I neglected to mention another observation from yesterday: the presence of what could remain as shorebird habitat at Ottawa NWR. The northeasternmost public impoundment (2B) of the refuge has been drawn down, exposing what would, if allowed to persist, locally rare foraging habitat in the form of mudflats, accessible to visitors, for migrant shorebirds in the season to come. This is the impoundment where part of the loop path has been closed because of an eagles' nest, but good viewing of the exposed mudflats would be available on the south, west, and northern pathways. This will be well worth checking over the coming months. I feel sure our wildlife managers have made such important habitat available for sound biological reasons, rather than because of various widely ballyhooed public birding events coming up this spring, and that such commendable practices will continue in the future solely in the interest of shorebird conservation. Bill Whan Columbus ______________________________________________________________________ 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]