A quick comment about the recent Black-necked Stilt phenomenon... So far this year, pairs of Black-necked Stilts have turned up in 3 counties (as far as I can determine from the electronic record). Marion, Hardin, and Seneca counties have had pairs from late-May until now. In mid-May, a stilt showed up in southwestern Lorain County. From all that I've been able to gather, there may be at least two pairs of birds that have attempted to or are in the process of nesting at the Seneca County site. Might there be other areas in Ohio harboring this amazing species? About 2 weeks ago, I was out in Mercer County with John Kuenzli doing some blockbusting. Granted, this county is mostly agriculture, but it is actually an incredible place to be birding during the summer. We had a phenomenal morning with great birds such as a pair of Bald Eagles, dozens of Dickcissel, dozens of Vesper Sparrows (a perfect opportunity to brush up on this species' amazing vocalizations!), and a singing subadult male BLUE GROSBEAK of all things. In addition, we came across a very interesting looking wet area just south of the Wabash River on the Ohio side of Indiana State Line Road. This area didn't look all that different from what exists now up in Seneca County. We looked around the area for quite some time and didn't manage to find anything other than Red-winged Blackbirds but it was still interesting, nonetheless, to contemplate what shorebird species might be putting in at the site in late-July. I encourage everyone to do some exploration in these under birded parts of the state. As it concerns the Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II, much of these areas in western Ohio need some survey coverage. You just never know what you're going to find--this should be the official motto of the Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II. Good birding! -- Aaron Boone Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II School of Environment & Natural Resources The Ohio State University 210 Kottman Hall 2021 Coffey Road Columbus, OH 43210-1085 614.247.6458 (office) www.ohiobirds.org/obba2/ ______________________________________________________________________ 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]