I made the trip out to Sandusky Co. yesterday 9/14. Along the way, I saw an e. meadowlark in Ashland Co. The Bellevue sky ponds at T292 held a fine group of shorebirds; killdeers, 5 semipalmated plovers, 55 lesser yellowlegs, 20 semipalmated sandpipers, 13 least sandpipers, 1 adult white-rumped sandpiper, 40 pectoral sandpipers, 3 stilt sandpipers, and 10 short-billed dowitchers. There were also 6 blue-winged teal there. The recent rains appear to have dumped quite a bit of water here, and in fact all across northern Ohio. So don't give up on this site yet. One particularly bright juv. pectoral sandpiper raised my pulse for a moment--sharp-tailed sandpiper is a (very) small possibility here in the coming weeks. Then I went to Willow Point WA, where the theme of the day continued--raised water levels. I walked a lot of the property, but found no real shorebird habitat. Six lesser yellowlegs and 3 short-billed dowitchers were roosting in
shallow water. A bald eagle flew by. On to Medusa Marsh; the area at the Rte. 269 North exit off of Rte. 2 had many puddle ducks but not much else visible. The traditional area just NE was very good though with 2 pied-billed grebes, cormorants, 80 great egrets, 6 snowy egrets, Forster's tern, and 2 Caspian terns. I then headed east in the now gale-force winds. At the Rte. 2 bridge over the Huron River, there were some good mudflats on the south side. I didn't have the time to go scope them; viewing is at best difficult and distant here, and probably about impossible with howling winds and rain. Next stop was Lorain harbor. The piers and old hot-waters area held nothing of interest. Over at the impoundments, the shorebird habitat looked very attractive. I walked the whole area, but only came up with 1 shorebird--a least sandpiper. As a consolation, I saw wood duck, 6 blue-winged teal, green-winged teal, and a black-crowned
night-heron. The winds and darkening skies prompted me to head home at this point. Talk about Mr. Toad's Wild Ride! At Cleveland, 50+ cormorants were in the air at the freeway bridge over the Cuyahoga River. I passed by West Branch SP in Portage Co. (Rte. 14 & Knapp Rd.). The water was back up here. I survived the rest of the journey back to Mahoning Co., dodging branches and even a tree on the roads. The leaves flying about like confetti was pretty amazing......Craig
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