Sandy Tkach and I conducted the 14th December monthly census of the island for the Kelleys Island Audubon Club. Data is also used in the Lake Erie Islands Christmas Bird Count. Weather started with partly cloudy skies, SW winds 5-12 mph, and 17 degrees. There were snow flurries off and on during the day and overcast most of the PM. Temperature did get to 24. The lake was mostly frozen to the south and west but mostly open to the north and east. We added 6 species to the December census list; Mute Swan, Green-winged Teal, Canvasback, American Kestrel, Bohemian Waxwing, and Field Sparrow. The 14 year average for species on this census is 51 and we had a record 66. We ended the day with 72 species observed on the island. The 14 year average for total individuals on this census was 22,882 and we record a record 62,919. With 45,000+ gulls observed, you would think we could find a white-winged gull or two. But lighting conditions were too poor and even my imagination couldn't pull one out. Off course the Bohemian Waxwing was the bird of the day. I was able get photos the next day and one is posted on rarebird.org. Check the webpage: http://www.rarebird.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5298&title=bohemain-waxwing-kellys-island December Census Data: 132 Canada Goose 3 Mute Swan 4 Trumpeter Swan 76 Tundra Swan 1387 Gadwall 4 American Wigeon 447 American Black Duck 1315 Mallard 3 American Black Duck X Mallard Hybrid 4 Green-winged Teal 19 Canvasback 258 Redhead * Ring-necked Duck 98 Greater Scaup 514 Lesser Scaup 5 White-winged Scoter 2 Black Scoter 287 Bufflehead 4764 Common Goldeneye 8 Hooded Merganser 1934 Common Merganser 312 Red-breasted Merganser * Wild Turkey 1 Great Blue Heron 7 Bald Eagle (1 ad, 6 im) 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 Cooper's Hawk 1 Red-shouldered Hawk * Red-tailed Hawk 1 Rough-legged Hawk 1 American Kestrel 28 Bonaparte's Gull 6510 Ring-billed GUll 11,568 Herring Gull 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull 32 Great Black-backed Gull 27003 Gull species? 1 Mourning Dove 3 Eastern Screech-Owl * Great Horned Owl 8 Red-bellied Woodpecker 2 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 37 Downy Woodpecker 22 Northern Flicker 5 Blue Jay 59 American Crow 4 Horned Lark 92 Black-capped Chickadee * Red-breasted Nuthatch 2 White-breasted Nuthatch 6 Brown Creeper 4 Carolina Wren 4 Winter Wren 8 Golden-crowned Kinglet 7 Eastern Bluebird 9 Hermit THrush 1089 American Robin 4343 European Starling 1 Bohemian Waxwing 25 Cedar Waxwing 9 Yellow-rumped Warbler 7 American Tree Sparrow 1 Field Sparrow 2 Song Sparrow 5 Swamp Sparrow 74 White-throated Sparrow * White-crowned Sparrow 149 Slate-colored Junco 1 Oregon Junco * Common Grackle 56 Northern Cardinal 1 Purple Finch 39 House Finch 41 American Goldfinch 71 House Sparrow 66 species 62,919 individuals -- H. Thomas Bartlett Tiffin, Ohio [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________ 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]