. And there they were on the west side of the river, easily visible even at about 5:00 pm in the rapidly fading light in the drizzle. I counted 9 birds. So, I ended the day with 81 for January. For me this January listing is a weekend and holiday quest, so next weekend I'll head north to the lake to try for some of the birds seen this past weekend. Hopefully they will still be present. Jay Jay G. Lehman Cincinnati, OH [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. 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