I spent the morning birding in Ashtabula Co.  Started at Conneaut harbor, I was there from 6:45 - 10:30 AM.  The water level of L. Erie is down some, so shorebird habitat is now excellent there.  The gate is still closed, blocking the road to the sandspit.  You could easily drive out to the spit without getting your tires wet, so maybe they will open that gate soon.  Anyways, birds found included: 50 double-crested cormorants, green heron, 6 bald eagles, 6 semipalmated plovers, 10 killdeer, spotted sandpiper, lesser yellowlegs, 2 sanderlings, 6 semipamated sandpipers, 5 least sandpipers, my first juv. herring gull of the season, Caspian tern, belted kingfisher, purple martins, bank swallows, and 5 yellow warblers.  Next I went to Walnut Beach in Ashtabula.  The lower water level produced some muddy edges there, which held 2 semipalmated plovers, killdeer, spotted sandpiper, and lesser yellowlegs.  Also present were bald eagle, 2 belted kingfishers, 4 n. flickers, cedar waxwings, and 2 yellow warblers.  My last stop was at the Indian Trails Park wetland at E. 24th St. in Ashtabula.  Most of the water was evaporated away there, just a few puddles remained.  But it was enough to hold 3 solitary sandpipers.  Also present were a bald eagle (soaring over the adjacent Ashtabula River), e. kingbird, and n. rough-winged swallow.  By then it was noon, and I headed home.  Craig Holt, Lowellville

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