I was in Michigan the last two weeks, so wanted to see how things had changed at the peat pits on Wilderness Rd. in Wayne Co. Before I left, no pumping of the pond had been done by the peat company there. I was out there this morning from 8:15 to 9:45am. That is the best time to be there because it is cooler and because the light is behind you when looking west across the ponds. I was pleased to see that active pumping was going on and the large pond had been about 2/3 drained from what it was 2 wks ago. Good shorebird habitat is there now and it should continue to improve in the next 2 wks. Aside from the regular bird species that can be seen there, I had 12 species of shorebirds, plus one Bonaparte's gull and four Caspian terns. Shorebird species and best estimates of the numbers present are: Black-bellied plover - 1 in partial moult Killdeer - 100+ Semipalmated plover - 15 Greater yellowlegs - 1 Lesser yellowlegs - 18 Solitary sandpiper - 1 Spotted sandpiper - 20 Semipalmated sandpiper -2 Least sandpiper -100+ Pectoral sandpiper - 25 Stilt sandpiper - 3 Short-billed dowitcher - 2 Randy Rowe, Wooster ______________________________________________________________________ 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]