Pre-dawn finds this morning in the wetlands in this park included five spp frogs, woodcocks, and later the following water-loving birds: 60 Canada geese, 12 Am black ducks, 55 mallards, 10 blue-winged teals, 8 northern shovelers, 6 northern pintails, 8 ring-necked ducks, 9 lesser scaups, 12 buffleheads, six ruddy ducks, 12 pied-billed grebes, 4 horned grebes, 3 great blue herons, ~200 Am coots. We also found 3 lesser yellowlegs, and a couple of tree swallows. Sparrows included tree, song, and savannahs. Unusually early was a brown thrasher--in the prairie--and two singing marsh wrens were a treat (quite possibly wintered here; if a pair results it will be the first nest in many a year in the county). Boots to hold off 3-4 inches of water are recommended. This new habitat's second year should be as interesting as its first. All the frogs were new. No fish were evident. The ponds were brimful, and scattered wet spots were spread across the prairie; the latter would be good for long-legged waders; this spring's shorebird variety will not match last's....but fall's could be even better than last year...we'll see. This will be the wetlands' first spring in more than a century as anything but cropland, and it'll get riper quickly. 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]