Hi - This morning I visited Maumee Bay State Park and spent most of my time watching for waterfowl and raptors from the beachfront. While there, I ran into Lee Garling and a few other local birders who were conducting a hawk count for Black Swamp Bird Observatory. Although the raptor flight was relatively weak, which was disappointing considering the initial SW winds and warmer temperatures, we did have a few good sightings. I departed at about noon, so it's likely that Lee et al found the best birds immediately after my departure (i.e., the 'sacrificial birder' phenomena). Here's a brief synthesis of my sightings from 9:30 a.m. to noon: Trumpeter Swan 2 Northern Pintail 4 Lesser Scaup 178 (nearshore) Aythya sp. 3000+ (a large raft running from the park towards Bayshore Power plant - too far to discern number or species - and probably a lot more) Bufflehead 8 Common Goldeneye 42 Hooded Merganser 10 Common Merganser 17 Red-breasted Merganser 3 Great Blue Heron 1 GREAT EGRET 1 (my first of the season) Cooper's Hawk 2 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 Red-tailed Hawk 9 Merlin 1 GREATER YELLOWLEGS 2 (a personal FOS) PECTORAL SANDPIPER 5 (ditto) Eastern Phoebe (sallying for insects near the campground entrance) American Pipit 1 Lapland Longspur 2 Snow Bunting 12 Rusty Blackbird 7 Good birding, James Cole Carmel, IN Please consider the environment before printing this email ________________________________ James Cole Ohio Bird Conservation Program Manager [log in to unmask] (419) 867-4025 (Phone) (419) 377-9708 (Mobile) (419) 867-8049 (Fax) nature.org <http://nature.org/> The Nature Conservancy Oak Openings Project Office Kitty Todd Nature Preserve 10420 Old State Line Rd. Swanton, OH 43558 ______________________________________________________________________ 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]