I had a great day on the"pond"...It was a bit bigger...and shallower than I remembered, and it threatened rain, but cleared up reall quick. I was eventually able to find the channel and check for any tags on the Godwits. There weren't any tags...so the chance to meet our visitor from 6 years ago fizzled...not that I was really expecting it..but it would have been fun if it had happened. :-D Lots of little peeps out there. I was able to get some pics to get a few IDs but there were far more than I could ID. The Godwits are really far back, but easily viewed by scope. The water is shallow in places but really deep in others. Plus there is a lot of soft silt in places...and leeches. The Godwits were snacking down, and I was trying to not become one. :-D I did have to get out once due to a shallow spot...but other than that it was a good day out on the pond. Best other finds were 2 Western Sandpipers (I got really good looks at the bills and the pecs), 9 Black-crowned Night Herons (mostly juvis, and 2 Least Bitterns. Pics of some of the Godwits here. The first four are from 2008, the rest are from today.: http://www.sjlarue.com/p732913775/h2DD2E614#h2dd2e614 My list from today is below. Have a great Labor Day! Happy Birding, and God Bless! Big Island Wildlife Area--Larue-Prospect Rd. north (Unit B), Marion, US-OH Aug 31, 2014 3:00 PM - 6:30 PM Protocol: Traveling 1.0 mile(s) Comments: Kayaked far right pond to document Hudsonian Godwits. It was shallower than expected, so I stayed in the channel that crosses the pond (lake). 44 species (+1 other taxa) Canada Goose 10 Trumpeter Swan 2 Wood Duck 4 Mallard 10 Pied-billed Grebe 2 Double-crested Cormorant 2 Least Bittern 2 Flushed 2 while kayaking around pond. Great Blue Heron 5 Great Egret 15 Green Heron 1 Black-crowned Night-Heron 9 Turkey Vulture 2 Bald Eagle 1 Red-tailed Hawk 1 Sora 1 heard Common Gallinule 3 heard Black-bellied Plover 5 American Golden-Plover 1 Semipalmated Plover 10 Killdeer 30 Greater Yellowlegs 5 Lesser Yellowlegs 30 Hudsonian Godwit 7 High count of the day was 13, but I was only able to verify 7. Stilt Sandpiper 3 Least Sandpiper 8 Pectoral Sandpiper 8 Western Sandpiper 2 peep sp. 30 Too far away to ID...but small shorebirds. Short-billed Dowitcher 10 Black Tern 5 Mourning Dove 4 Belted Kingfisher 1 Eastern Kingbird 2 Blue Jay 10 American Crow 4 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 2 Tree Swallow 10 Barn Swallow 10 American Robin 2 Gray Catbird 2 European Starling 10 Cedar Waxwing 4 Song Sparrow 2 Red-winged Blackbird 4 American Goldfinch 4 View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S19630049 ______________________________________________________________________ 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.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]