On the way back to Shaker Heights, I toured the Sandusky Bay Region. Ohms Rd (CR 265) off Rt. 6 just west of Pickerel Creek W.A. in Sandusky County. These private wetlands are quickly assessed and are occasionally interesting in early spring. at 8:00 am ... Canada Goose - 11 (one on nest) Trumpeter Swan - 2 (1A7 & one of the M class) - the species nests here and chicks may be photographed close by from the car. Wood Duck - 3 Gadwall - 34 Mallard - 12 Blue-winged Teal - 18 American Wigeon - 38 Northern Shoveler - 64 Northern Pintail - 4 Green-winged Teal - 57 Ring-necked Duck - 1 Common Merganser - 24 Hooded Merganser - 4 Bonaparte's Gull - 110 Killdeer - 4 Wilson's Snipe - 7 Brown Thrasher - 1 Swamp Sparrow - 9 singing moving west along CR 265 brings one to Three Eagles Wetland Mitigation or so it was once called. I now see a DOW wildlife area sign present with a now legal pull-off. From the road, I noted Canada Goose - 2 Ring-necked Duck - 84 and just beyond is what promises to be one of the more substantial wetland restorations in Sandusky County. What I have been calling Yellow Swale Wildlife Area for lack of an official designation (correct me if I'm wrong) currently involves two completed impoundments holding water. Today I saw a half dozen adjacent properties with survey markers. Two of these were in the throws of being dug out with the earthen mounds that look to be incipient levees. The two existing wetlands (which form already a much larger series as they are contiguous with substantial private wetland acreage to the N) held this morning ... Canada Goose - 5 Trumpeter Swan - 5 Gadwall - 2 Mallard - 2 American Wigeon - 2 Northern Shoveler - 4 Green-winged Teal - 2 Pied-billed Grebe - 1 Bald Eagle - 4 Wilson's Snipe - 1 Pickerel Creek W.A. - Headquarters Rd. (CR 254) The marsh here, after going through a much needed rehabilitation a couple of years ago, looks as good as new. Canada Goose - 26 Gadwall - 34 Mallard - 8 Northern Shoveler - 4 Blue-winged Teal - 11 American Wigeon - 1 Green-winged Teal - 36 Bald Eagle - 2 Killdeer - 1 Wilson's Snipe - 10 Great Blue Heron - 26 Belted Kingfisher - 1 Pickerel Creek from the Obs. Tower along Rt. 6 Canada Goose - 22 Mallard - 3 Northern Shoveler - 12 Blue-winged Teal - 16 Green-winged Teal - 6 Ring-necked Duck - 3 Common Merganser - 6 Hooded Merganser - 7 Bald Eagle - 4 Bonaparte's Gul - 170 Killdeer - 4 Greater Yellowlegs - 9 Lesser Yellowlegs - 1 already suitable water depth for yellowlegs ... worth checking ... by 1 May this could be suitable for peeps ... but I suspect a full walkaround will be in order to asses the shorebird presence given the height of the vegetation. Also looks good for ibis. Medusa Marsh Mute Swan - 12 Gadwall - 57 Blue-winged Teal - 14 American Wigeon - 12 Green-winged Teal - 20 Bufflehead - 8 Red-breasted Merganser - 8 Great Blue Heron - 4 Great Egret - 14 Black-crowned Night-Heron - 1 American Coot - 240 Bonaparte's Gull - 170 Pectoral Sandpiper - 140 (winging overhead to the ENE) Rt 269 N exit (off Rt. 2 - NW end of Sandusky bay bridge) roughly ... Redhead - 6 Lesser Scaup - 1350 Greater Scaup - 50 Double-creasted Cormorant - 50 Bonaparte's Gull - 600 Ring-billed Gull - 1400 Herring Gull - 100 East Harbor State Park .... held more scaup within its harbors than I have previously seen in 25 years of visiting this time of the year. Mute Swan - 8 Canada Goose - 114 Wood Duck - 22 (hanging around a set of nest boxes that appeared newly placed) Mallard - 2 Red-breasted Merganser - 180 Merganser spp. - 200 (fairly distant in the sun) Scaup spp. - 9800 (95% Lesser. 5% Greater) this ratio has been more typical of a month earlier in recent years ... but I spent some time watching the many birds skittering out of the way of newcomers vying for an open patch of water. Of the total, 7000 occupied Middle Harbor, 1800 were off the beach on Lake Erie, and the remainder were on East Harbor. Scoping through the mass on Middle Harbor, I picked out 210 Redhead. Such a concentration out on Sandusky Bay in early April would be trivial, but close inshore, gleaming in the sun ... quite impressive. Over the park, and Catawba Island, kettles of Turkey Vultures numbered not less than 100 birds at one time. cheers Vic Fazio Shaker Heights, OH ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. 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]