Here's a piece of outstanding good news from our friends in New Jersey, one that has direct impact on birding in Ohio. First, some background. There have been some mentions on this listserve already about the plight of the eastern population of the Red Knot (subspecies rufa), which winters in southern South America and nests in the high Arctic. Most of this population stops over along Delaware Bay (between New Jersey and Delaware) in spring, after a nonstop flight from Brazil, to feed -- primarily on the superabundant eggs of the horseshoe crabs along certain beaches -- in order to fuel up for their next nonstop flight to the Arctic, so that they can arrive there in good condition for successful breeding. Quite a few of their favored beaches have protected status; the problem was that their food supply was dwindling because a handful of people were overharvesting the horseshoe crabs offshore. This population of Red Knots had plummeted from over 100,000 individuals to fewer than 15,000. Every scientist familiar with the situation agreed that it would be wise to stop harvesting horseshoe crabs and let their population build up again in order to preserve the population of Red Knots (and other migratory shorebirds) that relied on this food source. Earlier this year a small regulatory body in New Jersey, the NJ Marine Fisheries Council, had voted by a narrow margin to allow continued taking of horseshoe crabs. Bird conservation groups opposed this move, and a vigorous campaign of letters, phone calls, e-mails, and public meetings called on the New Jersey legislature to overturn this decision and impose a moratorium on taking of the crabs. The New Jersey Audubon Society and other groups did a superb job of bringing pressure while keeping it on a civil and calm level, and their efforts paid off: the moratorum on taking horseshoe crabs cleared the NJ Assembly by a vote of 70 to 6, and cleared the NJ Senate by a vote of 39 to 0. The bill will not become law until it is signed by Governor Corzine, but we are highly encouraged by the overwhelming vote in favor of conservation. For us in Ohio, this increases our chances of seeing Red Knots, Sanderlings, large numbers of Semipalmated Sandpipers and Ruddy Turnstones, and various other shorebirds here in our home state. Kudos to all involved (including those Ohio birders who were calling and writing members of the NJ legislature in recent weeks). A strong effort for bird conservation really can pay off at times. My personal thanks to Julie Shieldcastle, Conservation Director for the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, and Mark Shieldcastle, Research Director for BSBO, for most of the details included in this message. Kenn Kaufman Rocky Ridge, Ohio ______________________________________________________________________ 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]