Weather / migration update 5/18

Friday, May 18, 2007

Weather / migration update 5/18

Discussing the state of migration in northwest Ohio, just last night I wrote that I didn't expect any south winds to bring in waves of migrants before next week. Well, around here, the weather predictions change as often as the weather, which is saying a lot. They're now calling for the winds to switch around to the southwest tonight (Friday May 18) and stay southwest or west-southwest through Saturday and Saturday night. So I expect there will be a lot of turnover -- the birds that have been here for several days may leave, but I expect there will be new ones coming in as well. Today I was still finding things like Tennessee Warbler and Veery scattered at small woodlots well inland, but I would guess that tomorrow the migrants may be more concentrated close to the lake.

Crane Creek, Magee Marsh, Black Swamp: where are we?

Birders all over North America have heard of "the boardwalk at Crane Creek" as a fabulous place to see migrants, while locals more often refer to "the Magee boardwalk." The confusion is understandable. The famous boardwalk is actually on the Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, while the adjacent beach and half the parking lot were until recently part of Crane Creek State Park; the latter areas were turned over to the Ohio Division of Wildlife on May 1, 2008. The creek itself --Crane Creek--flows into Lake Erie just west of the boardwalk, on Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. Our bird observatory is named for the Great Black Swamp, which used to cover much of northwestern Ohio and northeastern Indiana. On these pages I refer to "the Crane Creek -Magee Region" as a general term for the Lake Erie shoreline between Toledo and Sandusky, Ohio.

Friday, May 18, 2007

Weather / migration update 5/18

Birding Links

Crane Creek, Magee Marsh, Black Swamp: where are we?

Blog Archive