Today the Darke Co. Birders went north to Lima, Van Wert, Paulding and Celina. The best bird of the day for us was FOY Wilson's Snipe and 10 white-phased Snow Geese at Mercer Wildlife Area and an Eared Grebe at the Ferguson Reservoir in Lima. Below are lists from 4 of the areas. Mercer Wildlife Area, Mercer, US-OH Mar 17, 2013 16 species Snow Goose 10 all white phase. Flew together at one point to an area in a corn field along 127 Canada Goose 21 Mallard 6 Ring-necked Duck 14 Lesser Scaup 14 Horned Grebe 1 Great Blue Heron 2 Bald Eagle 1 American Coot 4 Killdeer 1 Wilson's Snipe 1 Ring-billed Gull 30 Herring Gull 2 Mourning Dove 2 American Robin 4 Red-winged Blackbird 4 Furgeson Reservoir, Allen, US-OH Mar 17, 2013 Traveling 6.0 mile(s) Comments: This reservoir and surrounding area. 28 species Canada Goose 25 Northern Shoveler 4 Redhead 8 Ring-necked Duck 2 Lesser Scaup 35 Bufflehead 2 Common Goldeneye 1 Red-breasted Merganser 2 Ruddy Duck 40 Horned Grebe 12 Eared Grebe 1 seen close to horned grebes so comparison was possible Turkey Vulture 2 Red-tailed Hawk 1 Killdeer 3 Ring-billed Gull 30 Mourning Dove 3 Northern Flicker 1 Blue Jay 1 American Crow 1 American Robin 5 European Starling 6 Song Sparrow 2 Dark-eyed Junco 3 Northern Cardinal 3 Red-winged Blackbird 4 Eastern Meadowlark 1 Common Grackle 2 House Sparrow 4 Paulding Co. north and west of Paulding, Paulding, US-OH Mar 17, 2013 approx. time 2:45 PM - 4:45 PM Protocol: Traveling 12.0 mile(s) 16 species We didn’t find either snowy owl Canada Goose 18 Gadwall 2 Mallard 4 Northern Shoveler 4 Ring-necked Duck 18 Lesser Scaup 16 Turkey Vulture 2 Northern Harrier 2 Killdeer 1 Mourning Dove 2 Horned Lark 3 American Robin 6 European Starling 6 Red-winged Blackbird 6 Eastern Meadowlark 1 House Sparrow 4 Along the way, we also saw several red tailed hawks and kestrels. ______________________________________________________________________ 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]