Eight Rusty Blackbirds waded the feathered edge of my Galena area backyard stream yesterday evening. They spent several hours wrestling stream debris, flipping soggy leaves, and picking at stickup's. Yesterday, I drove by the heron rookery on the Olentangy River west of Taggart Road just south of Hyattsville Road, Delaware County. About 30% of nests held perched birds or pairs of birds, Great Blue Herons. They were shuffling about as if still trying to sort out who gets what real estate. Three years ago, this growing rookery hosted 11 nests. Last year the count reached at least 33. This year, who knows? This morning, two Red-winged Blackbirds were counter-singing from twig-tips of saplings in an old field in Powell, Ohio. Tom Bain Delaware County ______________________________________________________________________ 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]