In northwest Ohio -- the region centered on Magee Marsh and Ottawa Nat'l Wildlife Refuge -- there were literally thousands of people looking at birds over the last long weekend, Thursday through Monday, May 6 - 10. It has been by far the most intense concentration of birding activity in Ohio, one of the most intense on the continent. But even though this is the Biggest Week In American Birding, it hardly registered on the Ohio-birds listserve, probably because everyone here is too busy to post anything! Here's a brief rundown: With unsettled weather and no strong southerly wind flow in the last few days, the migrant traps on the lake shore have not seen a massive arrival of songbird migrants. But the diversity has been outstanding, and the cool and windy conditions have mostly kept the birds down low. On the Magee Marsh boardwalk and in the woods at Ottawa NWR and Metzger Marsh, birders have been getting the kinds of point-blank eye-level views of warblers for which this region is famous. About 30 species of warblers have been reliably reported from the Magee boardwalk over the last 5 days, with highlights including multiple Golden-winged Warblers almost every day, multiple Mourning Warblers on Monday, Pine Warbler from Saturday on, Kentucky, Hooded, and Worm-eating warblers just before the weekend, Prothonotary Warblers actively nest-building, and so on. For the many beginning birders who flock to the boardwalk, stunners like Blackburnian, Cape May, Black-throated Blue, Bay-breasted, and Black-throated Green warblers have been just as much of a draw. Professional bird guides from Tropical Birding are in town again this year, volunteering to help Black Swamp Bird Observatory and to take part in the Biggest Week; several of these guides are stationed along the boardwalk at any given time, helping people to spot and identify birds. At Ottawa NWR, refuge staff drew down the entrance pool in advance of the main shorebird migration, and this area held an excellent variety of shorebirds, especially on Sunday and Monday. At least a dozen shorebird species have been reported there, with highlights including multiple White-rumped, Pectoral, Least, and Solitary sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitcher, Semipalmated Plover, and lots of Dunlins in full breeding plumage. A Baird's Sandpiper reported there on Sunday apparently has not been relocated. Wooded areas on the refuge also have been very productive for songbird migrants. At Metzger Marsh, the woodlot at the end of the road held a good diversity of migrants in the early part of the weekend, including at least two Golden-winged Warblers and various other warblers. On Monday, the marsh south of the main road held Black Terns, Yellow-headed Blackbirds, and 9 American White Pelicans. At the moment it is raining in the area, and weather forecasts for the next few days are confusing, but I expect that we'll have another infusion of migrants arriving either Wednesday or Thursday. One of the innovations of the Biggest Week In American Birding is the instantaneous updates on bird sightings being sent out via Twitter. If you're under the age of 30, you already know all about Twitter and you're probably following the sightings already. If not, you can get a peek at the latest by going to http://biggestweekinamericanbirding.com/sightings_update.htm The guides from Tropical Birding (and a few others) are posting these quick updates (not many on this rainy morning, but you can track back to yesterday's, etc) and you can subscribe to get these text messages on your mobile phone. Or if you're in the area, stop by the Black Swamp Bird Observatory or the visitors' center at Ottawa NWR to read the latest Twitter updates off the screens there. 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]