Hardy Eshbaugh and I continued our search around the lake but found no gulls other than the 3 species reported by Bob. We located 2 female surf scoters from Harveysburg Road, in a cove to the north; and then relocated them from a vantage point in the Mound Ridge Campground area (so identified on the map; the sign gives it a different name . . .). They were hanging out with a different species, a C. Goldeneye I believe; it made the ID challenging (esp. in the rain) because it was showing white on the wings. Thanks to a tip from Rebecca Elefante at the Visitor Center, we then got good looks at a single female white-winged scoter in the lake directly below the dam. It was hanging out with a couple of scaups. There's a nice viewing area just off the left side of the road after you cross the dam coming from the Visitor Center. Jim Michael, Oxford ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bob Powell" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2012 12:08 PM Subject: [Ohio-birds] Caesar Creek: California Gull, no! Surf Scoter, si! > Larry Gara and I went out to the Caesar Creek beach this morning to check > on the California Gull reported yesterday. Hardy Eschbaugh and Jim Bishop > were already there. We carefully scoped out the gulls with superb optics > and found only ring-bills, herrings and Bonaparte's. > > Larry and I moved on to the observation platform at the Visitors Center > and > relocated the female Surf Scoter mentioned in the same report. It was > foraging between the control structure and the dam in company with a > Common > Merganser. Through the scope it appeared to be a first winter female > beginning to molt into first spring plumage. eBird contains 42 previous > records of this species. > > We are grateful for this report, but would urge members of this list to > include more detail in reports of rare species, especially birds on the > Ohio Bird Records Committee's list of review species. > > 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] ______________________________________________________________________ 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]