I spent an hour at Conneaut harbor yesterday afternoon. Highlight was 3 Am. avocets in handsome breeding plumage. Other shorebirds present were: semipalmated plover, killdeers, spotted sandpiper, lesser yellowlegs, and 4 least sandpipers. Water level of L. Erie is way down; the pool area on the spit is dry. Best habitat is along the shore of the spit, where there are a number of sandbars. Lots of soft sand around, so watch out for that. Other birds there included a half-dozen juv. ring-billed gulls, belted kingfisher, bank swallows, and barn swallows. On the drive north to Conneaut I saw 2 Am. kestrels along Rte. 7 in Ashtabula Co. I stopped at Mosquito L. on the way home. The habitat was great there. However, only killdeers and a solitary sandpiper were on the flats. I had the feeling that a raptor or other predator had just spooked all the birds out of that area. At that point I headed home. Craig Holt, Lowellville ______________________________________________________________________ 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]