Hello all, About 15 people came out for our Sunday walk in the north part of Glen Helen. It was chilly and overcast, but the rain mostly held off until after we had finished. We followed the Talus Trail up Birch Creek, and past the Yellow Spring on our return trip, with a brief side-jaunt out to the Outdoor Education Center blind and Baldwin Pond meadow. 22 species were found, most of which were common residents. Among the less-expected, we saw our first phoebes of the year, with three popping up at various spots along Birch Creek. At the Baldwin Pond meadow, we found three fox sparrows. This was a bird that we did not find at all last year, so it felt good to track these down. Our walk also took us past a great horned owl nest. No juveniles found, but we saw one of the adults -- first in flight, and later perched on a branch. The list in total: Great blue heron Turkey vulture Canada goose Mourning dove Great horned howl Red-bellied woodpecker Downy woodpecker Eastern phoebe Blue jay American crow Carolina chickadee Tufted titmouse White-breasted nuthatch Carolina wren American robin Fox sparrow White-throated sparrow Dark-eyed junco Northern cardinal Common grackle Brown-headed cowbird American goldfinch ------------------------- Nick Boutis Executive Director Glen Helen Ecology Institute 405 Corry St. Yellow Springs, OH 45387 Visit us online, at www.glenhelen.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]