Last night before sunset I visited Miami Whitewater Wetlands (aka Shaker Trace Wetlands), arriving at about 6:15 pm and leaving by about 7:15 pm. Lots of Song Sparrows and Swamp Sparrows actively calling and some Song Sparrows still singing when I left at dusk. I briefly looked for Nelson's Sharp-tailed and LeConte's Sparrows without success. I just read with great interest the discussions on Ohio Birds about how and where to find these sparrows. Particularly, the discussion about finding LeConte's in similar habitat to that used by Sedge Wren's. Last night, just as I was leaving, I walked the mowed path used for banding this fall by David Russell of Miami University Ohio. This path goes south from the Farm Road along the eastern edge of the wetland. I heard two Sedge Wrens calling on the west side of this path, between the path and the wetland. The call note is one or two short sharp "chip" notes, almost exactly like the introductory notes of the song. These introductory notes sound to me like, "Tick Tick" which are followed by the rapid and lower pitched chattering notes. The first bird was about 50-75 feet south of the Farm Road and the other was right by the intersection of this banding path and the Farm Road. Sedge Wrens were also present in late summer this year in this slighter higher elevation area of grassland east of the wetland. Given the discussion about finding LeConte's in Sedge Wren habitat, this looks like a good place to look for LeConte's this weekend. I plan to do so. Also present last night were 3 Greater Yellowlegs in the growing puddle in the north end of the wetland. This area could also produce Long-billed Dowitcher as has occurred in past fall seasons here. I flushed one Wilson's Snipe along the Farm Road, but there should be more as reported on the Cincinnati Bird Club Field Trip last weekend. NOTE: This wetland has undergone some management activities to reduce the invasive cattails and willows, The willows have been removed and the cattails have been mowed. This will actually improve shorebird habitat for next spring by creating more edge, as has occurred in the past when this management was completed. However, none of this activity has chased away the Sedge Wrens. In past years there was a lot of smartweeds in the wetland. However, I did not see any in my brief visit. Jay Jay G. Lehman Cincinnati, OH [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. 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]