Due to weather predictions and an up-coming trip south, we conducted the monthly census yesterday. Sandy Tkach and I were the only participants which isn't unusual in the winter. With 8+ inches of new snow over the 17+ inches from earlier in the week, travel was very difficult. Many roads weren't plowed. We were unable to get to the northeast part of the island. I had to snowshoe the North Pond Trail which took over an hour. I need some younger legs... We started at 0815 and ended at 1315. Weather was 28-34 F, South winds 5-12 mph, partly cloudy to overcast skies. The island is surrounded by ice but there was open water to the east and south. Unfortunately, foggy conditions and distance made identifying gulls and ducks tough. Eagles sitting on the edge of the ice were easy. We observed 40 species on the route which is about average (39 species). The 10,818 individuals was about twice the average for February (5283 individuals). New for the February census was Merlin and Red-breasted Nuthatch. This is the 13th February census. This route has been run every month since November 1997 except for January and February 2000 when weather prevented getting to the island to conduct it. 4 Canada Goose 204 Greater Scaup 353 Common Goldeneye 137 Common Merganser 950 Diving ducks - species? 28 Bald Eagles (6 adults, 15 immature, 7 unknown) 2 Sharp-shinned Hawk 3 Cooper's Hawk 5 Red-tailed Hawk 1 Merlin 1 Hawk species? 155 Ring-billed Gull 2400 Herring Gull 17 Great Black-backed Gull 5200 Gull species? * Wild Turkey 8 Mourning Dove 2 Eastern Screech-Owl 1 Great Horned Owl 2 Red-bellied Woodpecker 37 Downy Woodpecker 4 Northern Flicker 43 American Crow 5 Horned Lark 70 Black-capped Chickadee 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch * White-breasted Nuthatch 13 Brown Creeper 2 Carolina Wren 9 Golden-crowned Kinglet 3 Eastern Bluebird 7 Hermit Thrush 449 American Robin 309 European Starling 23 Cedar Waxwing 6 Yellow-rumped Warbler 5 American Tree Sparrow 2 Song Sparrow 34 White-throated Sparrow 81 Dark-eyed Junco 54 Northern Cardinal 9 Purple Finch 53 House Finch 27 American Goldfinch 99 House Sparrow 40 species 10,818 individuals * = species observed on the island but not on the census route -- 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]