I started the day near to where I live on the north end of Burr Oak Lake in Morgan County (old DeLorme 70 D2) and while hiking South from the parking lot off of Dock 3 (West Mountville) road, one of my dogs kept looking straight up in the air like she had treed a squirrel or something. She brought to my attention an absolutely gorgeous immature Bald Eagle which was gliding in circles just over the tree tops. The bird was obviously checking us out and I swear we made eye contact through my binoculars - if such a thing is possible. About five minutes later while in the Burr Oak State Park group camp area (accessible from the same hiking trail mentioned above) I heard something a bit unfamiliar and looked up to see a flock of at least 45 Snow Buntings heading South. This is the farthest South I have seen this species in Ohio. Field marks were complete white undersides with distinct broad black tipped wings. What a sight! Additional highlights from the Burr Oak area were two sapsuckers and two Red-breasted Nuthatches near the Ranger Station which is near the Burr Oak Lodge, off of State Route 78. After dropping the dogs off at the house, I made my way to Athens County to run some errands and to look for some more birds. I searched for the Winter Wrens previously reported by Jason Larson at Strouds Run State Park without success, but did locate 2 Hermit Thrush and 4 Eastern Towhees in the same exact area (far western reaches of Dow Lake - near the last parking lot on County Road 20). If you are approaching this area from the Northeast on Strouds Road, this parking lot is the first one that you come to on your right once you enter Strouds. I did find a Carolina Wren on a frozen creek eating the seeds out of one of those brown ball seed clusters from a Sycamore tree - which was entertaining. Minutes later I heard the calls of White-winged crossbill and looked up to see three birds descend into a mature stand of conifer (across from where I was and County Road 20) which are plentiful in this area. I did not get to see or hear these birds again once they entered the trees though. The last stop of the day was the Ridges area in Athens (part of the Ohio University campus) where highlights included a large flock of Pine Siskins foraging in the top of some conifers there and a vocal Mockingbird. ...Pretty good day! Glen Crippen Burr Oak Lake ______________________________________________________________________ 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]