The Cincinnati Bird Club field trip to Rocky Fork State Park on Sunday April 8th, although sparsely attended (Chris Moran, Susan Gates and myself), turned up quite a few good birds. At Rocky Fork, waterfowl variety and numbers were on the low side. Highlights included close up looks at a male and female Pine Warbler. Oddly enough we found them in the lone row of individual pines alongside the grassy lawn next to the Dovetail Group Activity Area, where as the dense Dovetail pine stand was filled with Chipping Sparrows. Go figure. To add to our weird warbler day, we found two Louisiana Waterthrushes chasing each other around the exposed roots of a tree on the opposite shore from the boat docks as you enter the Fisherman's Wharf boat ramp area. Two more could be heard singing somewhere up the hill (nowhere near a trickling stream). A female Bald eagle was on the nest, with the male flying in bringing her food. The nest is viewable from the turnaround next to the camping area, on the north side of the lake. We also got very good looks at several breeding plumage Horn Grebes, a large raft of Loons in breeding plumage, as well as two female Red-breasted Mergs. Double-crested Cormorants were out in numbers, despite the best efforts of some. At Paint Creek, the water level has been brought up, so there was really no shorebird habitat to speak of. Several groups of gulls were floating out in the middle of the lake and at least 50 Black Vultures were on the beach picking at the remains of something. On our way back we tried for the Vesper Sparrows at the "dog leg" on the backside of Indian Creek Wildlife Area, but no luck. By then the wind had picked up and everything was hunkered down (we had tried in the morning but found the road that cuts through the reserve to be blocked with a large concrete barrier, and decided to come back in the afternoon from the back way, along Carlier Road). Indian Creek Wildlife Area: Canada Goose 15, Wood Duck 1, Blue-winged Teal 1, Hooded Merganser 16, Pied-billed Grebe 2, Downy Woodpecker 5, Tree Swallow 12, Carolina Chickadee 20, Tufted Titmouse 5, Carolina Wren 5, American Robin 30, European Starling 100, Eastern Towhee 3, Chipping Sparrow 10, Field Sparrow 20, Song Sparrow 5, Northern Cardinal 15, Red-winged Blackbird 10, Eastern Meadowlark 5 Smokey Road Water Tower: Turkey Vultures 25 Rocky Fork SP: Canada Goose 20, Mallard 2, Blue-winged Teal 5, Ring-necked Duck 5, Greater Scaup 8, Lesser Scaup 5, Bufflehead 8, Common Goldeneye 1, Red-breasted Merganser 2, Ruddy Duck 24, Common Loon 13, Pied-billed Grebe 8, Horned Grebe 5, Double-crested Cormorant 250, Great Blue Heron 12, Black Vulture 5, Turkey Vulture 25, Osprey 1, Bald Eagle 2, Cooper's Hawk 1, Red-tailed Hawk 1, American Coot 300, Bonaparte's Gull 22, Ring-billed Gull 10, Mourning Dove 5, Red-bellied Woodpecker 10, Downy Woodpecker 10, Northern Flicker 2, American Crow 8, Northern Rough-winged Swallow 5, Tree Swallow 30, Carolina Chickadee 50, Tufted Titmouse 12, Carolina Wren 5, American Robin 100, Northern Mockingbird 1, Brown Thrasher 2, European Starling 200, Louisiana Waterthrush 4, Pine Warbler 2, Yellow-throated Warbler 2, Eastern Towhee 5, Chipping Sparrow 50, Field Sparrow 10, Song Sparrow 15, Dark-eyed Junco 8, Northern Cardinal 25, Red-winged Blackbird 20, Eastern Meadowlark 10, Common Grackle 100, Brown-headed Cowbird 10, House Finch 10, American Goldfinch 2 Paint Creek SP: Canada Goose 10, Double-crested Cormorant 1, Black Vulture 50, Turkey Vulture 3, American Kestrel 1, Bonaparte's Gull 25, Ring-billed Gull 5, American Robin 25, Chipping Sparrow 8, Northern Cardinal 12, Brown-headed Cowbird 10 Roush Road Gravel Pits: Canada Goose 12, Northern Shoveler 1, Ring-necked Duck 10, Greater/Lesser Scaup 8, Turkey Vulture 2, Red-shouldered Hawk 2, Red-tailed Hawk 3, American Kestrel 1, Rock Pigeon 6, Barn Swallow 3, European Starling 200, Field Sparrow 5, Song Sparrow 2, Red-winged Blackbird 5 -Mark Gilsdorf Cincinnati [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]