Today (Monday August 24) I spent about two and a half hours in early evening
at Pickerel Creek Wildlife Area, Sandusky Co., concentrating on the
impoundment that has been most productive recently, just north of the small
woodlot.  The highlight was the presence of two Red Knots, juveniles in
beautiful fresh plumage, silvery gray with fine dark subterminal scalloping
on the scapulars and coverts.  Red Knots are very uncommon migrants in the
state and this is on the early side of the migration for juveniles; the
reports I'd heard so far for this fall had been of adults.  These birds were
present the whole time I was there, but there was a marked amount of
turnover in the species composition and numbers of other shorebirds.  Most
of the birds seemed flighty, flushing repeatedly, often for no obvious
reason, and "shuffling the deck" in terms of which birds were where.

Other notables included:
-- Hudsonian Godwit -- one molting adult, undoubtedly the same individual
that was here last week. This bird didn't appear until I had been there for
almost two hours, and after Sheryl Young had also been there for half an
hour;  we looked up from our scopes and the godwit was out in an obvious
spot in the open.  I assume that it flew in silently while we were glued to
our scopes.
-- Western Sandpiper -- one brightly patterned juvenile was present when I
first arrived, but then I didn't see it again.
-- Baird's Sandpiper -- one juvenile was flying around calling for a while,
then landed for a few minutes, then left.
-- White-rumped Sandpiper -- up to eight present at once, a good number.
All were adults.
-- Pectoral Sandpiper -- up to 50 present, still mostly adults, but with a
few juveniles mixed in.
-- Short-billed Dowitcher -- five juveniles.  No Long-billeds were present.
-- Interesting (and further evidence of the turnover here) was the absence
of Stilt Sandpipers; observers last week were finding good numbers of these.

Aside from shorebirds, other interesting birds included several flocks of
Bobolinks (possibly coming into the marshes to roost for the night) and a
migrant Northern Waterthrush in the small woodlot.

For those who haven't been there, Pickerel Creek Wildlife Area is well
marked with signs along U.S. Highway 6, and the easiest way to find the
exact spot is to find the observation deck on the north side of Route 6,
about 8 miles east-northeast of Fremont.  From the the observation deck,
drive a short distance east to where a canal runs straight north from the
highway, and pull in and park in the large dirt parking area on the east
side of this canal.  Then walk north a quarter mile on the road that follows
the canal, past a small woodlot, and look in the large impoundment just
north of this woodlot.  The best view is up along the west side, so the
light is best in the afternoon, and a scope is essential for decent views.
I didn't check the impoundment just north of the observation deck, but it
had good numbers of birds reported last week.

Kenn Kaufman
Oak Harbor, Ohio

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