It looked like everyone was at the Owl Symposium except the owls. The weather was bad and got worse, but the lecture program and the camaraderie made it well worth the trip. And the snowy woods were beautiful. Thank you to all the folks who worked so hard to make the weekend a success. For those people who were wondering about the lack of kestrels a few weeks ago -- they apparently have been hanging out on power lines between Van Wert County and Hueston Woods. We saw (in just over 90 miles) 18 kestrels on wires on the way south and 10 on the way back, including what seemed to be a pair sitting within a foot of each other and looking very cosy. At the southwest corner of Grand Lake (Mercer Wildlife area) there were large numbers of Canada Geese including some pairs staking out nest boxes, a handful of Mallards, 1 nice male Hooded Merganser, 2 Ring-necked Ducks and 2 Mute Swans. No snow geese. Jean & John Perchalski Van Wert, OH ______________________________________________________________________ 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]