While certainly not finished, it appears that the backbone of old man winter may be bending considerably. Waterfowl courtship flights can be seen over the marshes and the first Killdeer have shown up in the fields adjacent to Magee Marsh WA and Ottawa NWR. Dozens of Red-winged Blackbirds have set up territories across the marsh with there heart warming song of spring. Crow migration has started with one flock of 48 birds seen this morning. A far cry from the astounding migration of 30 years ago when 500 birds passing every 10 minutes could be counted for hours on end. With a continued warm up predicted over the next few days, watch for the beginning of hawk migration along the lake shore and an increase in blackbirds and waterfowl numbers and diversity. 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]