Shortly after noon today, we had the sighting of a kettle of Merlins (Falco columbarius) with an aggregate of 50+ birds in the swarm. The group was first seen "milling around" at treetop height over extensive harvested agricultural fields on Old State Road about 3 miles east of North Fairfield and north of SR162 in Huron County. About 10 minutes later, the entire flight moved en masse to the southeast where it had ascended to a point where it was almost out of sight. There was nothing to indicate that the swarm had been "spooked" from its initial location [even tho Halloween is fast approaching]. Dean Sheldon, jr. Greenwich ______________________________________________________________________ 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]