Monday update: LOTS of migrants

Monday, May 7, 2012

Monday update: LOTS of migrants

Monday, May 7, quick update: There is a major increase in activity along the Magee Marsh boardwalk and other spots close to Lake Erie. Last night's winds were not very helpful to the birds but didn't impede their progress much either, and rains near dawn seem to have put down a lot of birds. Numbers of most warbler species, thrushes, and other migrants are much higher today than yesterday. See post below this one for more general details about the week ... but today is very good, so if you can get out between rain showers, it is worth doing.

If you're going in toward the Lodge at Maumee Bay State Park, watch for Bobolink along the entrance road ... a male was doing display flights there a short while ago.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: By the end of this week, will leaves become fully grown; May 8, 2012 at 8:06 PM

Post a Comment

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.

Monday, May 7, 2012