After seeing Joe's post, I had to chime in. While watching the momentous occasion with my students, I too observed a few birds - via CNN's coverage!House Sparrows popped out of a bush as the cars waited for the Obamas. Starlings and robins in background as people were interviewed in the mall. Then there were the birds that I could not REALLY see due to the projector's poor resolution with a full screen of those grand scenes of the mall. For instance, a gull (Ring-billed?) kept cruising over the crowd in front of the Capitol. At one point, I even thought a Bald Eagle was flying high over the south edge of the mall (left side of screen) toward the Capitol. Again, the resolution was horrendous but something about the shapeless GIZZ of the object's flight was curious. It was a large dark object that appeared to be "flapping" with the right cadence. It was probably the magic of the moment inspiring hyper-romantic images of patriotism but it did look interesting. Did anyone else see it?! Of course, I pointed out all the (real) birds to the kids in class ; ) Dave M. Bellmawr, NJ In a message dated 1/20/2009 6:47:08 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: Fellow birders, I was watching the inauguration from my sunroom this afternoon, when I decided to start a new list, since we were starting a new era in history. I wanted to list birds seen during the Obama Era. During his 18 minute speech, I counted 14 species of birds at the feeder. The very first was an American Goldfinch. I thought that was quite appropriate. More important than any bird I might see, I got my country back. Joe in the woods Somerset, Ohio Perry County USA **************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps! (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1215855013x1201028747/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072%26hmpgID=62%26bcd=De cemailfooterNO62) ______________________________________________________________________ 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]