In the area of Magee Marsh / Ottawa Natl Wildlife Refuge / Metzger Marsh, things are changing daily now, with big numbers of waterfowl moving in and moving around. Today I checked out Magee and Metzger, and found some changes already from what Karl Overman had reported yesterday. Metzger Marsh was still more than half frozen, but in the areas of open water I carefully estimated 2800 Redheads, 850 Ring-necked Ducks, 500 Gadwalls, 250 Canvasbacks, 100 N. Pintails, and lesser numbers of ten other duck species. Magee is still mostly frozen, but there was much more open water visible from the causeway today than yesterday, and a decent number of Redheads, Am. Black Ducks, Tundra Swans, and others. Killdeers are still arriving in force; I saw / heard close to 40 today, in half a dozen spots. Red-winged Blackbirds and Com Grackles are increasing in numbers daily, but I was surprised to see no Rusty Blackbirds today. The field on the north side of the road on the way in to Metzger Marsh was one good spot for them last spring; today I carefully checked the Red-wings and grackles in that field and found no Rusties, but there was one male Brewer's Blackbird there. Greg Links has recommended "scanning blackbird flocks in eastern Lucas County in March" to find Brewer's, and it worked today.
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Birding Links
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.
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BLACK SWAMP BIRD OBSERVATORY
13551 W. State Route 2
Oak Harbor, Ohio 43449
419 898-4070
BLACK SWAMP BIRD OBSERVATORY
13551 W. State Route 2
Oak Harbor, Ohio 43449
419 898-4070