If I may take advantage of this tangent to get a little more tangential -- it is possible to create more migrant shorebird habitat without great expense or effort. I certainly agree that the well known, public shorebird stopovers in Ohio are extremely important and should be maintained and enhanced at almost any cost. As I've mentioned before, however, bird enthusiasts, park/WA/preserve administrators, farmers and many land owners can increase Ohio shorebird habitat by controlling water levels in appropriate areas. In a very small nutshell, habitat can be created by allowing flooding, or artificially flooding, low areas and then gradually draining them during spring and fall migrations. Abandoned fish farms, farm ponds. low lying pasture are a few examples of where this can be done. There are, of course, many small areas around Ohio where this process occurs naturally, but with the decline in shorebird populations, any additional habitat is important

    A specific example is Mill Creek Wildlife Sanctuary in Mahoning County (Youngstown area) where we have hosted up to 30 species of shorebirds in the hundreds, and sometimes thousands, per season for several years. There is a problem this season with too much vegetation -- fortunately native -- because of "administration" problems, which I won't get into. This situation, however, points up the one critical necessity for maintaining flooded conditions as deep as possible during all non migration months. 
    I will be happy to email a one page summary of a shorebird habitat creation process to anyone interested. There is also much more information available, including the article on the Mill Creek Wildlife Sanctuary in Vol. 30 No 3, Spring 2007 of The Ohio Cardinal. Note, however, that the 250-acre compound described therein is an "extreme" example; habitat can be created in far smaller areas and with considerably less effort than that described in the article.  
 
Bill Jones
Canfield



    A specific example is Mill Creek Wildlife Sanctuary in Mahoning County (Youngstown area) where we have hosted up to 30 species of shorebirds in the hundreds, and sometimes thousands, per season for several years. There is a problem this season with too much vegetation -- fortunately native -- because of "administration" problems, which I won't get into. This situation, however, points up the one critical necessity for maintaining flooded conditions as deep as possible during all non migration months. 
    I will be happy to email a one page summary of a shorebird habitat creation process to anyone interested. There is also much more information available, including the article on the Mill Creek Wildlife Sanctuary in Vol. 30 No 3, Spring 2007 of The Ohio Cardinal. Note, however, that the 250-acre compound described therein is an "extreme" example; habitat can be created in far smaller areas and with considerably less effort than that described in the article.  
 
Bill Jones
Canfield


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