Hi all,

Benton-Carroll Road south of Rt. 2 in Ottawa County is producing a lot of shorebirds as of late and could possibly be the best shorebirding site in the Great Lakes region at the moment. Earlier species such as Lesser Yellowlegs are expected in Ohio in March but eight species (excluding woodcock) with counts reaching in the hundreds is unprecedented. Chris West (visiting birder from Wisconsin) and I have been keeping daily counts for Black Swamp Bird Observatory's Lake Erie Marsh Region Shorebird Surveys and recorded the following species over the past couple days:

Killdeer - Seen daily with a high count of 17 on 23 March
Greater Yellowlegs - present since 19 March with a high count of 17 today, 25 March
Lesser Yellowlegs - present since 16 March with a high count of exactly 100 today, 25 March
Pectoral Sandpiper - present since 22 March with a high count of 33 on 23 & 25 March
Least Sandpiper - A single bird appeared today, 25 March
Long-billed Dowitcher - Two were first detected on 22 March by Darlene Freidman and remain through today along with a third individual
Wilson's Snipe - One was present on 24 March
Dunlin - Two appeared on 24 March and remain through today, 25 March

Good number of waterfowl are also present including 160+ Green-winged Teal, 50+ Northern Shoveler along with Blue-winged Teal, American Wigeon, Gadwall, American Black Duck, Northern Pintail and Mallard.

Just a note - there are two gravel pull-offs along Benton-Carroll Road. If you decide to go for the shorebirds, please pull into one of these and leave space for other cars as well. DO NOT park along the road - the police will not tolerate this and has given tickets to birders before. This is also off-limits Ottawa NWR land and you are not permitted to enter. It is recommended that you remain in your car and/or next to it to avoid spooking the birds.

Good birding,


Ethan Kistler
Education and Outreach Specialist
Black Swamp Bird Observatory
Oak Harbor, Ohio 43449
419-898-4070

2011 League of Ohio Sportsmen Conservation Organization of the Year Award
2012 Eastern Maumee Bay Chamber of Commerce Prism Award for Community Improvement

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