Thanks to Bill Whan for another thought-provoking post on the state of shorebirds (and shorebirding) in Ohio.  I was in New York state for the first third of August, so I missed that segment.  The rest of the month, I searched pretty hard for shorebirds in far NE Ohio.  Conneaut continues to be the top site by far, and the only one along L. Erie in this part of the state.  Walnut Beach in Ashtabula is no longer productive.  Pymatuning had high water, ditto for Mosquito.  I didn't get to check impoundments at Grand River WA, but I heard no positive reports.  West Branch SP in Portage Co. had high water.  The real bright spot is Berlin Res.  There are acres and acres of great habitat there.  So my take on the shorebird migration this month is limited to only 2 sites in the NE.  Mainly due to gas prices, I've not been able to visit Sandusky Co. or Erie Co. since July.  Much thanks to those who have provided reports from there, and other areas in
 Ohio.  It's good to see the news from Englewood MP, Hardin Co., and Sandy Ridge in Lorain Co. for example.  The silence from Ottawa/Lucas Counties is deafening, however.  I suppose there's always some habitat at ONWR, but for those of us who remember the best days of Metzger Marsh and the Crane Creek Estuary, these are poor times for sure.  By the way, once again Pt. Mouillee in nearby Michigan IS providing shorebird habitat along western L. Erie.  This is a GLOBALLY important (Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network) area.  Another region conspicuously absent in reports is Killdeer Plains WA and Big Island WA.  So you add this all up and I'd agree that August was only OK in numbers and diversity for shorebirds in Ohio; it was heartening to see a good number of juvs. for certain species such as lesser yellowlegs and peeps.  Some of the High Arctic species were quite underwhelming: decent numbers of adult black-bellied plovers at Conneaut
 but nowhere else common; few golden-plovers anywhere; no Hudsonian godwits yet; a few ruddy turnstones and sanderlings, but almost all at Conneaut; a grand total of 1 red knot.  Others fared better: Baird's sandpiper and stilt sandpiper come to mind.  I've seen very few greater yellowlegs yet.  One species that seemed way up in this part of the country so far this year is Wilson's phalarope.  We'll see what September brings....Craig




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