I stopped by Ellis Lake Wetlands (near Cincinnati; directions below) to see if the black-necked stilt was still there.  It wasn't, but this is a great place to bird.  I had 49 species in just under 3 hours, including four First-Of-Year FOY) birds.  Here are the birds seen:

Canada goose
wood duck
mallard
blue-winged teal
green-winged teal
great blue heron
turkey vulture
red-tailed hawk
killdeer
solitary sandpiper
greater yellow-legs
lesser yellow-legs
mourning dove
downy woodpecker (see note below)
northern flicker
white-eyed vireo
yellow-throated vireo
warbling vireo
blue jay
tree swallow
bank swallow
Carolina chickadee
tufted titmouse
Carolina wren
house wren
blue-gray gnatcatcher
ruby-crowned kinglet
American robin
gray catbird
northern mockingbird
brown thrasher
European starling
common yellowthroat
CERULEAN WARBLER - FOY
YELLOW WARBLER - FOY
PALM WARBLER - FOY
yellow-rumped warbler
yellow-throated warbler
eastern towhee
song sparrow
white-throated sparrow
northern cardinal
red-winged blackbird
eastern meadowlark
common grackle
brown-headed cowbird
BALTIMORE ORIOLE - FOY
house finch
American goldfinch

The interesting thing about the pair of downy woodpeckers is that they were apparently defending a nesting cavity from a starling.  There was a awful squawking and squabbling, and when I tracked down the ruckus, this pair of downies were buzzing and bombing a starling, which eventually went away and roosted in a nearby tree.

I also met three other birders, who had seen Wilson's snipe and northern parula, although I didn't see either of those.  (Probably just wasn't looking in the right place.)

Directions:  From the I-275 outerbelt around Cincinnati, take Exit 42B to Ohio 747 north.  Go about 3 1/2 miles to Union Center Blvd.  (Some enterprising vandal has removed any signs indicating the name of this road.  Hope you have a GPS that gives street names!)  Go about a mile west and watch for wetlands to the right (north).  You'll pass over a railroad overpass (seems like a bridge!).  Keep watching to the right (north) for the first "real" street (not into a warehouse).  If I recall, it's called something like Firebird Rd.  Turn right.  If you come to a bike path and a turn-around, you're in the right place.  Park there.  The sky pools are to the west, the bike trail goes both east and west.  I got my best birds by walking the bike path east about 1 1/2 mile.  However, the stilt was (before it left the area) in the sky pools to the west, and that's where I saw most of the waterfowl and all of the shorebirds.

Margaret Bowman
Newark, Licking Co., OH

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