Just got back from doing bird stuff in New England, and in a brief check of Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area, Lucas Co., this afternoon (Monday March 9) I saw 17 species of waterfowl. Highlights included careful estimates of 650 Redheads, 150 Lesser Scaup, 140 American Wigeon, 120 Gadwall, 110 Mallards, 70 Ring-necked Ducks, and 60 Northern Pintail. The water is high in the marsh; many of the birds were quite distant from the road, and a scope was necessary for seeing many of the birds well. About 30 Hooded Mergansers were concentrated in the canals paralleling the road, and the males were actively displaying. Very few birds were visible on Lake Erie from the end of the road at Metzger. In late afternoon I checked the lakeshore from Port Clinton. Several hundred scaup were offshore (all that I saw well were Lessers) along with decent numbers of Canvasbacks and Common Goldeneyes. Numbers of gulls were down from last month, but one adult Lesser Black-backed Gull and one first-cycle Glaucous Gull were still associating with the Herring and Ring-billed Gulls offshore. I've seen one to three Lesser Black-backs almost every time I looked at gulls in Port Clinton this winter. Along with the waves of Red-wings and grackles, Rusty Blackbirds have started to appear in this area. I saw a total of about 100 in woodlots near Metzger Marsh today, and Kim noted at least 200 in woods around the Black Swamp Bird Observatory (Ottawa Co., entrance to Magee Marsh W.A.) this afternoon. A small flight of Red-shouldered Hawks was also evident this afternoon. Kenn Kaufman Oak Harbor, 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]