Hi all, I spent the morning tramping around some newly created wetlands at Deer Creek Wildlife Area in Pickaway County with Jen Sauter and Randy Miller. We later ran into Eric Reiner and were able to spend some time birding with him, too. These wetlands are along the east side of Egypt Pike Rd., about one-half mile south of Dick Rd. Look for the second gravel parking lot on the east side of Egypt Pike and walk a ways back the lane and you'll come to the wetlands. You can learn more about the Deer Creek area at the OOS website: http://www.ohiobirds.org/birdingsites/showsite.php?Site_ID=109 The main wetland is only two-three years old, and there is also a new wetland that was just built this year. The birding is already awesome, and we had plenty of interesting sightings. There were twelve species of shorebirds: Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper (at least three), Least Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Stilt Sandpiper, and Wilson's Snipe. We had a number of Bobolinks flying over, and I heard at least one Dickcissel. Several American Pipits were also seen. Savannah Sparrows are strating to move and a number were in the fields. Raptors were prominent; two Bald Eagles, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, a Northern Harrier, and American Kestrel. Of particular interest - and amusement - were at least one immature Cooper's Hawk and two young Sharp-shinned Hawks. They were conspicuous as they all perched in trees along the wetlands, getting mobbed by angry Blue Jays, which led to some sensational chases as the young raptors made repeated attempts to capture their tormentors. Failing miserably at that, the youngsters resorted to making strafing runs at the shorebirds in the wetland, with even less success. I got some photos of a sharpy and a coop's side by side in a tree and will post them to my blog later if they come out OK. There were also a few Cloudless Sulphurs, American Snouts, a Checkered Skipper, and at least one Little Sulphur among many other more common butterflies. Scores of dragonflies, too - mainly Green Darners, Wandering Gliders, Black Saddlebags (all very migratory) and Ruby Meadowhawks. This new wetland complex will only get better with time. Right now, the habitat is very good and lots of birds are using the site. I heard of a secondhand report of Whimbrel from here a few weeks back, and other interesting birds are likely to appear. This site was wet prairie historically, and now that this area has been restored, it has not taken long for the bird community to respond. Jim McCormac Jim McCormac Columbus, Ohio Like nature? Visit my blog: http://jimmccormac.blogspot.com/ Like birds? Join the Ohio Ornithological Society: http://www.ohiobirds.org ______________________________________________________________________ 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]