I was driving back from Marion over on LaRue Prospect Rd. I looked out and saw a Short Eared Owl perched on a post. When I went back, it took off and started heading down the dike. I followed a second and it appeared to travel away from me. Then I went down to the next turn around, started pulling into the parking lot, and was strafed by that owl...It must have wanted to bid me bon voyage. :-D All of that capped off a day of excellent family birding. The Hoary was seen almost all day today till at least noon. I don't know past that. My thanks go out to Lori and Linda for the bird feed....and before I forget..again, my thanks also go out to Darlene for the suet and Wren house...I have it up in the recommended location and waiting for it's first residents. ;-) We went to Killdeer on the way to Marion...hey when you are driving you pick the route ;-D... Went to the Up-lake at Killdeer and saw, and heard a couple of Common Loons...it's a wonder those things even get off the ground!:-D. Many more birds were there, but were on the other side of the lake. On the reserve ponds that are on TH108 (not numbered on map) big surprise there were 6 Caspian Terns (Carrot Beaks;-)) And six Great Egrets. We couldn't see the 50 Am. Wigeon for the 500 Coots. Following that the fam. were getting tired, but we pressed on to pond 27 where I was hoping to finally get the Eur. Wigeon, to no avail, but the Forster's Tern previously mentioned on pond 33 made an appearance...I did get some diagnostic shots. Bird had white primaries and white underparts, legs were super orange, bill was orangey-brown. Tail was longer than wingtips. I'm thinking that it is still coming out of winter plumage. The reason why I am bringing this description up, was that while I was out, another birder made mention of a Common Tern seen in the area...I did not see anything matching description of the Common while I was out there...wish I had, that would have saved me another trip to Erie! :-D Other birds of interest seen: My six year old saw a Juvenile Bald Eagle...I didn't see it for another 100 yds!..Oh and she says she saw a Canada Goose as well...WOW! ;-D Wood ducks roosting...in trees, imagine that! :-D A Wood Pewee so yellow I thought my white balance on my camera was off. Blue winged Teal Trumpeter swans No Woodcocks or Shrikes...darn it. Horned Grebe in near breeding plumage...Beautiful. As I was driving home, I think I did catch a Glimpse of a woodcock jumping up into the air over at Big Island, but I had to leave it for another day. I will post in the morning bright and early...well maybe early, but not bright :-D...if the Hoary stayed through the night, but these southern winds are what I am actually hoping gets her out of here and to her real home. Birder count is up to 110+2 repeats, and the birders who didn't see it have now dropped by 2 to 8. So we shall see. Posted pics of Tern and such here: http://sjlarue.smugmug.com/Unsorted/OhioBirds/16108559_K6usy Have a great rest of the weekend. Steve J. ______________________________________________________________________ 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]