In intriguing news, a Nature Conservancy project seems to link parallel benefits to both farmers and migrant shorebirds by deliberately flooding agricultural lands. See a news media story at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37191750/ns/us_news-environment/from/ET Readers who birded sky-ponds in the farm fields south of the public properties in NW Ohio this spring will instantly recognize the value of this habitat for shorebirds. The larger news is that this can be a boon to farmers as well. Think of the Benton-Carroll property before it was acquired by ONWR. There is much to be learned. Do shorebirds use ponded fields merely as stopovers to rest, or are there sufficient food sources? Or harmful chemicals? Will farmers and public agencies alike be willing to try this in their fields? 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]