Some context for Ohio's recent shoretages of these birds is provided by the most recent compilation of shorebird population estimates in North America, available at http://www.shorebirdplan.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/ShorePopulationAndresEtAl2012.pdf . Most of these estimates come from the often-remote breeding grounds of these birds, and derive from the demanding and even dangerous work of dedicated shornithologists. A surprising number of the estimated populations have grown; seldom because the birds have burgeoned overall, but usually because increasing efforts and luck have found more of them in places unexplored before. Some of the more accessible and better-known species, whose population estimates are more reliable, offer surprises: killdeers are down, and upland sandpipers are up, for example...go figure. This is enlightening reading, not too technical, and takes you on a trip to the ends of the earth up north, and you need only imagine the polar bears and mosquitoes. It offers a much wider perspective than Ohio's on these world-wandering birds. Bill Whan Cols ______________________________________________________________________ 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]