This morning I visited Stage's Pond State Nature Preserve, located in Pickaway County, to check for Shorebird habitat and/or early migrants. There are some mudflats in the south pond, nearest the parking area, but the only shorebirds were three Least Sandpipers and several Killdeer. If you visit Stage's Pond and are not familiar with the preserve, the brochures available at the bulletin board are extremely outdated. It includes "latrines" which have not been there for several years, and does not include two very nice trails, which have been there for several years. A reasonably good map is available at the link below. http://www.stagespondnaturepreserve.info/ I also visited the wetlands at Slate Run Metropark, also in Pickaway County. Water levels are somewhat low in most ponds, creating wet edges which could attract shorebirds, but with the exception of the pond described below, there were only a few Solitary Sandpipers, two Greater Yellowlegs and a Spotted Sandpiper. There was one pond with significant mudflats. It was quite near the trail, which made it a challenge to see the birds without flushing them, but allowed great views of the birds. The numbers below are estimates. Lesser Yellowlegs 25 Greater Yellowlegs 5 Pectoral Sandpipers 2 Least Sandpipers 10 WESTERN SANDPIPER 1 Semipalmated Sandpiper 1 Solitary Sandpiper 3 There was a small flock of Cedar Waxwings handing around a dead tree in this pond. Gene Stauffer Grove City ______________________________________________________________________ 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]