Greetings Birders- There has been three reports of American Woodcocks in Northwest Ohio in the last two days. Doug Vogus had one during the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge monthly census on Sunday that was calling and doing the mating flight at dusk - southeast of the employee parking area. Todd Crail reported a Woodcock calling on Sunday evening at Irwin Prairie, which is located 35 miles west of Ottawa NWR on the west side of Toledo and south of Secor Metropark. According to Greg Links, this is a new record early date for this bird for the Toledo Area. The last early record was Feb 9, 1976. I had a bird in flight tonight in my headlights at Maumee Bay State Park on the road not far from the sledding hill between the two woodlots heading west toward the open field on the west side of the Cottonwoods. Last year I didn't have my FOY Woodcock until March 1st. Just to give you an idea on the difference between the weather last year around this date in February. On February 5, 2011 I shoveled six inches of snow off my driveway. On February 10, 2011, the temperature on my Weather Channel Station outside read -7°F. I am located 1/4 mile from Lake Erie around the corner from Maumee Bay State Park. According to the Weather Channel's website, single digits are not forecasted for the next ten days and either is any snow accumulation. The Woodcocks will be happy! I have to admit, it was a bit strange to hear a Killdeer in Toledo last week in January. Last year I didn't have one until March 9th. It seems like the Red-winged Blackbirds will be singing any day now! I had Horned Larks on the beach at Maumee Bay SP during lunch today. Good Birding! Sherrie Duris Vice President/Field Trip Coordinator Toledo Naturalists' Association ______________________________________________________________________ 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]