As I checked my e-mail just now, a song sparrow was singing from the rhododendron bush outside my window. They have nested in that bush in years past. I have had VERY few sightings of song sparrow in my yard this winter, just an occasional glimpse feeding under the forsythia tangle where I spread seed. Yesterday, the cardinals were singing, not just calling, in our neighborhood. (I have seen more sparrows at my uncle's farm, especially around the house, than I have seen in town. My uncle and aunt do not feed the birds.) The Cooper's hawks have been very active recently in my yard. I see one or both almost daily now. Yesterday, one perched on the clothesline pole beside the forsythia tangle for several minutes. Got great looks at her - the larger one, so most likely the female. I stopped a few minutes at TJ Evans Park, about a half mile from my home, which has two small lakes, which I believe are the remnants of previous quarries. There was more open water than a week ago, but fewer interesting waterfowl in evidence, just the expected Canadas, a couple of mallards, and a couple of coots, along with three or four feral barnyard ducks. On MLK Day, I had a rare few minutes to do some minimal birding, so I checked out the quarry near St. Louisville. A friend's farm overlooks the quarry, and is a good place to set up the spotting scope. Among the hundreds of Canada geese were: White phase snow goose - 1 Hooded merganser - pair, male still in basic plumage American coots - 3 Mallards - 2 pairs Redheads - 5 - two pairs and a single male Mute swans - 3, appeared to be first winter, mostly dirty-looking whitish color I'm always a little hesitant to count a mute swan at TJ Evans Park, since I know that sometimes there are feral barnyard and released waterfowl, but I believe that these at the quarry were truly "wild". As others have mentioned, there was quite a bit of diversity in the size of the Canada geese. A very few were quite large, but most of the ones on the quarry, in the water and on the ice, were substantially smaller. I "counted" them, not because I cared about the numbers, but because it forced me to look at every individual goose. No cackling geese or greater white-fronted, just the one snow goose. Maybe next time. Other signs of spring: I'm looking forward to a birding trip to Utah and Nevada in late June and July, and I'm working on getting in shape for a trek up the Ruby Mountains in search of the Himalayan snowcock. Isn't that what birders do in February, dream? And, I've gotten my notebook and maps out of the closet in anticipation of a start-up of the OBBA II in my seven blocks, in April, May and June. I may have sighted a great horned owl nest, but it's not in one of my blocks. If I confirm, I'll report it anyway. Awaiting "real" spring in Licking Co., Margaret Bowman ______________________________________________________________________ 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]