A month or so ago, I discussed some first Ohio county records for various bird species. Obviously, most species have been here for a long time, and only the rarer ones (maybe 100+ spread across 88 counties) have "first" records. I find, ahem, that Franklin County and central Ohio rank far higher than I reckoned at the time. Franklin County has twelve first records, and the adjacent six counties thirteen more (most found by Franklin County birders). I dare to suggest that Franklin County ties with Cuyahoga for second place, only to Lucas County in first records for the state, but I could be wrong (I find one Cuyahoga record--western meadowlark--actually belongs to Lucas, which ties us). I welcome careful lists that might prove me wrong. Here are the data I'm using: twelve Ohio species were first recorded in Franklin County: Cattle Egret, Mississippi Kite, Prairie Falcon, Rufous Hummingbird, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Bell’s Vireo, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Green-tailed Towhee, Bachman’s Sparrow, Harris’s Sparrow, Yellow-headed Blackbird, and Bullock’s Oriole. It was Franklin County observers for the most part who added thirteen first state records in the six adjacent counties: Eurasian Wigeon, Cinnamon Teal, King Eider, Common Eider, Golden Eagle, Purple Gallinule, Franklin’s Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake, Magnificent Frigatebird, Harris’s Hawk, Long-billed Curlew, Ruff, and Spotted Towhee. I bow to Lucas County, but who else can do better? Happy new year to all, Bill Whan Columbus ______________________________________________________________________ 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]