I just returned from a delightful morning doing OBBAII work in "the other" Amish country - much like Holmes County but without the traffic or commercialism - eastern Knox Co., north of Bladensburg. I watched a pair of red-headed woodpeckers feeding recently fledged young. We have a LOT of red-headed woodpeckers in northern Licking and southern Knox counties (at least five different locations today in just this one block), and I think the reason is probably the large number of standing dead trees. BTW, it's pretty typical for me to find this number of red-headed woodpeckers in the blocks I've surveyed. They are thriving here. On the other hand, the Amish in many places - this block was no exception - put out gourds and martin houses. The numbers of purple martins probably numbered in the hundreds this morning. What I didn't see, and expected, were kestrels. Maybe it was just bad luck, but I usually have at least one kestrel in any block in farming country. I had 54 countable observations this morning, plus a few OS/PO for post-safe date species such as tree swallow, common grackle and red-winged blackbirds. Margaret Bowman Licking and Knox Counties, OH ______________________________________________________________________ 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]