Soon enough you will hear the loud sweet-and-sour song of the Louisiana waterthrush up some clear wooded creek, a song that grows more complex the closer you get to it. It's so beautiful and so lonely in the chilly woods that most birders instinctively feel "Yes, of course I'll have your babies!" As far as I can tell, the early date for this species in Ohio is 15 March--next Sunday. This is also the early date for Illinois. We shouldn't expect to tie any records, of course; the average arrival date for the first birds to arrive is between 25 & 30 March. If you need to brush up on the songs, do so now: you wouldn't want to misidentify a mere Swainson's warbler as one of these....... Luck to all seekers, Bill Whan Columbus A Bird to overhear Delight without a cause-- Arrestless as invisible-- A matter of the Skies. --E. Dickinson ______________________________________________________________________ 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]