This morning, in flooded farm fields north of Oak Harbor, n.w. Ohio, I found a flock of 21 Semipalmated Sandpipers. Recent rains have flooded many fields in this area, creating large amounts of temporary habitat, so it was a needle-in-a-haystack coincidence that I happened to see this flock. But the timing isn't unusual. June 10th is well within the period of northward (or "spring") migration for Semipalmated Sandpiper and some other shorebird species. (Indeed, I was a little surprised not to see White-rumped Sandpiper, a classic early-June migrant in this region and a bird that favors flooded fields.) The last of the northbound migrants should pass through here within the next week or two, but then the first of the southbound shorebirds should arrive before the end of June. By early July, if it's a normal year, the "fall" migration of shorebirds will be well under way. But even in the gap between the expected spring and fall migrations, a few non-breeding individual shorebirds of various species are often seen in Ohio -- neither northbound nor southbound, just wandering around. So any time in summer that we happen to pass good shorebird habitat, it's always worthwhile for us to pause and take a look. Kenn Kaufman Oak Harbor, Ohio ______________________________________________________________________ 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]