We have made some changes to the eBird Hot Spots at and near Magee Marsh Wildlife area. http://ohioebirdhotspots.wikispaces.com/Magee+Marsh In preparation for the Biggest Week in American Birding we have found that birders sometimes have chosen to submit checklists which are from the Boardwalk at hot spots associated with Turtle Creek. When we had those named as sub-locations of the refuge, birders using programs like BirdLog often found the Turtle Creek sub-locations listed first when they search for hot spots from Port Clinton or Oak Harbor. So we have separated the Turtle Creek hot spots from the refuge. There are now two hot spots to report checklists for the Turtle Creek estuary: http://ohioebirdhotspots.wikispaces.com/Turtle+Creek+Estuary Turtle Creek estuary--OH-2 bridge Please do not park on OH-2, but use the parking area west of the bridge on OH-2 Turtle Creek estuary--Lemon Rd. Bridge (This hot spot was formerly named Lemon Rd. @ Zenser Rd.) There is a bridge across the estuary on Lemon Rd. where it intersects with Duff-Washa Rd. and Zenser Rd. West of this bridge the estuary may be viewed from either Duff-Washa Rd. or Zenser Rd. Zenser Rd. has much less traffic. When conditions are right the exposed mudflat east of the Lemon Rd. bridge often hosts shorebirds. While the mudflat is best viewed from Duff-Washa Road there are No Parking signs posted there. Please park on Lemon Rd. across the bridge and walk to Duff-Washa Road. We have added (restricted access) to two hot spot which currently do not have public access: Duff-Washa Rd. Wetlands (restricted access) Turtle Creek Bay (restricted access) Please note that, because Magee Marsh Wildlife Area has sections in Lucas and Ottawa counties, there is no "general" hot spot for the whole refuge. You must separate your checklists by county. It is better practice to make separate checklists for the various hot spots within the refuge. You may use Magee Marsh Wildlife Area--Boardwalk to report checklists from the boardwalk itself or from the woods edge along the south side of the parking lot. The county line crosses the causeway near the second pull off south of Lake Erie . There are interpretive signs about birds you might see on the west side of the of the causeway very near the county line. See the link at the top of this message for more information on how the hot spots at Magee are organized. Ken Ostermiller eBird Hot Spot reviewer for Ohio ______________________________________________________________________ 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]