Today Darlene Sillick, Linda and I made a circuit of Marion, Wyandot and Hardin County sites. Nadya Bennett joined us during the day. The weather defied the weathermen and stayed clear and dry all day. On the way to Big Island we spotted a Common Nighthawk in Marion. We began at Big Island WA where we quickly located the Wilson’s Phalaropes at Herr Road and along SR 95, our count was 14. We then located the Black-necked Stilts in the flooded area just west of Herr Road along with Least Sandpipers, Dunlin, Semipalmated Plovers and Blue-winged Teal. In the fields beyond the flooded area were Bobolinks, Eastern Meadowlarks and Grasshopper Sparrows. Across the railroad tracks were a brilliantly colored Indigo Bunting and several Bald Eagles. Back in the older area along the Prospect-La Rue Road we added Common Moorhen and Northern Pintails. From Big Island we proceeded north to CH-50 and vicinity in Hardin County. The Bobolinks were cooperative and displayed openly all over the place. Also present were Grasshopper Sparrows and Eastern Meadowlarks. The Dickcissel refused to go along and stayed out of sight (probably due to increasing winds). Shorebirds were spotted I the wetlands behind the grasslands, but were too far to identify. Hunger and a break for lunch. Killdeer Plains was our next target area. Better species observes included Bald Eagles, Trumpeter Swans, Pied-billed Grebes with young, Wood Ducks with young,, Northern Pintails, Semipalmated Plovers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Least Sandpipers, many Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitchers, Horned Larks, and a Connecticut Warbler. On our drive home we added an Olive-sided Flycatcher. We did have a problem bird. A diving duck that had a dark appearance with a white patch on its cheeks. It was slightly too far to define the bird’s bill and other specific details. Three votes were akin to the Democratic Primary. Opinions aplenty with positive aspects and negative aspects for the various candidates, but no consensus. It had many characteristics of a scoter hen , but seemed to be small for a scoter. We listed the bird as a “what was that?” We tallied 81 species for the day. A listed of the more interesting species observed included: Pied-billed Grebe Double-crested Cormorant Trumpeter Swan Wood Duck Blue-winged Teal Northern Pintail Hooded Merganser Osprey Bald Eagle Common Moorhen Semipalmated Plover Black-necked Stilt Spotted Sandpiper Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Dunlin Short-billed Dowitcher Wilson’s Phalarope Common Nighthawk Olive-sided Flycatcher Acadian Flycatcher Willow Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird Horned Lark Purple Martin Cliff Swallow Yellow Warbler Connecticut Warbler Common Yellowthroat Grasshopper Sparrow Indigo Bunting Bobolink Eastern Meadowlark Charlie Bombaci **************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food. (http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4&?NCID=aolfod00030000000002) ______________________________________________________________________ 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]