I agree with Rick Counts's estimation of the raptor numbers, at least in that part of the state. I have not seen a rough-legged hawk at Killdeer, this year and several veteran Killdeer observers have reported likewise. On Sat, six of us spent close to two hours there (including pre-dawn vigil at a usually productive spot) and heard and saw no short-eared owls. The great horneds were doing well, as we heard males and females to the north and the south of that spot....which may explain the dearth of short-ears. I recall Rick's reporting a GHO devastating the short-eared population at the Hardin wetland a couple of years back, too. So this could be a combination of good rodent populations to our north, and a spike in horned-owl populations here. Bill Whan Columbus Richard Counts wrote: > A trip last night to the Hardin Co. wetlands turned out a very low > numbers of raptors. Only a single Red-Tailed Hawk, 2 Harriers, and > for the first time in 6 years no Short-Eared Owls. I believe there is > a real scarcity of rodents in this part of Ohio this winter. > > Rick Counts Wyandot Co. ______________________________________________________________________ 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]