I spent Saturday and Sunday mornings at Conneaut. On Saturday the gates were locked at first light and I was told that the sand spit was closed due to fireworks that were to occur that evening. Foot access was still permitted. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because about 6 or 7 of us had the place to ourselves all morning. What an awesome place to bird - If I lived closer I would be there all the time! Saturday's highlights were a flyover Whimbrel and a Merlin that came in off the lake at a blazing fast and impressive speed. Diversity was overall kind of low and didn't exceed ten shorebird species. Sunday's highlights were a single Red knot (6:30 AM and only stuck around about half an hour), 3 Baird's sandpipers, Black-bellied plover and yet another Merlin (this one much darker than Saturday's bird) which came very close to getting a pigeon then pursued a Ring-billed gull! A Great Black-backed gull was present for awhile Sunday too. I photographed a banded Caspian tern on Saturday but cannot discern any numbers on the band. It appears old and worn (a metal band?) and the photos I have actually don't show any numbers at all so perhaps any identification code was on the opposite side of the band. Glen Crippen Burr Oak Lake ______________________________________________________________________ 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]