Today proved to be more interesting than expected. Along with many other birders I took time to enjoy the presence of the Royal Tern at Hoover Reservoir in the early afternoon. It provided us with a great show, flying overhead, perching on the floating dock and splashing in the water. Earlier I made a sweep of the north end of the reservoir and located rafts of Canvasback, Redhead, Hooded Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Ring-necked Ducks, plus a few Wood Ducks and Ruddy Ducks. A few Pied-billed Grebe and Horned Grebe are scattered about, mostly near the dam. Then I attended a meeting of the Preserves Advisory Council at 6:00 PM. The business agenda was slim so we adjourned earlier and I headed home. I shut off the car, open the door and the first sound was American Woodcock. I alerted Linda and we headed to the edge of our wetland area and the woodcock were popping all around us. One did a circuit behind us. The light faded and we could no longer see them although we could hear at least 4 displaying. First of the year. I plan to get out earlier tomorrow and catch them when I have better light. A sign spring is around the corner. Charlie Bombaci ______________________________________________________________________ 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]