Trying to focus on open water & feeders, I visited Berliner park (below Greenlawn dam), then went over to the Greenlawn cemetery in search of winter strays & merlins. Finally, I finished up around Grandview Heights and the nearby Watermark Lake, which has stayed remarkably ice-free. Notables included: Dabbling Ducks - nothing much besides Mallards and Black Ducks on the Scioto River at Berliner Diving Ducks - 3 Bufflehead were on Watermark Lake, and small flocks of Hooded Mergansers were both there and along the Scioto river. Other waterfowl - no grebes (which is strange here as Pied-billed regularly winter in this area now), but the flock of 100+ Coots on Watermark Lake is still present (They were found on the CBC). Raptors - a Merlin was perched just NW of the Chapel in the cemetery (but the CBC team here had 4). No Bald Eagle along the Scioto at Berliner, but there was a pale juvenile Red-tail. Woodpeckers - 2 Sapsuckers were calling their cat-like call in the cemetery, and Hairy Woodpeckers there and at Berliner were somewhat unusual. Brown Creepers - still fairly common, with 5 along the Berliner bikepath and another 2 in Grandview. Thrushes - hardly any, with the lone exception 1 Robin in Grandview. Sparrows - White-throated and Junco flocks in all 3 locations, but nothing else Blackbirds - a lone Cowbird at the Greenlawn feeders was a bit unusual, especially since we had none on the CBC. Finches - no winter finches; the siskin flock present at the cemetery feeders last week appears to have moved on. A hike around the conifer plantings there didn't find anything; the trees look to be having a low cone year. ______________________________________________________________________ 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]