Greetings... The past couple of days have been interesting in Hamilton
County. A black-bellied whistling duck was photographed in a
"concrete-bottomed impoundment" at Harper's Point condo/apartment complex in
Montgomery on Sunday:

"Date: Sunday, May 30, 2004
Location: Montgomery, Ohio
Reporter: Jason and Holly Schlotman

My wife and I just spotted what we believe to be a black bellied whistling
duck in Montgomery. We snapped a few digital photos, linked here:

http://aristophanes69.homestead.com/files/bbwd1.jpg
http://aristophanes69.homestead.com/files/bbwd2.jpg
http://aristophanes69.homestead.com/files/bbwd3.jpg "

This could be a first state record in Ohio for this species.

(I suppose that one effect of suburban sprawl is that we might see the day
where cement retention basins get nominated for IBA status...)

Monday afternoon, a visiting birder from Toledo spotted a sub-adult
Mississippi kite in Anderson Township. He said it was actively feeding on
cicadas.

Take care,
---Mike Busam
West Chester, OH