Hello! As a follow up to my post of Saturday, Oct. 21st, I have returned the past 3 days to bird the pet trail at this park just north of Columbus to observe any trends or changes in species/quantities. Of special note was last evening when I would observe anywhere from 2 to 16 Turkey Vultures flying south at fairly low altitudes as I walked along the trail. Eventually, I was in the back loop of the trail towards dusk observing various sparrow species on the ground when I happened to look up and behind me to see a huge kettle of Turkey Vultures gliding in a somewhat circular fashion within a fairly tight "ball" at a fairly low altitude. At one point, the setting sun peeked through a break in the clouds to cast a golden hue on the outer edges of some of the wing feathers of the vultures. It truly was an awesome sight! I lost count at 132 before the flock drifted off to the north and my best conservative estimate of the total flock size was about 150-160. I did have my "point and shoot" digital camera with me and took a few somewhat crude photos if anyone is interested in seeing them (e-mail me privately). Also, I observed the first Fox Sparrows of the season last evening and tonight. Field Sparrow numbers have steadily declined, whereas White-Throated Sparrows consistently were the dominant species. My observations for the three respective evenings were as follows: Eastern Phoebe 0-1-0 Hermit Thrush 5-4-1 Ruby-Crowned Kinglet 1-0-2 Winter Wren 0-1-0 Brown Creeper 0-1-0 Fox Sparrow 0-8-4 (most seen in the back loop) Yellow-Rumped Warbler 50+, ~30, ~30 Barred Owl 0-1-0 Chipping Sparrow 0-1-0 White-Crowned Sparrow 2 (juv)-1 (adult)-0 (all near back loop) White-Throated Sparrow 75+, 100+, 75+ Swamp Sparrow 5-1-1 Field Sparrow 11-6-0 Song Sparrow 8-14-9 Eastern Towhee 8-6-6 Eastern Bluebird 1-0-0 Northern Mockingbird 0-0-1 (by the pond) Carolina Wren 2-5-4 Pied-Billed Grebe 0-1-1 Red-Winged Blackbird 2-0-18 (at the pond) Northern Flicker 0-5-4 Cedar Waxwing 0-5-14 American Goldfinch 7-0-0 American Crow 0-12-1 Coopers Hawk 1-0-0 Red-Tailed Hawk 0-1-1 Little Brown Bat 0-0-1 (I know it's technically a mammal : ) ) Cardinals, Downies, Red-Bellieds, Chickadees, Titmice, Blue Jays, Starlings, House Finch, Mourning Doves, Nuthatches (White-Breasted), Robins +, and GB Heron The White-Throated Sparrows have been chowing down predominantly on Honeysuckle berries whereas the Yellow-Rumped Warblers have been sucking down Poison Ivy berries. Again, I observed a Hermit Thrush last evening fluttering in mid-air while he/she would pull wild grapes off of the vines. It always interesting to observe the various traits/characteristics of the different species. Directions to Highbanks are at _www.metroparks.net_ (http://www.metroparks.net) . Rob Lowry Powell, Ohio ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. 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]