Does all the attention to a few Sandusky County potholes and a single
godwit in central Ohio indicate minimalism among birders is becoming
fashionable, or are we just making the best of a bad deal? To see
whether I'm just a worry-wart, I looked back in the archives of
ohio-birds and the Ohio Cardinal for this time of year. The earliest I
could find of both was 1999.  That year, 32 shorebird species were
discovered in the state 21-30 August. There weren't all that many hot
spots: some reports from Conneaut, a few from Medusa Marsh, fewer from
spots in the interior of the state including Hoover Res for the best of
them, but many from the Crane Creek estuary at ONWR and the old Cedar Pt
causeway in Sheldon Marsh SNA.
        Species, and maximum numbers seen at one spot, plus number of spots
where reported, follow for August 1999:
Black-bellied plover--3,4
Am. golden-plover--1,2
Semipalmated plover--75, 5
Killdeer--1750, 8
Am. avocet--22,3
G. yellowlegs--110,4
L. yellowlegs--485, 4
Solitary sandpiper--2, 2
Willet--1,1
Spotted sandpiper--3, 4
Upland sandpiper--1,1
Whimbrel--20, 4
Hudsonian godwit--9, 3
Marbled godwit--2, 5
Ruddy turnstone--1, 2
Red knot--1, 2
Sanderling--50, 4
Semipalmated sandpiper--200, 4
Western sandpiper--1, 1
Least sandpiper--100, 6
Western Sandpiper--2,1
White-rumped sandpiper--1,2
Baird's sandpiper--4, 3
Pectoral sandpiper--180, 5
Dunlin--1, 2
Stilt sandpiper--30, 4
Buff-breasted sandpiper--3, 3
Short-billed dowitcher--300, 5
Long-billed dowitcher--17, 2
Wilson's snipe--2, 2
Wilson's phalarope--3, 5
Red-necked phalarope--1, 4
        In my opinion, none of these maxima is all that remarkable for Ohio in
August in recent decades, except that some are rather low. There are no
rarities. The 32 species overall is on the high side of average for
August, too. Other shorebirds reported later in 1999 included a piping
plover, a long-billed curlew, purple sandpiper (5), ruff (3), woodcock
(6), and red phalarope (6), for a fall season total of 38 species, the
highest overall in the past decade. This is a higher total than that
from other comparable species groups in the state, like waterfowl or
warblers, in the period. Shorebirds are our most diverse migrants.
        In more recent Augusts, 2003 produced only 29 species, and 2004 thirty.
August 2005 provided forage for shorebirds at the
Miami-Whitewater Wetlands and Hoover Reservoir and Berlin Reservoir
inland, and Conneaut, Medusa Marsh, Pipe Creek and Pickerel Creek
wildlife areas, moist-soil units at ONWR, and the Cedar Point
Chaussee along the Lake--an unusually large number of sites. The high
single-day count of species was a nice 27, on 28 Aug, in or near ONWR.
The month's total was 32 species, including two piping plovers and an
out-of-season dunlin (1-3 alt-plumaged dunlins have been an August
staple near NW Lake Erie since 2004). A decent year for Hudsonian
godwits, with 85 reported. A spent Hurricane Katrina deposited a record
355 white-rumped sandpipers at Conneaut the 31st. Of course, other birds
made autumn 2005 most memorable, with little and Sabine's gulls in
August, magpies, white ibis, white-winged dove, m. frigatebird, gray
flycatcher, western kingbird, numerous Selasphorus hummers, and first
state records of cave swallow and green violetear.
        In 2006, the August total was 31, with three ruffs the highlight.
Conneaut and Sandusky Bay spots were productive; inland,
Miami-Whitewater was OK, Hoover was not, and Wright Marsh in Wayne Co
and the Hardin Co wetland had a chance to shine. 2007 had 32 species,
including another ruff and a piping plover. Perhaps it was because upper
Hoover Reservoir was perfect for migrant shorebirds--great habitat so
close to a large urban area--that we had 26 species during the first
week of August last year.
        The August of 2008 was remarkable, shorebird-wise, mostly for scarcity
of habitat. Conneaut delivered as usual, although the local humans did
the best they could to scare off birds. Few inland reservoirs, despite a
very dry month, produced mudflats until quite late in the month. The
Sandusky Bay wildlife areas--Pickerel Creek briefly, and Willow Point
longer--hosted reported shorebirds. Overall, it would have been a very
disappointing August had it not been for the unusual hydrology of the
Bellevue area, where many low-lying areas in agricultural land were
flooded, then gradually dried, inviting thousands of shorebirds in a
phenomenon last seen in 1933. More than anywhere else, this flooding
contributed to a good count of 24 species for the first week of August
in Ohio. The month's total was 31 species, with no remarkably high
numbers of any, except for four of the one rarity: black-necked stilt.
        Are there trends here? We really don't see enough shorebirds in Ohio to
reliably detect population changes, but we can confirm that piping
plovers are recovering a bit. Recent nestings of black-necked stilts and
Wilson's phalaropes seem encouraging, but may merely reflect poor
conditions in their customary realms. Our regionally unique molt-staging
long-billed dowitchers have been hanging on, despite loss of habitat.
Over the past decade, the great northwestern marshes are playing a
diminishing role for shorebirds as managers struggle with invasive
plants and Bush-league budgets.
        The numbers of shorebird species we see each August remain remarkably
stable, and only a few arrivals come later in fall--purple sandpipers
and red phalaropes mostly, now that a few summering non-breeding dunlins
seem to be regular. Ten years is too brief a period to be sure, but
reported numbers of certain species--knots, and the larger ones like
whimbrels, godwits, dowitchers, and willets--seem to be decreasing, even
though more and more observers are afield. As for habitat, only Conneaut
stands out as consistent year after year, despite boorish disturbances.
Many shorebird refugia of recent years--unfilled dredge-spoil
impoundments (Cleveland, Lorain, Huron, Toledo), marshes open to Lake
Erie like Metzger, etc.--are no more. Managed impoundments--at wildlife
areas, reservoirs, etc.--serve migrant shorebirds mostly when drawn down
for other reasons, except for the noteworthy Mill Creek Wildlife
Sanctuary (actually designed for shorebirds [!], with 24 species thus
far this year).
        I believe overall numbers of shorebirds are falling in Ohio, some as
part of documented population decreases overall, but also because
stopover habitat here is growing scarcer. We continue to see similar
numbers of species because so many more observers are reporting them,
and perhaps because fewer available stopover habitats concentrate birds,
but even so in my brief time as an observer it has grown harder to see
20 species in a day here than it used to be. I doubt anyone did this
year. Do others who've been shorebirding in Ohio for many years agree?
Bill Whan
Columbus


p.s. Bob Royse went to Alaska in June, and has posted some exquisite
photos of birds he found there, including seventeen shorebird species,
at  http://www.roysephotos.com/whatsnew.html  . I cannot recommend his
work too highly, or often enough. Check it out.

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