Today Linda and I made a circuit to determine if there is any decent shorebird habitat around. Usually Hoover Reservoir has exposed mudflats by August but with this year's rains the water level at Hoover looks more like spring after the winter thaw. Other than Killdeer in a few parking lots the place is devoid of shorebirds. We first checked Area A of the Delaware Wildlife Area. Activity was sparse in most of the area and the water levels are high. The most active location was along Leonarburg Road from the dike on the east side to the rise just before Panhandle Road. The water level in the wetland is too high for shorebirds. The only shorebirds found were Killdeer in the fields. We did find a hot spot that ran from the dike westward to the beginning of the open fields. This area produced a family of Common Yellowthroats, both adults and 5 fledglings. One fledgling almost flew into us as it made short flights between two thickets. Mixed in with the Yellowthroats were a Yellow-throated Vireo, Baltimore Orioles, Orchard Orioles, Gray Catbirds, 2 Red-headed Woodpeckers, and a few Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. As we drove along the road we counted 12 Common Yellowthroat, 5 Yellow Warblers, 8 Eastern Kingbirds, 11 Indigo Buntings and a Dickcissel. As we headed over to US 23 we spotted Wild Turkey in the fields off Panhandle Road. At Killdeer Plains we toured the roads looking for activity in flooded farm fields. Our luck was slightly better than at Delaware but not by much. The most productive area was along Washburn Road. There we locates Killdeer and a few Yellowlegs (sp), Least Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper and Stilt Sandpiper. At Pond 3 there was a single Virginia rail at the edge of the reeds. Also at Pond 3 were a family of Trumpeter Swans (2 adults and 4 cygnets), Pied-billed Grebes, Wood Ducks and a Belted Kingfisher. Along TH-108 there were 3 juvenile Trumpeter Swans, 3 Bald Eagles and 5 Great Egrets. Some other birds of interest we located include 2 Red-headed Woodpeckers, 24 eastern Kingbirds, 15 Horned larks, 11 Yellow Warblers, 16 Common Yellowthroats, 18 Indigo Buntings, 1 Dickcissel and 31 Eastern Meadowlarks. There is a pond next to the egg farm that had much activity near it but between the aroma and hoard of large flies we decided that was a no go. Considering all the flooded farm fields around I thought we would find more shorebirds but we had no such luck. At least it was a pleasant day and Linda got a good meal without the kitchen work. Charlie Bombaci ______________________________________________________________________ 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]