Yesterday 3/19 I went north to Ashtabula Co. to see if it had thawed out there yet. First stop was at the Pymatuning Res. causeway (Ohio side). Still a good amount of ice on the lake, but most of it was on the PA side. Birds there included 35 lesser scaup, buffleheads, hooded mergansers, and 20 ruddy ducks. Next stop was at Conneaut. L. Erie was a frozen jumble of ice but the harbor was open. Present there were 1 tundra swan, gadwalls, Am. wigeon, 20 ring-necked ducks, 10 greater scaup, 30 lesser scaup, buffleheads, c. goldeneyes, hooded mergansers, common merganser, red-breasted mergansers, 1 Bonaparte's gull, and 10 great black-backed gulls. It was around noon by then, and I tried looking for migrating raptors for a while. No action at Malek Park in Conneaut. I tried a few different spots at varying distance from the lakefront, but only saw a few turkey vultures sail by. In North Kingsville I spotted a group of 11 turkey vultures
and 2 Cooper's hawks, and that was about it for the raptor flight. On to Ashtabula next. Again, L. Erie was mostly ice but the harbor was open. Birds there included redhead, 23 buffleheads, c. goldeneyes, common mergansers, 300 red-breasted mergansers, horned grebe, and 2 double-crested cormorants. Next I booked it down to Orwell Marsh in SW Ashtabula Co. There were surprisingly few birds there, but I did see a pair of hooded mergansers (they nest there) and a greater yellowlegs. Last site I visited was Mosquito L/WA. The main reservoir had no ice, some fishing boats, and almost no birds at all. The ponds and lakes of the Wildlife Area had all the action: gadwall, 35 Am. wigeon, n. shoveler, redheads, 250 ring-necked ducks, lesser scaup, buffleheads, and 1 lonely tree swallow. Craig Holt, Lowellville
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