April 1 seems to have its own joke today with near 80 degrees. Lets' hope for plants and birds alike next week isn't in the 20s. As expected a good movement began today with those short-distance migrants from the southern U.S.. The Lake Erie Marsh Region saw a major movement over night. Fox Sparrows, Golden-crowned Kinglets, flickers, Brown Creepers, Eastern Phoebe, and Slate-colored Juncos all were up in numbers this morning. One bush at the Navarre banding station held 8 Fox Sparrows plus a towhee. 5 phoebes could be seen in one group of 3 trees. The kinglets are mostly males so this is just the beginning. Expect males of most all species to move 1 to 2 weeks ahead of the females as they need to get north and set up territory before the real business at hand gets going. Expect many of the birds that came in last night to leave tonight but there should be many more arriving as this front continues for the next couple of days. Large numbers of Lesser Scaup, Redhead, and a few Common Mergansers are rafting off shore along Magee and Ottawa. Raptors should be good numbers if they are low enough to see. Strong thermals could make them make you forget about "warbler neck" as they rise to the limits of sight. Check farm fields to the south of the marsh reserves for Bonaparte's Gulls. This weekend should be a good time to get out and enjoy a hint of spring and our first migrant songbirds. Mark Shieldcastle Research Director Black Swamp Bird Observatory 13551 W SR 2 Oak Harbor, Ohio 43449 419-898-4070 <http://www.bsbobird.org/> www.bsbobird.org <http://www.ohioyoungbirders.org/> www.ohioyoungbirders.org <http://www.biggestweekinamericanbirding.com/> www.biggestweekinamericanbirding.com Follow BSBO on Facebook! <http://www.facebook.com/bsbobird> www.facebook.com/bsbobird Follow BSBO on Twitter - www.twitter.com/bsbobird ______________________________________________________________________ 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]