Without going any farther east than the ponds in Bellev Birders- Without going any farther east than the ponds in Bellevue, Ohio, I was able to tally up twenty species of shorebirds in Northwest Ohio this last week. I never made it out to Lorain or Conneaut this year, but hopefully this side will keep producing, especially during the Midwest Birding Symposium this coming weekend! In the last two weeks the lake beach at Maumee Bay State Park has had Semipalmated Plovers, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpipers, Ruddy Turnstones, Red Knots, Sanderlings, Semipalmated, Least, Baird's, and Pectoral Sandpipers, and a single Buff-breasted Sandpiper. On Saturday a flooded field on Corduroy Road in Oregon between Lallendorf & Wynn Roads yielded two Buff-breasted Sandpipers amongst dozens of Killdeer and Horned Larks. Impoundments MS 5 & MS 6 were productive for shorebirds last Tuesday at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. During some scouting I did for a field trip, I had an American Avocet, Red Knot, Baird's Sandpipers, and a single Black-bellied Plover amongst the other peeps that day. On Saturday morning, John Szanto and I led a shorebird field trip for the Toledo Naturalists' Association at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. MS 6 was flooded and MS 5 was void of any shorebirds except for three Long-billed Dowitchers. The habitat was right, but no birds in sight. Though this area is closed to the public, it will be opened for the auto tour this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (September 16, 17, and 18) during the Midwest Birding Symposium. Our group decided to head to Bellevue ponds after Ottawa on Saturday. One of the ponds north of Rt.20 on CR 205 had four Red-necked Phalaropes, and another south of Rt.20 on CR 34 had roughly 164 American Golden Plovers and a Short-billed Dowitcher amongst other peeps. It appears this area should still be productive next weekend and worth checking out. My list for Tuesday & Saturday's shorebirding... Black-bellied Plover American Golden Plover Semipalmated Plover Killdeer American Avocet Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Solitary Sandpiper Spotted Sandpiper Ruddy Turnstone Red Knot Sanderling Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Baird's Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Buff-breasted Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher Long-billed Dowitcher Red-necked Phalarope I am looking forward to seeing all my birding peeps at the MBS this weekend! Good Birding! Sherrie Duris Webmaster/Field Trip Coordinator Toledo Naturalists' Association www.toledonaturalist.org http://www.facebook.com/sherrieduris ______________________________________________________________________ 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]