This evening (Sunday June 3) I checked out the flats at Metzger Marsh
Wildlife Area, Lucas Co., n.w. Ohio, between passing rain showers.  Nothing
really rare was present, but notable birds included a mix of migrant
shorebirds, scarce breeders, and summering nonbreeders.

Shorebird migration is still under way, with birds still en route to the
Arctic, albeit a lot fewer than a week ago.  Most notable today were two Red
Knots, one in rich full breeding plumage, the other only partway there.
Also present were one Semi. Plover, 20 Ruddy Turnstones, 16 Semi.
Sandpipers, one Least Sandpiper, 25 Dunlins, and 5 White-rumped Sandpipers.
None of these would be considered late yet, and in fact this should be just
about prime time for White-rumpeds; I used to live in Kansas where this
species was a very common spring migrant, and its numbers there would peak
during the first few days of June.

For some reason I saw more ducks today than on other recent visits,
including single male Gadwall and Am. Wigeon and a pair of Green-winged
Teal.  All of these species nest in small numbers in the western Lake Erie
marshes so I'm guessing these were all breeders in the local area.  That
kind of assumption wouldn't apply to some other birds there today.  The
resting flock of gulls and terns on the flats today included 4 Bonaparte's
Gulls (all one-year-olds) and up to 20 Forster's Terns at a time (mostly
subadults also, but with three full adults; by contrast, the 45 Common Terns
present were almost all adults).  Bonaparte's Gulls nest at lakes in the
boreal forest, a habitat we're lacking in Ohio, but Forster's Terns are
marsh nesters and it would seem plausible to look for them breeding in the
Lake Erie marshes.  The latest version I've seen of the OOS annotated
checklist (dated April 2004) has nothing at all on the bar graph for
Forster's Tern in the month of June, but I understand that the checklist is
being updated.

Kenn Kaufman
Rocky Ridge, Ohio

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