Bill (and other members of the listerv): Ottawa NWR does have GREAT numbers of shorebirds right now, and you are all welcome to come visit the refuge anytime. Our staff or volunteers at the front desk will be happy to direct you to the best possible spots for seeing shorebirds. Refuge management has drawn down unit 2A (on the walking trails, which are open to the public from dawn to dusk) for shorebird management and research. I was out just this morning with a group from Cleveland and we had great birding success. Some of our highlights were: Long and Short-billed Dowitchers Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs Least Sandpipers Semipalmated Sandpipers Semipalmated Plovers Whimbrel Pectoral Sandpiper Wilson's Snipe Stilt Sandpiper Caspian Tern Little Blue Heron You might also check out the refuge's observation deck on Stange Prairie for a great view of Dickcissels and Bobolinks. For a map of the refuge, including our trails, use this link: http://www.fws.gov/midwest/ottawa/documents/OTW2009.pdf Happy birding, everyone! Laura A. Bonneau Visitor Services Specialist U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge 14000 West State Route 2 Oak Harbor, Ohio 43449 (419) 898-0014 www.fws.gov/midwest/ottawa Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]> Sent by: Ohio birds <[log in to unmask]> 07/24/2009 10:26 AM Please respond to Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]> To [log in to unmask] cc Subject [Ohio-birds] ONWR Shorebirds I received this message: "I spoke with Tom Bartlett last night, who is banding shorebirds at Ottawa now, 300 yesterday.> > He said that there are 1500+ shorebirds at Ottawa now, including > a whimbrel and a willet." I'm sorry there are no details about locations (probably off-limits to the public), or about numbers of species, etc., but thought I'd send this along if nothing else than an additional heads-up that shorebirds are moving in good numbers now. For some additional news from the north, see the post from Jean Iron at http://www.birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/SHOR.html . Bill Whan Columbus ______________________________________________________________________ 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] ______________________________________________________________________ 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]