Please do not walk out onto the mudflats. This is a sensitive area and impacted by traffic. As part of the Nature Preserve, you will need to remain on the improved trails - Wiese Rd. proper, Old Sunbury RD., Dustin Rd. the Boardwalk, etc. Thank you for helping us protect the Nature Preserve and the wildlife that depends upon it. Elayna M. Grody Natural Resources Manager Columbus Recreation and Parks -----Original Message----- From: Ohio birds [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lehman, Jay Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2007 10:24 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [Ohio-birds] Hoover Reservoir, Sunday PM, 09/30/07 Importance: High After visiting Indian Lake SP, I stopped at Hoover Reservoir at Weise Road and the boardwalk. The water level is even further down than when I last visited on September 9. There was a small group of shorebirds with reasonable diversity this evening starting at about 5:00 - 5:30 pm. I walked out on the mudflats off Weise Road to get a close enough look at these birds with a scope. I wore my Muckster Shoes. Water proof foot covering is highly recommended! I walked out as far as I could until the mud got too soft. There were foot prints indicating that someone walked closer to the water than I did! Pectoral Sandpiper 14 Baird's Sandpiper 2 (young birds of the year) Least Sandpiper 16 Semipalmated Sandpiper 1 Stilt Sandpiper 1 Lesser Yellowlegs 4 Greater Yellowlegs 18 Semipalmated Plover 5 Killdeer many American Pipit 10 Great Egret 6 I stopped briefly at the boardwalk, but did not add any new species to the list. The best viewing was from Wiese Road mudflats. However, from the boardwalk I did find a large flock of 20 yellowlegs along the shore just south of the area where I walked out on the mudflats from Weise Road. There were 18 Greater Yellowlegs and about 2 Lesser Yellowlegs in this flock that was very actively feeding. I suspect that this flock arrived between my departure from Weise Road mudflats and my arrival out to the first observation point on the boardwalk. They were feeding very actively, almost a feeding frenzy, as if they had just arrived from a long flight and needed food before dark. From Weise Road, I had scanned the same area but didn't find them, so I think they had just arrived. I was hoping for a White-rumped Sandpiper or a Long-billed Dowitcher, previously reported at Hhoover, but no luck this time. Jay Jay G. Lehman [log in to unmask] Cincinnati, 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] ______________________________________________________________________ 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]