Just wanted to reply to John Pogacnik's post on the difficulties of birding Conneaut. I was out last week with a couple of Amish fellows and a birder from PA (Ross?). We enjoyed seeing a couple of American Avocets and 1 Marbled Godwit. (Nice to see peeps right after reading the latest ABA magazine.) That is until a fellow drove his truck to the very end of the sand bar (right in front of us and 2 scopes) and let out his dogs. On this occasion they did not go after the birds. But on various others they have. This is clearly a place the locals and others including myself enjoy the beach for recreational activities. There should be some way to afford a certain level of protection, promote conservation and public access (50/50). It astounds me how such a small place can have such high quality birding. With a bit of protection in the far end of the spit it could probably be much better. It would be nice to see a win/ win solution for all. (Is there some way to avoid conflict/bitterness over restrictions?) The locals use the area to do doughnuts in their trucks and cars. Many times resulting in the following: http://www.clebsch.com/bird/IMG_4905_2.jpg I recommend you get there early and avoid weekends. A group of us regularly Kiteboard there. We stay along the N end of the beach and, as they tend to congregate on the south, avoid the shorebirds. Good birding. Hans ______________________________________________________________________ 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]