I joined a group along with Dawes naturalist Tim Mason this morning for a walk through the Dutch Fork wetlands, on White Chapel Road west of Route 13. I have referred to this birding location as the Dawes Arboretum wetlands, as it is owned by Dawes. However, there is more than one "Dawes" wetland, and this particular one, on White Chapel, is known as the Dutch Fork wetlands. The wetlands is bordered to the east by a shrubby fence row and on the south by a substantial stream, perhaps not large enough to be called a river, which I assume is the Dutch Fork. Some birds listed below were observed either in the fence row or in the riparian woodland habitat bordering the wetlands. Overcast conditions. Great blue heron Green heron Canada goose Wood duck Mallard Red-tailed hawk Semipalmated plover - 7 Killdeer Wilson's snipe Greater yellowlegs Lesser yellowlegs Solitary sandpiper Spotted sandpiper Semipalmated sandpiper Least sandpiper Rock pigeon Mourning dove Red-headed woodpecker Red-bellied woodpecker Downy woodpecker Tree swallow Bank swallow - not on Dawes property, at Davis Rd and Licking Trail Barn swallow American pipit House wren - at bridge on Licking Trail Gray catbird Northern mockingbird Eastern bluebird - on Dawes property along Davis Road White-breasted nuthatch Blue jay European starling House sparrow White-eyed vireo American goldfinch Northern parula - at bridge on Licking Trail Yellow warbler Yellow-rumped warbler - at bridge on Licking Trail Palm warbler American redstart Yellow-breasted chat - 2 different birds Field sparrow Savannah sparrow Song sparrow Northern cardinal Indigo bunting Red-winged blackbird Eastern meadowlark - not on Dawes property, along Davis Road Common grackle Brown-headed cowbird Baltimore oriole Two new yard birds early this morning: Nashville warbler and yellow-rumped warbler (bringing my all-time yard list to 48) My Licking County Totals: Daily total for May 5, 2007: 51 Total for May 2007, so far: 72 Total for 2007: 133 Lifetime Licking Co. total: 162 recorded (possibly more, unrecorded) Birds reported in Licking Co. in 2007 but not seen by me: Sandhill crane Barn owl - in one of the buildings owned by the Dawes Arboretum! How I'd love to see one of these guys in Licking Co.! I decided in February to focus on the county of my residence, and to record every species seen, month-by-month. For lists of birds seen in February, March and April, see the OOS site: http://www.ohiobirds.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=234 Happy birding, Margaret Bowman Licking Co., 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]