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Hey all, It's been a while since I've posted anything. Indeed, I've only been birding once or twice in the last 6 months... After hearing about Ryan's success with Le Conte's Sparrow at Bradford this morning, I went out from 12-2pm to try my luck. No luck. I trapsed all over the SW corner of the park where I've seen them in the past...and I scared up a lot of Savannah Sparrows, a few Swamp Sparrows, 1 Lincoln's Sparrow, 1 White-throated Sparrow and a lot of LBJs (probably Savannah), but nothing yellow enough to indicate Le Conte's or Nelson's. The garden and shrubs near the front entrance were lit up with White-Crowned Sparrows. The scrub pile in the far north end was surprisingly dead. There were 4 Northern Harriers, a Red-Shouldered Hawk, and a Red-Tailed Hawk to round out raptors. There was also a group of Killdeer being harried by the Harriers and fleeing around the western pond. After leaving Bradford Farms, I went out to Eagle Bluffs. The Katy Pool loop quickly yielded Savannah and Lincoln's Sparrows along with a lot of dying fish. When I first saw them, I thought it might be birds digging in the muck, but it was fish. I felt really sorry for them as they were having to lay down just to remain covered with water...sad. Fish were dead all over the park. The dissolved oxygen must be down from lack of turbulence/rain. I saw two Osprey flying around the north/central Distribution Channel! It's the first time I've seen Osprey at EBCA and there were definitely two at once. Also added 3 more Red-tailed Hawks and another imm. Northern Harrier. I set up my scope on the spur at the end of the 2nd one-way loop and found a lot of white activity at the back of Pool 14 where water remains. Great White Egrets, American White Pelican (~30ish), and many Herring Gulls w/ 1 or 2 Ring-Billed Gulls flying around. I then panned over toward Pool 15 and saw -at least- 15 Bald Eagles along the water's edge in the back. Most were immature, but some had full white caps/tails. Back near Pool 10, some ducks landed in the Dist Channel: 5 Ruddy Duck, 1 female Bufflehead, and several Mallards. Pied-billed Grebe and Am. Coot were everywhere. A group of 7 Double-crested Cormorants rounded out the IDed birds. Overall, not a bad day. Birding was slow and sporadic, but it was so nice just to get OUTSIDE in the peace and quiet of our state's beautiful natural areas and in such good weather! Cheers and good birding, Chase Columbia, Boone Co., MO [log in to unmask] P.S. Kept a look-out for the Ferruginous Hawk since I was at the closest thing we have to prairie near CoMO. NO DICE. Remember to keep a look-out if you go out tomorrow. ------------------------------------------------------------ The Audubon Society of Missouri's Wild Bird Discussion Forum List archives: https://po.missouri.edu/archives/mobirds-l.html