I reported a female Surf Scoter near the dam at Caesar Creek. I got a good look at the bird through a good scope in good light. After sorting through the field marks and consulting Sibley, I was confident of the identification. Later I found that Bob Foppe had entered a White-winged Scoter sighting from the same location at about the same time. Now I know Bob to be a careful and knowledgeable observer, so I reconsidered my identification, but thought there was no need to change it. Then Larry Gara called me to say that Jim Hickman had seen a scoter at the same location and clearly seen the white secondaries when the bird waved its wings. That, of course, is incontrovertible. There is always the two-bird hypothesis, but I have never liked that dodge. In the circumstances I think I must withdraw my report. Sorry 'bout that. Cheers, Bob -- Robert D Powell Congress Farm Research Institute Wilmington, OH, USA [log in to unmask] http://rdp1710.wordpress.com Nulla dies sine aves ______________________________________________________________________ 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]