This afternoon (Thursday August 14) I made a brief check of some of the
shorebird habitat in flooded fields west of Bellevue, near the Seneca /
Sandusky County line.  Numbers and diversity were good, with 14 species and
a few hundred individuals.

On TR 292 just north of the county line, there have been "road closed" signs
for weeks because a large area just south of the railroad tracks is flooded.
This has been a good spot for observation, as we could drive out and park on
the road just before the point where it disappeared underwater.  The waters
are receding, and today I saw a few locals driving cautiously across the
flooded area in small minivans as well as larger trucks, but the shorebird
habitat is still excellent and the viewing should continue to be good for a
while.  Highlights here were Buff-breasted Sandpiper (a worn adult, but
still beautiful) and two crisp juvenile Baird's Sandpipers.  Also present
were Killdeer 50, Semi Plover 40 (adults and juvs), Gr. Yellowlegs 8 (mostly
distant, the two seen well were adults), Lesser Yellowlegs 75 (mostly juvs),
Spotted Sandpiper 3, Semi Sandpiper 20 (mostly juvs), Least Sandpiper 100
(mostly juvs), and Pectoral Sandpiper 50 (those studied closely appeared to
be adults).

On T 80 just south of the county line, the pond (where the stilts had
appeared to be nesting earlier) has receded a lot but had a considerable
number of Mallards, Wood Ducks, and Blue-winged Teal, plus one Am. Black
Duck, a surprise here away from the Lake Erie marshes in summer.  I saw only
a few shorebirds here, mostly Killdeer, but I ran into Paul Sherwood and he
told me he had seen a Wilson's Phalarope there earlier.

On C 34 west of T 80, the pond on the north side of the road has receded a
lot, but still had a large concentration of Great Egrets (23) and Great Blue
Herons (9) (what are they eating?).  Parking is dicey here because the
shoulders are narrow and I didn't spend a lot of time.  Shorebirds here
included Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, and Pectoral
Sandpiper.

Back north of the county line, on 175 (South Ridge Road) about 2 miles
northeast of its junction with US Highway 20, the large pond on the south
side continues to hold a lot of birds.  I saw my only Solitary Sandpipers (2
juvs and one too distant to tell) and only dowitcher (a juv Short-billed)
here, plus a Wilson's Phalarope, and I heard a White-rumped Sandpiper but
never saw it -- perhaps I just heard the flight call of a departing bird.
Lesser Yellowlegs (40), Pectoral Sandpiper (30), Least Sandpiper (50), and
Semi Sandpiper (10) were also represented (obviously these are not exact
numbers, but they're careful estimates).

No sign of the Black-necked Stilts.  Paul Sherwood said he hadn't seen them
for several days.  Improbable as it might seem, the four seen in Ottawa
County on Tuesday could have been the same four birds from these ponds,
starting to wander.

To anyone who goes to this area, please be courteous to anyone who stops to
ask what you're doing -- the locals have been friendly and interested in all
my encounters.  We have to be careful to park in ways that don't block
traffic.  And of course, all of these ponds are on private property.  If you
leave the road shoulder to approach the ponds, you may scare the birds away,
but more importantly, you'll be trespassing.  Let's do what we can to
maintain good relations with the people in this area.

Kenn Kaufman
Oak Harbor, Ohio

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