I made a few stops around the north end of Hoover Reservoir the last 2 days, and watched as the ice shelf receded around much of the shoreline. On Thursday, a visit to the Galena Boardwalk found a far lead & shelf offshore that was crowded with a large flock of Canada Geese (est. 2500+ birds). I looked through them briefly, but saw little that could be IDed at the large distances involved. A check at Oxbow Island this afternoon found the shelf much smaller around the island, with small groups of Canada Geese all around. Mixed in with them were 6-8 Hooded Mergansers, 5 Common Mergansers, 4 Common Goldeneye, and about 20+ Ruddy Ducks. As the rain this weekend further speeds the melting, Hoover might be a good bet for waterfowl activity. Be aware that Oxbow is closed to vehicle traffic. ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]