Jason Estep, his mother Cheryl (sp?), and I checked out Hoover yesterday (Thursday) evening from about 5:30 - 6:30. Shorebird activity was somewhat slower than earlier in the week. The two species of greatest interest were: Buff-breasted sandpipers (at least 11) scuttling around in the vegetation on mudflats just north of Pelican Island. If you are looking in this area, be aware that the grasses are just about as tall as the birds. We first saw heads popping up here and there in the vegetation; the flock eventually came out into more open areas, but we might well have missed them had not Jason looked carefully. Red phalarope in the water south of the boardwalk. The water has receded so much that the nearest water (not counting the inlet channel along the first part of the boardwalk) is way out there, so ID'ing the phalarope was a challenge. It took considerable study to verify that it wasn't one of the red-necked phalaropes. Other than those, we had several of the usual shorebirds, including a couple of short-billed dowitchers, greater and lesser yellowlegs, and the omnipresent killdeer, and peeps beyond the range at which positive identification was possible. No sign of American golden plovers. -- Bill Heck ______________________________________________________________________ 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]