An update on grassland birds from the harrison County hinterlands. This morning I drove through the grasslands hoping to confirm breeding of Short-eared Owls. We have been watching them on and off for two months but have yet to confirm breeding. I was hoping to see more than two feeding. No luck. Two harriers, adult male and immature were noted. We had two confirmed breeding pairs this year and one possible. Two Upland Sandpipers were seen; they will be exiting shortly for their winter grounds in Chili. Bobolinks are just starting to flock up. I estimated 70 Grasshopper Sparrows and 30 Henslow's Sparrows. The Henslow's are still "singing" at all stops. Dickcissals feeding young also present. Vespers are regular but not overly abundant. The bird of the morning was a Merlin. It was first spotted along the road eating either a Henslow's or Grasshopper Sparrow. It flew and landed in the top of a dead tree approximately 100 meters down the road where I had good diagnostic looks. I saw this species twice in early June and thought there was a possibility it may stick around to breed in the high wall areas where there are plenty of pines. I have not seen it since June 10 and today's bird was an adult bird. It is hard to say if this is the same bird seen in June but the area it flies into is several hundred acres in size and not amendable to observation. Possiple and perhaps probable it stuck around all summer but not confirmed at this point. It would be an amazing thing to have a Short-eared Owl and Merlin breeding in the same area in Ohio! But alas, I have been able to confirm neither. Scott Pendleton, Cadiz ______________________________________________________________________ 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]