It was less than two weeks ago that Kim and I got back from being out of the country for a month. We came back to extreme winter conditions in northwest Ohio, with a foot of snow on the ground and more in the air, temperatures that dipped below zero, and wind chills down to 20 below. What a shock to see the weather today and to see the first stirrings of migration. I was out this morning between rain showers (and in 50-degree temperatures) near the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, just off Rt. 2 at the entrance to Magee Marsh in Ottawa County. Like Steve in LaRue and Bill in Cincinnati, I had Killdeers flying over, two individuals several minutes apart, calling as they flew toward the northwest. But they weren't the only birds on the move. Small flocks of Horned Larks, Lapland Longspurs, and Snow Buntings were also flying over, also headed north by northwest. (Because of the configuration of the shoreline here, that's the usual direction of diurnal migrants in early spring.) The strong southerly winds of the last couple of days probably played a role in the early appearance of the Killdeers here, giving an extra push to birds already on the move in areas south of us. But the other open-field birds had already shown signs of movement. Horned Larks, Lapland Longspurs, and Snow Buntings had all been flying over in a northward direction in this general area since the weekend. I've seen a few American Crows moving north as well; there's a big migration through this area in late February, and it may be under way already. It was inspiring to have this reminder of the fact that the Lake Erie shoreline in northwest Ohio is one of the great migration hotspots on the continent! Even if the big warbler waves are still ten weeks away, there will be action from here on out. 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]