More than 20 people gathered around the picnic pavilion at Frohring Meadows this evening in hopes of seeing the owls and they were rewarded for their determination to battle the bitter wind. Two owls started hunting around 5:05 pm and did so until dark. They stayed mostly west of the pavilion, favoring both wetlands. If there was a third bird it did not appear tonight. On Tuesday evening we could hear two Great Horned Owls calling from the adjacent woods about 4:45pm. Hopefully they stay through the weekend so more folks can make it out to see them. Frohring Meadows is a 298 acre Geauga Park District jewel that was donated to the Park District by Paul Frohring in 1996. The website states that the District intends to protect this natural area in perpetuity. eBird records show that since It opened to the public in 2007 there have been 170 species of birds recorded - 140 species in 2014 alone! Much of this can be credited to the decision to create a prairie and wetland from the approximately 100 acres that was agricultural land. There have been challenges in that transformation but today we have a unique habitat that can attract Short-eared Owls, 14 species of sparrow (including Grasshopper, LaConte's, Vesper and Lincoln'sSwamp), 11 raptor species, many species of waterfowl and shorebirds that either rest during migration or nest in the wetland (including Virginia Rail and Sora), and an impressive list of passerines during the summer. It's the juxtaposition of varied habitats in and around the prairie that make for this wonderful diversity of bird life. If you see park personnel during your visits let them know how much you appreciate this jewel of a park. We hope that they do everything possible to PROTECT this wonderful environment. Matt Valencic Geauga County ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]