Spent the afternoon lazily birding three sites west of Cleveland.  Spent 
about an hour at the Lorain Impoundment with the highlight being a 
juvenile Common Moorhen feeding with its parent.  No unusual shorebirds 
were present.  Two Ruddy Ducks in breeding plumage were nice to see.

Stopped at Sandy Ridge Reservation in North Ridgeville next.  Many Great 
Blue Herons and Great Egrets but little else of note.  Anyone planning on 
birding at Sandy Ridge should be aware of construction that is limiting 
travels.  The far side of the loop is closed as the Reservation is 
converting the boardwalk to gravel path.

The highlight of the day was my first trip to Margaret Peak Nature 
Preserve in Eaton Township.  After walking for about 90 minutes through 
the soy fields and around the ponds, I spotted a female Dickcissel 
carrying what looked to be like a catepillar or insect larva.  The bird 
was seen perched above the water ditch between the first front pond and 
the two back ponds.  The bird headed west when it took off moments after I 
spotted it.  Also, about three dozen Chimeny Swifts were doing something 
I'd never seen before:  flying over a pond and dipping what appeared to be 
their bellys into the water!  They were not skimming for insects.  Could 
this behavior help to cool them off?

Good Birding.

Tim Colborn
North Olmsted, OH

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