Jeff Grabmeier, Andy Sewell, Brad Sparks and I birded the northwestern quadrant of the state yesterday. Our first stop was in Wood County, where we found the WESTERN MEADOWLARK singing at Range Line and Cygnet Roads about six miles west of Cygnet. At Oak Openings Metropark at the sand barrens along Girdham Road we had excellent luck with the Oak Openings specialties. We found a CLAY- COLORED SPARROW near the southern end of the rail fence. It wore a rather dull plumage, much drabber than the specimens I’ve seen in North Dakota. On the western side of the road, we found a singing SUMMER TANAGER, a family of BLUE GROSBEAKS, LARK SPARROWS, and GRASSHOPPER SPARROW carrying food. We did the driving tour at Ottawa NWR. We saw a single SNOWY EGRET, a surprisingly scarce showing. Along the tour route, there was shorebird habitat in only one moist soil unit. It held a small, but diverse, group of birds. These were Spotted Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Least Sandpiper Dunlin (2) Short-billed Dowitcher Wilson’s Snipe At Pipe Creek Wildlife Area, there was shorebird habitat in one corner of Unit B, which also held about a dozen SNOWY EGRETS. Unit C had the best habitat and here we saw Spotted Sandpiper Lesser Yellowlegs Semipalmated Sandpiper Stilt Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher. Unit D held too much water for shorebirds, but we did relocate there the previously reported adult LITTLE BLUE HERON. Happy birding, Paul Gardner Columbus, OH ______________________________________________________________________ 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]