I was informed yesterday by Patty DeMaria that she observed what she took to be two cinnamon teals at ponds in the Battelle Darby wetland the previous day. Among other things (such as "pale blue shoulders"), she answered my questions with "When I saw the birds in flight I was struck by the red/brown color, and ruled out blue wing teal because there was no white on the head. When they were on the water I saw them near the shovelers, so there was definitely no confusion there! I did see lots of blue winged teal on a different pond with a small flock of coot, and again I remarked that they had the white in front of the bill which was absent on the possible cinnamon teal. On Friday evening they were flying back and forth between the ponds farthest from the white house and closest to Kuhlwien Road. I stopped watching when I looked down to find myself covered to the knees with ticks! Please do post on Ohio Birds for me! I appreciate your help!" Mostly because identification is difficult at other times, most ducks of this species are reported from spring. I haven't had a chance to look around out there, so visitors should keep an eye out for these birds. Bill Whan Columbus ______________________________________________________________________ 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]