As a member of the underachievers club, I haven't done any hard-core birding in over a week, but I did stop by the Cincinnati Nature Center at lunchtime today, to sit indoors and watch birds at their feeders. Two previously reported species (Purple Finch, Fox Sparrow) were absent, but I did pick up 2 hoped-for Pine Siskins (#52) and a surprise Hairy Woodpecker (#53) from the warmth of the seats in front of the observation windows. The usual suspects included Downy & Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Mourning Doves, 1 Blue Jay, Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice (-mouses?), 1 White-breasted Nuthatch, Northern Cardinals, M&F eastern Towhees, White-throated Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, House Finches, and American Goldfinches. Leaving the building, I noticed a large, dark bird soaring high overhead. My first thought was a Buteo, since the tail was too short for Turkey Vulture. Then, the thing gave a slow flap, and I saw silver-white wingtips. The first Black Vulture (#54) was followed by a second, which gave me time to get my binoculars out for good views. As I lowered my bins, I glimpsed a flash of gold and quickly snapped them back to my eyes. Hurrah! A Northern Flicker zoomed through the parking lot and became January bird #55. Since I rate my birding success by the number of woodpecker species I see, this hour was very productive, with 17 species total, including 4 woodpeckers and 4 new species for the January 100. I'd better be careful - I might accidentally reach the magic number and lose my underachiever's status! ~Kathi Hutton Felicity, Clermont County http://katdocsworld.blogspot.com/ ______________________________________________________________________ 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]