John's name might not be familiar to many of you, but if you have ever enjoyed watching shorebirds in the Magee Marsh / Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge region, then you have benefited from his tremendous dedication to habitat conservation. John, along with fellow birder and conservationist Mike Bolton, conducted hundreds of shorebird surveys for Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO). Their work spanned nearly two decades, and the data they collected helped the area achieve Regional Status with the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network; a designation that does much to support continued management for shorebirds and garner funding for conserving more habitat. In 2009, BSBO honored John and Michael for their dedication to conserving Ohio's shorebird habitat with special awards presented at our annual banquet. John will be deeply missed, and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family. Kimberly Kaufman Executive Director Black Swamp Bird Observatory ---------------------------------------- From: "H Thomas Bartlett" <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2013 11:05 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [Ohio-birds] John Szanto, Toledo I realize that this does not meet the criteria of matter on Ohio-Birds, however, it seems to be the sole source for getting this information out to the birding community. On Friday, long-time Toledo birder and one of Ohio's top shorebird specialists, John Szanto, passed away. John had not been well for several months. John and his close friend, Mike Bolton of Columbus had for over 20 years conducted regular shorebirds surveys throughout northwest Ohio. They were responsible for finding and documenting many unusual and uncommon shorebirds and other species of birds. John will be missed. His obituary is at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/toledoblade/obituary.aspx?n=john-szanto&pid =162657175#fbLoggedOut Tom -- H. Thomas Bartlett Tiffin, Ohio [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________ 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]