Hi Folks - My dad and I hit Funk Bottoms and Killbuck Wildlife Area (and Overton Ponds) in the pleasant morning hours; picking up 56 species quite easily. As others have noted before, Funk is quite dry, with only relatively small patches of standing water in the agricultural fields. Duck numbers, in turn, were low. Highlights for the day included our first BROAD-WINGED HAWK of the year, circling high and streaming over Killbuck, 3 rusty Sandhill Cranes, decent numbers of Rusty Blackbirds, some 'summer color' with 2 Great Egrets, and a handful of shorebirds (see below). Waterfowl highlights (both regions combined) Green-winged Teal ~40 Blue-winged Teal ~60 American Wigeon - 2 Northern Shoveler - 6 Ring-necked Duck - 25 Lesser Scaup - 18 American Black Duck - 2 Northern Pintail - 35 Overton Ponds Common Loon - 2 in breeding plumage Ruddy Duck - 1 male in breeding plumage Bonaparte's Gull - 25 Funk was certainly not as productive overall as was Killbuck. Shorebirds at Killbuck included scattered yellowlegs throughout the marshes, with a larger concentration including at least 20+ Greater Yellowlegs and 30+ Lesser Yellowlegs, as well as ~10 Pectoral Sandpipers. Eastern Meadowlarks are on territory, and Field Sparrows (2) helped the spring vibe. Tree Swallows are back enforce, and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (2) were found at Killbuck, as well. We came up empty handed on snipe today, which we thought was quite odd. Cheers Jen Jen Brumfield Akron, Ohio [log in to unmask] Birding America / www.birding-america.com Illustrator/Naturalist, Cleveland Metroparks Nikon Birding Optics ProStaff/ nikonusa.com Editorial Advisor, A Bird's-Eye View / ABA personal site: www.meadowhawkart.com "Journeys, like artists, are born and not made. A thousand differing circumstances contribute to them, few of them willed or determined by the will." - Lawrence Durrell "Blessed are the curious for they shall have adventure." - L. Drachman _________________________________________________________________ Interest Rates Fall Again! $430,000 Mortgage for $1,399/mo - Calculate new payment http://www.lowermybills.com/lre/index.jsp?sourceid=lmb-9632-18679&moid=7581 ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. 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]