It turned out to be a great day for birding in western Holmes County. Red breasted nuthatches are still visiting the sunflower seed feeders and a group of six white-throated sparrows made their presence known by sight and song. A lone junco is still about. New visitors include red-wing blackbirds - odd as we really don't have red-wing habitat, but they are here in small numbers. Male and female purple finches are making a frequent appearance as well as an increase in goldfinches and house finches. Phoebes arrived in mid-March and a brown thrasher has been singing his heart out and frequenting our sheep pasture. Today we heard the arrival of the house wren, a first of the season. However, the icing on the cake was seeing a mature bald eagle fly overhead while mushroom hunting in a ravine near our home. It was pure luck that I decided to put my binoculars on him. His white head and tail were easy to see. The eagle lazily circled to the east of us which afforded my husband and 4 year old some great looks at this magnificent bird. To top that off, we paid a visit to a friend that lives on Township Road 464 next to where the old bald eagles nest was located in western Holmes County and only about 10 - 15 minutes from our house. What a birding paradise! Sitting in a tree across from his driveway was a mature bald eagle! Two in one day (or it could have been the one flying over our house)! Another highlight was a beautiful red-headed woodpecker which is nesting in a tree snag in his backyard. Other birds of the day included: Red-tailed hawk, cooper's hawk, tree and barn swallows, canada geese, great blue heron, a pair of wood ducks and a yellowlegs, bluebirds, red-wing blackbirds, and grackles. There's no place like home! Happy birding! Michele Skolmutch, between Nashville & Glenmont, Holmes County, Ohio. ______________________________________________________________________ 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]