Yesterday, we spent the afternoon at Killdeer Plains W.A. and the last hour before sunset at the Hardin Co. wetlands 4 miles south of Forest (Along T50, west of C215; Jackson Twp see DeLorme p. 47 4B 4th ed.) Very windy which limited our inclination to get out and walk, but overall a very nice afternoon. Good numbers of geese and ducks, and an amazing concentration of Northern Harriers near dark at the Hardin Co. wetlands - anyone wanting to study harriers will do well to try this place. . . e-bird records: Location: Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area Observation date: 2/9/08 Notes: Time: 12:50 p.m. to 4:50 p.m. CONDITIONS: 38-40F, wind W 16-26 mph; partly cloudy becoming mostly clear COVERAGE: Drove all the main roads several times over the 4 hour period; walked back to the evergreen grove for the owls MAMMALS: None OTHER OBSERVERS: Karen A. Shrader Number of species: 25 Greater White-fronted Goose - Anser albifrons 20 On large pond east end of the wildlife area - group altogether; counted Snow Goose - Chen caerulescens 2 One white-phase and one blue-phase Canada Goose - Branta canadensis 1000 Probably a very conservative estimate - large flocks coming and going from the area Trumpeter Swan - Cygnus buccinator 2 American Black Duck - Anas rubripes 100 Large number in with Mallards Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos 1000 Huge flock south of KP along C67 (Morral Rd and Washburn Rd) intersection in flooded fields - extremely impressive number! Northern Pintail - Anas acuta 100 We saw only males; in with Mallards south of KP Lesser Scaup - Aythya affinis 10 Hooded Merganser - Lophodytes cucullatus 4 Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus 2 Two nice adults Northern Harrier - Circus cyaneus 15 Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis 5 Rough-legged Hawk - Buteo lagopus 3 American Kestrel - Falco sparverius 3 Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura 15 Long-eared Owl - Asio otus 3 "Alternate" pine grove Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens 1 American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos 5 Horned Lark - Eremophila alpestris 20 American Robin - Turdus migratorius 1 European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris 3000 Very impressive tight flock along T115 south of the large ponds - flying and landing in huge waves American Tree Sparrow - Spizella arborea 40 Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis 1 Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus 5 Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula 10 Location: Hardin Co. Wetlands, South of Forest Observation date: 2/9/08 Notes: TIME: 17:15 - 18:15 CONDITIONS: 38F, very windy (20-30mph) from the west; mostly clear; beautiful sunset COVERAGE: Along T50, west of C215; Jackson Twp; Hardin Co.; DeLorme p. 47 OTHER OBSERVERS: Karen A. Shrader Number of species: 7 Canada Goose - Branta canadensis 500 Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos 100 Northern Harrier - Circus cyaneus 50 Amazing number of Northern Harriers all coming together near dark in the upland grassy field south of the wetlands (one of the highest points around). We wouldn't have believed it, but we counted 45 at one time in the same field! There were several more on the north side over the marsh at once, and probably more over the ridge we couldn't see. They were flying at each other, trying to land on top of another, and generally "enjoying" the very windy conditions right before dark. Many were perched on the ground, and would occasionally fly up at another bird. Very entertaining! Assuming they roosted together as a communal group. We estimated that about 30% were adult males; the rest females and immatures? Per Raptors of the World by James Ferguson-Lees and David A. Christie, p. 485, "winter communal roosts (sometimes with Short-eared Owls Asio Flammeus) commonly number 20, 50, even hundreds" Short-eared Owl - Asio flammeus 1 Seen flying high over the trees to the south right at sunset American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos 10 European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris 100 Eastern Meadowlark - Sturnella magna 8 This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org <https://owa.ketthealth.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://ebird.org/> ) ______________________________________________________________________ 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]