Dave, Joyce, Tim & I just returned from a run  up to Conneaut for shorebirds.
 The numbers & diversity at Conneaut  wasn't the best but a Baird's Sandpiper
made it worthwhile.  Also seen were  Least & Semi-palmated Sandpipers,
Sanderlings, Semi-palmated Plovers,  Killdeer & Spotted Sandpipers.  A Bonaparte's
Gull, Purple Martin,  & Caspian Tern added more interest to the trip, as did
quite a few yellow  warblers.

 We then headed west, making a stop at Headlands.  There it  became quite
obvious, if we hadn't already figured it out, that the yellow  warblers,
especially females and/or juveniles, are in peak migration.   Also present were large
numbers of juvenile icterids (redwing, grackle, &  oriole) & starlings.

Going to Mentor Lagoons, we figured finding the Least Bittern would be a
long shot but we had to try.  Well, it couldn't have been easier.   After
scanning the edge of the water from the bridge for less than 2 minutes,  the bittern
was quite easily seen, fishing for minnows, & we were able to  observe him
catch 2 fish (1 was bigger than his bill) over a period of about 10  minutes.
And the whole time we were serenaded by several Marsh Wrens,  which we never
could see.

Laura Dornan, Stark County



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