I arrived at about 8:00 am in the early morning fog and frosty temperatures. Some bird activity but rather slow early. I spent all of my time walking the edge of the wetland and prairie areas looking for the rarer marsh sparrows, like Nelson's Sharp-tailed or LeConte's, and other marshy spots, and did not visit the western tree-line border of the area. At about 9:30 - 10:00 am when the sun finally broke through, bird activity picked up as grasshoppers also became active then. I finally found a NELSON's SHARP-TAILED SPARROW at about 12:30 pm along the Farm Road west of the bike trail but east of the wetland. It was near a large shallow depression in the prairie that has more sparse vegetation, and is located close to and on the south side of the Farm Road. I first found the bird as it flushed from the shorter grass along the Farm Road, and as I tried to get a better look I also flushed it several times from the sparse vegetation in the shallow depression. Sometimes it sat in the taller prairie vegetation on the north side of the Farm Road, but back in the vegetation and never out in the open. I saw the bird about five or six times between 12:30 pm and 1:30 pm. I could see the orange colored supercilium quite well even when it flew as well as the orange colored upper breast and throat sharply demarcated from the very white underparts/belly, the relatively darker back with gray and black and white stripes. One time when it sat still long enough I could see the gray center of the crown and the grey cheek patch. It was down-right balmy when I left the area at about 1:30 pm with quite a few butterflies making the rounds of flowers still blooming on the prairie. Other birds of interest, but not in checklist order. Turkey Vulture 2 Red-tailed hawk 2 American Kestrel 1 Killdeer 15 Wilson's Snipe 12 Tree Swallow 2 Bank Swallow 2 Sedge Wren 2 Carolina Wren 1 Palm Warbler 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler 8 Eastern Bluebird 10 Song Sparrow many Swamp Sparrow many Chipping Sparrow 2 Field Sparrow 8 White-crowned Sparrow 10 Savannah Sparrow 5 Eastern Towhee 2 Eastern Meadowlark 40 Red-winged Blackbird about 200, several flocks House Finch 5 American Goldfinch 50 At the park visitor's' center I found Dark-eyed Junco and White-throated Sparrow. I missed Lincoln's Sparrow for the day, because I did not bird along the western edge tree-line, where they can be found this time of year. Ten species of sparrows is a good morning of birding, especially when Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow is included! The Sedge Wren's were very friendly. One was at my feet when I tried to photograph it but it was too close to find it in the lens! They are nosy little biddies. Whenever I stood quietly, a Sedge Wren would come up behind me to investigate, but disappear as soon as I tried a photograph. Jay Jay G. Lehman Cincinnati, OH [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]