Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge in Ottawa and Lucas Counties, northwest Ohio, is a deservedly popular birding spot. The refuge protects several square miles of managed and natural wetlands, fields, and woodland, and supports vast numbers of migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, and songbirds in season. It also hosts Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Sandhill Cranes, King Rails, Black Terns, both bittern species, and many other choice birds during the nesting season, and a major population of Bald Eagles year-round. During the month of May, Ottawa may be overshadowed by its next-door neighbor, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, but local birders know that the refuge offers fine birding practically every day of the year. Last year I talked to some visitors who said they didn't bird the refuge much because they weren't sure where to go. Of course that info is always available at the refuge Visitors' Center for anyone who goes and asks; but to make it easier for birders to plan trips and make the most of their visits, I've drawn a series of "birding maps" of Ottawa NWR. One map is a general overview of the main unit of the refuge, one gives more detail on the Auto Tour route, and the third is more of a close-up of the walking trails near the Visitors' Center and elsewhere in the eastern part of the refuge's main unit. Each of these maps is accompanied by a page of notes. These are all available online for free downloading, and you may be able to print each map and its associated notes as a two-sided document to take along if you like. These maps (and others for some other local sites) are available for free through the Birding Pages of the Black Swamp Bird Observatory. Go to http://www.bsbo.org/birding/ and follow the links for "Birding Hotspots: Directions and Maps." The members of the Ottawa NWR staff that I've met are terrific people, dedicated and hard-working. Special thanks to Rebecca Hinkle and Ron Huffman, who took time out from busy schedules to give me lots of information and advice for the maps. Any errors that remain are my responsibility, however. The Auto Tour route on Ottawa is scheduled to be open this Saturday, April 18, from 9 to 4. Saturday is supposed to be warm and mostly clear, and -- as I predicted elsewhere on the BSBO Birding Pages ( http://cranecreekbirding.blogspot.com/ ) -- it looks as if there may be a significant arrival of migrants on Saturday morning in this area. If you're trying to decide where to go birding this weekend, it would be worth considering Ottawa NWR and other nearby areas such as Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area, East Harbor State Park, and Maumee Bay State Park. No, the big warbler flights aren't around yet, but some of their advance scouts may show up this weekend, and there are plenty of the earlier migrants here. 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]