Hello, All:

I flushed 117 Wilson's Snipe at VOA MetroPark, West Chester, Butler Co.
today.  There may have been 1,000  in the upland sedge meadows, since I
only transected a couple times and they flushed just constantly about 20
feet ahead of me.  There's no chance for elevated views, and the birds are
in little ditches, so no chance to observe any stationary ones.

Also, two young men were hunting the birds with a 20-gauge shotgun for
about half an hour, only a hundred yards from the soccer fields.  There
weren't any games going on, but a few people were practicing at the soccer
goals.  The hunters didn't bag any Snipe that I saw, firing about 20
shells, but I thought snipe season ran Sepember through early November, and
didn't know you could hunt at all in the MetroPark system.

Also, 19 Meadowlarks, several Brown Thrashers, and two immature
White-crowned Sparrows.  Lots and lots of wood ticks,

Bird well,

Paul Dubuc,
Dayton, OH

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