On October 19, 2012 we conducted the 15th Kelleys Island October Bird Survey. Participants included Tom and Paula Bartlett, Dan Best, and Ann Bugoda. Additional help was provided by Pat Hayes and Jack Hostal. It was cool, windy, and mostly overcast. The group recorded 55 species along the normal route and 11,211 individuals. These numbers were above average. Over the 15 years, the October survey has average 54 species and 5735 individuals. New for the October survey were Pied-billed Grebe, Virginia Rail, Lesser Black-backed Gull, and Great Horned Owl. This brings the number of species observed on the October survey to 122 over the 15 years. 133 Canada Goose 157 Mallard 1 Wild Turkey 3 Pied-billed Grebe 1 Horned Grebe 3918 Double-crested Cormorant 2 Great Blue Heron 9 Turkey Vulture 2 Bald Eagle 2 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 Red-tailed Hawk 1 Virginia Rail 9 Bonaparte’s Gull 3252 Ring-billed Gull 668 Herring Gull 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull * Mourning Dove 2 Eastern Screech-Owl 1 Great Horned Owl 1 Chimney Swift 1 Belted Kingfisher 3 Red-bellied Woodpecker 2 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 22 Downy Woodpecker 17 Northern Flicker * Eastern Phoebe 4 Blue Jay 52 American Crow 111 Black-capped Chickadee 4 Red-breasted Nuthatch 2 White-breasted Nuthatch 3 Brown Creeper 13 Carolina Wren 8 Winter Wren 79 Golden-crowned Kinglet 22 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 13 Eastern Bluebird 15 Hermit Thrush 251 American Robin 1 Gray Catbird 1729 European Starling 21 Cedar Waxwing 4 Palm Warbler 357 Yellow-rumped Warbler 1 Eastern Towhee 8 Chipping Sparrow 123 White-throated Sparrow 18 Dark-eyed Junco 32 Northern Cardinal 14 Red-winged Blackbird 7 Rusty Blackbird 13 Common Grackle 7 Purple Finch 23 House Finch 27 Pine Siskin 2 American Goldfinch 38 House Sparrow 55 species (Average = 54) 11211 individuals (Average = 5735 *= observed on island on survey day but not on route -- H. Thomas Bartlett Tiffin, Ohio [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]