Following up on the avocet reports earlier today: we visited the Hoover Reservoir boardwalk (Hoover Nature Preserve Area M) late this afternoon. Mary spotted the avocet at about 4:30; it was still there, showing no sign of moving, when we left at 4:45. As previously reported by Ken and Julie Davis, the bird was on the small island just SW of the end of the boardwalk. We could not find the semipalmated sandpipers reported earlier, but did have at least 4 spotted sandpipers. Otherwise it was mostly the usual suspects and not too many of those, although an osprey was hanging around, a green heron dropped in to amuse us, and a belted kingfisher gave us an unhappy look from the railing of the boardwalk as we were leaving. The water level still is pretty high for this time of year and shorebird habitat still is in short supply. Let's hope lots of people in Columbus decide to water their lawns..... -- Bill Heck ______________________________________________________________________ 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]