Greetings! To add to the recent posts about Sandhill Cranes, I had two separate instances on Saturday (Dec 29th) when I heard Sandhills "bugling" overhead from my property in the southwest corner of Athens County (not too far from the Athens/Vinton Co line). Unfortunately, neither time did I see the birds, but the sound was, of course, unmistakeable. The first bugling occurred around 11:00 a.m., and it sounded like a sizeable flock. As best I could tell, they sounded like they were heading south. Once I was able to get down my driveway, I drove to some nearby agricultural areas (corn fields) to see if they might have touched down, but I wasn't able to leave home until almost an hour after I heard them, so the trail was mighty cold by then. They could have been in West Virginia by then, for all I know! Needless to say, no luck in finding them. The second instance occurred around 4pm, and this time it only sounded like a handful of birds. Both times I just happened to be stepping outside to do something and their calling immediately caught my ears. Although I came up empty-handed for cranes during my reconnaissance drive, I did observe 2 separate American Kestrels - one of them in a spot that has always been reliable, and the second in a new spot that has become reliable in the last 2 months or so. May you all have great birding times in 2013! Good birding, Heather Aubke Albany, OH ______________________________________________________________________ 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]