A gang of us spent yesterday birding along the lakefront. The old Coliseum site in Summit Co was a pleasant stop; when we ran into local guru Gabe Leidy there, he confirmed that dry weather had apparently failed to recreate habitat for the rarer sparrows we sought. Gordon Park and Dike 14 were alive with migrants. The newsworthy event was our visit to the Lorain impoundment, about which I haven't heard a whisper for quite a while. This once-legendary birding spot succumbed nine years ago to the fate of all the old impoundment venues: crammed to the max with toxic spoil and since blanketed with phragmites, its great wet basin--which once hosted giant gull and tern roosts and shorebird hordes in migration--vanished. We found it much changed. Few of the willows remain, especilly on the nearshore side. Many acres of phragmites have been bulldozed, however temorarily, and several large diked impoundments sculpted out of the spoil. We found a lot of sparrows by walking along some roads bulldozed through the vegetation. There are still a couple of decent patches of smartweed, and some small spots with cattails and standing water. Many white-crowned and white-throated sparrows, song, Lincoln's, savannah, swamp, and a few Nelson's. Some yellow-billed cuckoos. A couple of sedge wrens. The willow patch on the north side was silent, but it was late in the day. Does anyone know what's going on at Lorain? The basin was never much of a spot for waterfowl, but these deep steep-walled impoundments seem designed for them. How will phragmites be controlled, and will native vegetation be encouraged? We saw quite a few locals just out for a walk in the heat along the muddy dikes. Certainly decisions have been made that'll make this a place for birds and folks who like to take a walk in the outdoors. I sure hope the planners will take account of the basin's natural history as they proceed. Bill Whan Columbus ______________________________________________________________________ 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]