Between the frozen lakefront and heavy snow cover, the most productive birding of late has been right in the back yard. Recent feeder & yard highlights include: carolina wren - 1 on the 22nd (only the second appearance this winter) pine siskin - 15 on the 24th (high count for the season, usually no more than 3 or 4 previously) cedar waxwing - 18 on the 24th (landed briefly in the neighbor's apple tree) eastern towhee - 1 on the 25th (first of season) am robin - 30+ on the 25th (passed through the yard just before nightfall). Plus all of the regulars: blue jay - 12+ cardinal - 18+ mourning dove - 20+ bc chickadee - 7 wb nuthatch - 3 titmouse - 3 goldfinch - 8 house finch - 5 house sparrow - 10 tree sparrow - 8 white-throated sparrow - 2 junco - 30+ downy w - 6 hairy w - 4 red bellied w - 2 cooper's hawk - 1 wild turkey - as many as 30, but none seen since the heavy snows. Noticeably absent from the feeders so far this winter - c redpoll, rb nuthatch & purple finch. Also noticeably absent are crossbills. I've been searching several local areas for the past several weeks, with no results. Either they've bypassed extreme northeast ohio (which I refuse to believe), or I need to broaden my search. Bob Krajeski Ashtabula Co. PLEASE NOTE: The preceding information may be confidential or privileged. It only should be used or disseminated for the purpose of conducting business with Parker. If you are not an intended recipient, please notify the sender by replying to this message and then delete the information from your system. Thank you for your cooperation. ______________________________________________________________________ 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]