Following up Charlie Bombaci's report, plus searching for the Little Blue Heron, I spent the morning up at the north end of Hoover Reservoir. As Charlie had pointed out, the mudflats here are fairly extensive, auguring a good shorebird season this year, though the windstorm last month blew down lots of snags. Early migration is already in full swing, with lots of shorebirds, swallows, kingbirds, and Yellow Warblers. I stopped at Oxbow Island, Wiese Rd, the boardwalk in Galena, the Eastside Yacht Club flats, and the Sunbury causeway (where the Little Blue was still lurking). Notables included: Mute Swan - at least 1 adult was hanging around Oxbow Island. cormorants - perhaps 100 over the entire reservoir, all Double-crested Great Blue Herons - I had 42 total in about 2 hours of flats patrol Great Egret - 11 total, with 8 of them off the Galena boardwalk Little Blue Heron - this white juvenile was still fishing along the flats north of the Sunbury causeway Turkey Vultures - a flock of 45 was roosting in the trees west of the Sunbury causeway Osprey - 8 birds, with 4 hanging around the boardwalk area Kildeer - 120+ in 2 hours of mudflats walking Semipalmated Plovers - 3 on mudflats near boardwalk Greater Yellowlegs - 1 along edge of bay north of Yacht Club Lesser Yellowlegs - 8 scattered over many locations on mudflats Solitary Sandpiper - 3, with 2 of those at Yacht Club flats Spotted Sandpiper - 8-9, showing their early migrant pattern Pectoral Sandpiper - 25, mostly in small groups at several locations Semipalmated Sandpipers - 12, in small #s at several locations, mostly off the boardwalk Least Sandpipers - 10, nearly all on flats near the boardwalk Caspian Terns - 25, with 22 of those resting on the gravel bar where Charlie had reported them Red-headed Woodpeckers - single adults on flats-edge snags at both Wiese Rd and the boardwalk Cliff Swallows - 40-50, with some still feeding nestlings at the Galena bridge. Tree Swallows - 2 at Sunbury causeway Bank Swallows - 1-2 along flats off Wiese Rd Barn Swallows - 30+, mostly flitting around grassy flats north of yacht club Purple Martin - a roost of 25+ in a tree south of the boardwalk Brown Thrashers - 2-3 along Wiese Rd didn't breed there, but may have wandered from nearby territories. Eastern Kingbirds - 8-10 over the course of the morning, mostly in trees along the edge of the mudlfats Yellow warblers - 5-6 birds at different locations, including 2 juveniles at the end of Oxbow Island Indigo Buntings - surprisingly common, with singers at many locations next to mudflats Baltimore Oriole - 1 male on Oxbow Island early, then flew off to south ______________________________________________________________________ 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]