A brief note for any birders passing through n.w. Ohio this holiday weekend.
If you have even a short amount of time to swing in to Ottawa National
Wildlife Refuge (Ottawa Co., north side of State Route 2 between Toledo and
Port Clinton), there have been good numbers of Tundra Swans on the "Entrance
Pool."  If you turn in to the refuge from Route 2 and go north toward the
old parking lot, not west toward the new visitors' center, the Entrance Pool
is all along the east side of this short road.  On Tuesday Nov. 24 at noon
there were over 100 Tundra Swans on this pond; if you stay in your car they
won't be spooked, and you can get good studies.  (Sometimes there are also
Trumpeter Swans here, for a good comparison, but I saw none on Tuesday.)
Also present on 11/24 were a number of American Black Ducks along with lots
of Mallards, and at least three Mallard X Am Black Duck hybrids, always
interesting to study.

If you find anything unusual there, of course, remember the courtesy of
stopping at the refuge visitors' center and telling the staff there what
you've seen.  You can also check out the "eBird trail tracker" in the lobby
of the visitors' center, a neat way to learn about project eBird and about
other birds being seen in the area.

The Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO), half a mile east of Ottawa NWR at
the entrance to Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, will be open this weekend
Friday - Saturday - Sunday from 11 to 5.  This is another place to find out
what's being seen or to report what you have found.  At the feeders and
water feature outside the "window on wildlife" at BSBO, recent birds have
included Fox Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, and American Tree Sparrow,
while Pine Siskin and Rusty Blackbird have been heard in the immediate area.

Two miles east of the entrance to Ottawa NWR or 1.5 miles east of BSBO,
Lemon Road runs south from Route 2.  Just barely over a mile south of Rt 2,
Lemon Road crosses Turtle Creek; just before you get to the creek, there's a
good place to pull off on the east side of the road.  A loop of Turtle Creek
just east of here often has exposed mudflats.  On Tuesday Nov. 24, in
addition to hundreds of Ring-billed Gulls, these flats had 83 Dunlins, a
good number for so late in the fall in northern Ohio.  The only other
shorebird with them was a single Least Sandpiper.

Good birding to everyone,

Kenn Kaufman
Oak Harbor, Ohio

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