Birding the Crane Creek - Magee Region of Northwest Ohio

Two Snowy Owls in Wood County

2011-12-24T01:14:00.000-05:00

We previously mentioned that a Snowy Owl was present in Wood County, Ohio, near the city of Bowling Green. Now there are two present there, and both were seen on December 23rd.

The first one, first found on December 12, is southwest of Bowling Green. Most of the sightings have been in the general area of Cygnet Road (Township Hwy 3) and Otsego Pike (State Route 235). Cygnet Road runs east - west, and crosses Interstate 75 about eight miles south of Bowling Green. Otsego Pike is about 6 to 7 miles west of Interstate 75. The bird was seen today (Friday Dec. 23) both north and south of Cygnet Road, near Otsego Pike.

The second one, found on December 21 by Tom Kemp, is northwest of Bowling Green. It's along State Route 64 (Haskins Road) near its intersection with Hannah Road, only a couple of miles outside of BG. It has been seen on both the east side and west side of SR 64, and north of Hannah Road half a mile west of 64. This individual also was seen today (Dec. 23).

Just a little outside our area, a Great Gray Owl was found Friday, Dec. 23, just west of Point Pelee, Ontario. Apparently this is a first record for Essex County, and it's a LOT closer to Ohio than Great Grays are usually found. These directions are from Sarah Rupert, starting from Leamington, the town closest to the entrance to Point Pelee National Park: "From Leamington, take County Rd 20 (Seacliff Drive) west through Kingsville. You'll pass Pleasant Valley Campground on the north, the next road is McCain Side Road. Turn north on McCain and continue down the road approx 2 km. You'll see address marker 1643 on the west side of the road, the bird was last seen at the north end of that property along the edge of a farm field. We watched the bird until we lost the light. It was actively feeding throughout the time I was watching it and we're hoping it might stick around."

For updates on the latter, check the Ontario birding listserve: http://www.birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/ONTB.html

Best of success to anyone who decides to look for any of these birds, and please remember to keep a respectful distance from the owls and to respect the private property of local landowners.

Snowy Owl in Wood County, Ohio

2011-12-16T11:28:00.000-05:00

Late fall / early winter 2011 has been marked by a major influx of Snowy Owls into the north-central U.S., with scores of individuals reported around the western Great Lakes. Only a few individuals have been found in Ohio so far, but one is being seen currently not far from our immediate area: in Wood County, just southwest of Bowling Green.

As reported on the "RareBird" forum, the owl was first found on December 12 by Mark (last name not given) and has been seen several times since. Most of the sightings have been in the general area of Cygnet Road (Township Hwy 3) and Otsego Pike (State Route 235). Cygnet Road runs east - west, and crosses Interstate 75 about eight miles south of Bowling Green.

The owl has been seen perched atop telephone poles a few times, but more often it has been seen sitting on the ground out in open fields, often some distance from the road, so a telescope is useful for getting good looks. If you go to look for this bird, please do not approach it closely. Snowy Owls that come this far south are often stressed and hungry, and we must not do anything to add to their stress.

As of about 10:30 a.m. on Friday, December 16, Ben Warner reported that the owl was being seen off Cygnet Road, southwest of its intersection with Otsego Pike. It was about 500 yards out in a corn stubble field.

Rusty Blackbirds: Northwest Ohio is important to their survival

2011-11-04T00:38:00.000-04:00

Rusty Blackbird at the BSBO passerine banding station at Navarre Marsh, Ottawa NWR, in October 2011. With their rich rusty feather edges, these fall birds are easier to pick out and identify than they will be in spring, when the edges are largely worn away. Photo by Julie A. Shieldcastle.

On the afternoon of Thursday Nov. 3, Paul Baicich and I encountered good numbers of Rusty Blackbirds at Magee Marsh. While walking the trails behind the Sportsmen's Migratory Bird Center we had several flocks of 15 to 50 birds each; I estimated a total of about 270 Rusties in the area. Later, stopping by the Black Swamp Bird Observatory half a mile to the south, I saw another 40 or so in the woods near the building.

Numbers like these are not at all unusual for this immediate area; in early spring and late fall, we frequently see well over 1000 Rusty Blackbirds in a day. Elsewhere in the range of the species, however, such counts are becoming increasingly rare. There is serious concern about the status of Rusty Blackbird, which evidently has suffered a major population decline in recent decades. (For more information, see this link.)

Northwestern Ohio is among the few remaining areas of the continent where large concentrations of Rusty Blackbirds still can be found consistently during migration. It's likely that this region always was important to the species. In centuries past, a vast area of northwest Ohio was occupied by the Great Black Swamp and the western Lake Erie marshes, and these wetlands would have provided perfect stopover habitat for Rusty Blackbird when the species was still abundant. Now the wetlands and the Rusty Blackbird population are both greatly diminished, but the species still concentrates here in what remains of the habitat. Particularly good swampy woods and marsh edges can be found on several areas administered by the Ohio DNR - Division of Wildlife, such as Magee Marsh, Metzger Marsh, Mallard Club, Toussaint, Little Portage, Pipe Creek, Pickerel Creek, Resthaven, and Willow Point. Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge also has outstanding habitat, and the large contiguous area made up of Ottawa, Magee, and Metzger may be especially valuable. Two Ohio state parks, Maumee Bay and East Harbor, also hold significant numbers of Rusty Blackbirds during migration. Birders should recognize the value of all of these protected areas to the survival of this declining species, and show our support for the agencies responsible for these lands.

For birders who lack experience with Rusty Blackbirds, this is the best time of year to get to know them. They're easy to identify right now, as virtually all show very strong rusty feather edges (by spring, with those edges largely worn away, most will be dull black or blackish gray, and more likely to be overlooked). Although flocks may be seen feeding in open fields, they concentrate in swampy woods. Flocks in flight are often silent, not noisy like Common Grackles or Red-winged Blackbirds; they tend to be in looser flocks than either of those two species, and they are shorter-tailed than grackles. They may associate with other blackbirds or with starlings, but they tend to maintain their own sub-flocks within larger groups. When they are among large numbers of other blackbirds, their distinctive, creaking "kssh-dleeee" is often the first giveaway that Rusty Blackbirds are present.

Ottawa NWR auto tour Oct. 9: Shorebird bonanza

2011-10-07T22:59:00.008-04:00

Hudsonian Godwit in fading juvenile plumage at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, Ohio, on October 7, 2011. The dark face is typical of many Hudsonian Godwits at this season, but it's purely temporary, caused by probing in deep mud with their long bills. Ottawa NWR is the best place in Ohio to see this uncommon species. Photo by Kenn Kaufman.

News update: the auto tour at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge (Lucas / Ottawa counties, n.w. Ohio) is going to be open this Sunday, October 9, from 8 to 4. I surveyed parts of the auto tour route this morning (Friday October 7) with Laura Bonneau of the refuge staff; I was very impressed with the numbers and diversity of shorebirds present, and wanted to share some information about them.

The main concentration of shorebirds on the refuge now is on the impoundment called MS 5. (For those who aren't familiar with the refuge auto tour, see our map on the BSBO birding pages under "Birding hotspots: directions and maps." MS 5 is a very large area, with patches of open water and mudflats and emergent vegetation, so it isn't even remotely possible to view the whole impoundment from any one spot. Flocks of shorebirds move around a lot, with some apparently moving out to the Crane Creek estuary part of the time. There is good viewing of various patches of habitat all along the south and east edges of MS 5, but on Sunday that section of road probably won't be open, in which case it will be necessary to park near the southeast corner of MS 4 and walk in along the south side -- carrying a spotting scope, since many of the birds will be quite distant. But for those who are willing to make the effort, this could be richly rewarding.

The shorebirds on the refuge right now include good numbers of several species that aren't common in the experience of most Ohio birders. Jason Lewis, the bird-savvy manager of Ottawa NWR, told me that MS 5 held a lot of Hudsonian Godwits, and he wasn't kidding: I estimated at least 80 birds, and at one point I counted 52 visible at once. Ottawa is probably the best place in Ohio for this uncommon species. The birds that I saw today all looked like juveniles, mostly gray with subtle buff edgings, but they have the same flashy flight pattern and distinctive calls as the adults.

Also notably numerous today were American Golden-Plovers (estimated at least 180, with 140 visible simultaneously at one point; all seen closely were juveniles); Black-bellied Plover (at least 60, mostly juveniles); Long-billed Dowitcher (at least 55; all seen closely were juveniles; no Short-billeds identified today); Stilt Sandpiper (at least 45, mostly juveniles); and White-rumped Sandpiper (at least 22, mostly juveniles). I estimated at least 500 Dunlins in the area, many of these seen only in flying flocks, but those seen closely included an interesting mix of plumages: some adults essentially in winter plumage, some adults in worn and faded remains of breeding plumage, and many juveniles beginning to molt into first-winter plumage. We seldom get to see Dunlins in full juvenile plumage south of the Arctic, but some individuals seen today were close to that stage, with only a few obvious gray replaced scapulars. So right now is a superb time to study interesting plumages and uncommon species of shorebirds.

Although we tallied 21 species of shorebirds, these didn't include anything really rare. The only notable species, aside from those mentioned already, were Marbled Godwit (one), Wilson's Phalarope (two), and Red-necked Phalarope (one). (Also in a deeper section of MS 5 were three American White Pelicans.) Given the sheer numbers and variety of shorebirds present, I wouldn't be at all surprised if some genuine rarity turns up this weekend.

I want to point out that creating shorebird habitat in a huge impoundment like MS 5 is no small challenge -- it's not as easy as raising or lowering the water level in a small pond. Refuge manager Jason Lewis and his staff went to considerable effort to ensure that Ottawa NWR would have good stopover habitat for shorebirds during this migration period; they had to overcome some setbacks, including the major flooding rains that hit this area in September. If you take advantage of the opportunity to go see these birds on Sunday, you might stop and thank any refuge staff people that you see, to let them know that we birders appreciate their efforts. The refuge is planning to hold their "Big Sit" count on Sunday, somewhere near the start of the auto tour, and Jason Lewis probably will be out there taking part in it for much of the day, so this would be a good opportunity for you to stop and say hello -- of course he's a dedicated professional, but he's also a friendly guy and a keen birder, a real asset to the Ohio birding community.

Weekend Outlook, Sept. 15-18

2011-09-15T13:17:00.000-04:00

Thursday, September 15: It looks like we’ve gotten very lucky with the weather for the Midwest Birding Symposium (MBS). For the next four days there is very little chance of rain, and a big arrival of migrants has just moved in with the north winds, so there should be a lot of birds to watch under pleasant conditions between now and Monday.

We had strong winds out of the south through much of Tuesday, but winds shifted around toward the north that night, and in the time since, many warblers and other migrants have moved into the area. I made a quick check of Meadowbrook Marsh on Wednesday afternoon, and found several small groups of migrants moving along the woodland edge. This site, and all the other MBS birding sites, should offer fine birding from now through Sunday. Reports from this morning indicate that warblers are numerous at the Magee Marsh boardwalk right now. I expect a fair amount of turnover for the next couple of days, and then Saturday night the winds will shift more toward east and southeast, so whatever is around on Saturday will probably stay through Sunday also.

For people who are driving in to Lakeside for the MBS, and coming from the east or west, here are a couple of spots to consider that are NOT official MBS birding sites. They might be worth hitting on the way to or from Lakeside. From east to west, they are:

1. Sheldon Marsh. This state natural area east of Sandusky is often a very good warbler trap in fall. During the first Lakeside MBS in 1997, I led field trips there, and it turned out to be an excellent spot for talking about warbler ID because we were getting good looks at so many. It’s not one of the official sites this time, but if you want to stop there on your own, Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO) has a birding map for the area.

2. Resthaven Wildlife Area. This site south of Sandusky Bay has a mix of ponds and woods, and it often holds a lot of songbird migrants in spring and fall. Mark Shieldcastle, BSBO’s Research Director, suggested that the winds of the last couple of days were likely to make this a very productive spot right now. A map and some information can be found at this link.

3. Metzger Marsh. Another area administered by Ohio’s Division of Wildlife, this site lies just west of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. BSBO has a birding map of the area, available through the website. Many waterbirds are often visible along the causeway on the drive in. At the end of the road, the small woodlot often has concentrations of songbird migrants. The beach and the concrete fishing pier may have interesting gulls, terns, or shorebirds if there aren’t too many people around.

4. Maumee Bay State Park. Farther west on the way to Toledo, this park on the Lake Erie shoreline is reached by following Curtice Road 2.5 miles north from State Route 2 (and it’s well marked by road signs). Once inside the park, follow the signs for the beach. At the end of the road there is both a Lake Erie beach and an inland beach, and either or both may have many gulls and terns and a scattering of odd shorebirds. This is one of the more consistent sites in n.w. Ohio for Red Knot, and other species seen there recently include Baird’s Sandpiper and Buff-breasted Sandpiper. Maumee Bay also has a fine wooded areas for songbird migrants; follow the signs for the Nature Center to get to one good spot. Brian Zwiebel reports that the park had excellent numbers and variety of warblers this morning, including Hooded Warbler, rare here in fall.

5. Finally, farther afield in southeast Michigan, the Detroit River Hawk Watch is the best area nearby to witness the fall migration of birds of prey. On days with northwest winds, hundreds or even thousands of hawks may be seen passing overhead at Lake Erie Metropark and other nearby sites. For more information, go to their website. From Lakeside this would be at least a two-hour drive, so if you go during the Symposium you should plan to miss the rest of the day’s activities. But you could stop there on the way to or from Lakeside if your travels take you in that general direction. At this point, it looks like today, tomorrow, and Saturday should all have decent potential for hawk flights, while Sunday’s southeast winds probably won’t make for good hawk viewing there. But if the weather prediction for Sunday changes, keep this in mind.

And if you'd like to see a long list of other birding sites in northwestern and north-central Ohio, go to the BSBO birding pages and scroll way down the page that is at this link.

Meanwhile, back at the sites closer to Lakeside – the birding should be great for the next four days! We’ll hope to see many of you out in the field, or at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory / Kaufman Field Guides booth at the vendor hall.

Ottawa NWR auto tour: update

2011-09-13T20:14:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, September 13: This morning I had a chance to cover the auto tour route at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge with the Manager, Jason Lewis, and several members of his staff. As many birders are aware, the auto tour will be open for three days this weekend – Friday September 16 through Sunday September 18, from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. In addition to his other areas of expertise, Jason Lewis is a keen birder, and he decided to have the three-day auto tour as a special concession to the Midwest Birding Symposium happening this weekend.

Jason and his staff also have been working to have some areas of prime shorebird habitat close to the auto tour route. These efforts suffered a setback last Thursday night, when an exceptionally heavy rain dumped three to five inches on this area. In addition to flooding my basement, this flooded the impoundment known as MS 5, which had had more than a dozen shorebird species immediately before that. With the abruptly higher water level, most of those birds dispersed. The Refuge staff have been pumping water out of MS 5 and the level is coming down again. We saw a fair number of birds there today, and Jason was optimistic that water levels would be much better for shorebirds again by this weekend.

Here are some notes on the auto tour route. For reference to the sites mentioned, see our map at
http://www.bsbo.org/Birding/pdf/OttawaNWRMap-AutoTour.pdf
The account below will be a lot easier to follow if you look at the map.

1. General: Before or after driving the auto tour, you may want to walk the trails through the woods behind the Visitors’ Center or the woodlot near the start of the auto tour, looking for migrant songbirds. However, you also may see such migrants anywhere on the refuge, so don’t just focus on the water birds. This morning, for example, we saw Tennessee Warbler and other species in trees along the road, and many swallows over the impoundments. Also, watch for Bald Eagles everywhere over the refuge, and keep an eye out for the Peregrine Falcon that has been hunting the area.

2. First part of tour route (see map): runs straight west for two miles past areas called MS 8b, North Woods, Butternut, and MS 7. We didn’t spend much time here today. But toward the west end of this, where you have Stange Prairie on the left and MS 7 on the right, this area can be good for migrant sparrows, especially just a little later in the fall. Might be worth stopping to scan for birds in the roadside brush.

3. At the southwest end of MS 7, the road turns right and runs north for almost a mile, crossing Crane Creek. Don’t stop on the bridge itself, but if you can find a spot to pull off before or after the bridge, the area just north of the bridge on the east side can be good for shorebirds and others. Today it had Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and Snowy Egret, among other birds.

4. A little past the bridge over Crane Creek, the road runs into a T-intersection and the auto tour route turns to the right (east). The area just southwest of this corner, MS 6, holds some good mudflats, and has had good numbers of shorebirds in recent days, although not much was there today. If you look straight ahead (north) at the T-intersection you’re looking at MS 3, a good place to see Common Gallinules (Common Moorhen) and various ducks.

5. Continuing east on the auto tour, in a little over half a mile the main gravel causeway turns north (left) between MS 4 and MS 5. However, as of today Jason Lewis and his staff were discussing having the auto tour loop east all the way around MS 5. That will require a little more maintenance work on the road (they already have graders out working on other parts of the road in preparation for MBS), but it would open up more birding possibilities: MS 5 holds a LOT of birds, and it will have more if they can get the water level drawn back down. Highlights today included Long-billed Dowitchers, Solitary, Pectoral, and Least sandpipers, Semipalmated Plovers, Lesser Yellowlegs, and Common, Forster’s, and Caspian terns. This impoundment also held a fair diversity of ducks, including Northern Pintail, Blue-winged and Green-winged teal, and Northern Shoveler.

6. Whether the auto tour goes all the way east, north, and then west around MS 5, or simply goes north between MS 4 and MS 5, from that point it will go west for a mile and a half to the exit onto Veler Road and back to State Route 2. From there you can turn right to make a quick check of Metzger Marsh (see map here) if you have time, or turn left to loop back toward the refuge Visitors’ Center. If you do the latter, it’s worthwhile to detour down Krause and Stange roads (see map) and watch for birds of open fields. Sandhill Cranes have been seen here several times recently.

If you go to the refuge this weekend, please take a moment to thank someone there for the extra work they have put in for birders. The entire staff has gotten involved in one way or another, and so have many volunteers who work through the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge Association (ONWRA), the independent "friends' group" for the refuge. All of the National Wildlife Refuges are incredibly valuable for bird conservation, whether or not they cater to birders specifically. But when a refuge's manager, staff, and volunteers make an extra effort for birders, we should let them know that it's appreciated.

East Harbor State Park hotspots and migrants, Sept. 10

2011-09-10T23:48:00.005-04:00

Although this photo was taken in spring, the male Black-throated Blue Warbler looks pretty much the same at all seasons, an encouraging point for birders who are apprehensive about "confusing fall warblers." On September 10 I saw at least ten Black-throated Blues at East Harbor. photo by Kenn Kaufman.

Saturday September 10: This afternoon I made a brief check of East Harbor State Park, another of the field trip sites for the Midwest Birding Symposium (MBS), and found very good numbers and variety of migrants. East Harbor SP is on the edge of Lake Erie in Ottawa County, east of Port Clinton and west of Lakeside.

The entrance to East Harbor is on the east side of State Route 269, about a mile north of State Route 163. After entering the park, in a couple of hundred yards, the first left turn will take you to the parking area for the Lockwood picnic shelter. I have always had good luck with migrants in this general area – either in the thickets to the east of the pond and Frisbee-golf course (east of the parking lot), in the woods at the beginning of the Meadow Trail (just west of the parking lot), or in the woods around and to the south of the picnic shelter. This evening the latter area held a concentration of at least 70 small birds. Chickadees, titmice, and nuthatches were the nucleus of the flock, but the majority of the birds (more than 50) were migrants. American Redstart and Magnolia Warbler were the most numerous, and the flock also contained multiples of Cape May, Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, Black-throated Blue, Black-and-white, and other warblers, plus at least three Philadelphia Vireos and several Warbling and Red-eyed vireos. This flock was moving fast and doubling back through the area, and with the heavy overcast of it was a challenge to keep up with the birds and see them well.
(NOTE: According to current plans, the parking lot for Lockwood picnic shelter is one of the spots where the guides will meet participants on Friday and Saturday mornings, Sept. 16 and 17, during the MBS.)

(Incidentally, it was in this area – first part of the southern end of the Meadow Trail – where the Kirtland’s Warbler was found during the Midwest Birding Symposium two years ago. I don’t expect lightning to strike twice here, but I did make a pass through and look at the spot for tradition’s sake.)

To reach the other area where I’ve consistently had good luck with migrants, go in the park entrance and follow the signs straight ahead for the Beach, about a mile to the east. It’s not much of a beach at the moment, but if you turn right and go to the south end of the parking lot, you’ll come to a nice paved path that leads south into the woods paralleling the edge of the lake. The woods here often have flocks of warblers, as they did this afternoon, with multiples of Blackburnian, Wilson’s, Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, and others. Heavily fruiting dogwoods along the path also produced Gray-cheeked and Swainson’s thrushes, several Warbling and Red-eyed vireos, and at least one Philadelphia Vireo. Yellow-bellied and Least flycatchers were in this area also. NOTE: According to current plans, this is the other spot where guides will meet participants on Friday and Saturday mornings, Sept. 16 and 17, during the MBS.

Finally, if you turn left instead of right when you reach the beach and go to the northernmost parking lot, you reach the best vantage point in the park for terns and gulls. A series of four rocky “islands” offshore offer resting spots for birds when people scare them off the beach. Today this area had about 380 Common Terns, 16 Forster’s Terns, 5 Caspian Terns, 82 Bonaparte’s Gulls, 30 Herring Gulls, and 85 Ring-billed Gulls. No unusual species were with them today, but in other years I’ve seen Lesser Black-backed Gull here in September.

Magee Marsh area migrants Sept. 8

2011-09-08T23:50:00.008-04:00

Thursday, September 8: The fall warbler migration is in full swing now, shorebird migration is still going strong, flycatchers and vireos are migrating through, and thrushes are starting to show up in good numbers. It’s a great time of year to be birding in northwest Ohio.

The boardwalk at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area is not as fabulous in fall as it is in spring, but it still can be very good. Today I made a brief visit at midday to see what I could find in the space of an hour, and I came up with 12 warbler species, plus Least and Yellow-bellied flycatchers, Swainson’s Thrush, Red-eyed, Warbling, and Philadelphia vireos, and Yellow-billed Cuckoo. The warblers included multiples of Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, and Tennessee (allowing good practice on these classic “confusing fall warblers”) as well as numbers of American Redstarts and Magnolia and Black-throated Green warblers, plus Nashville, Chestnut-sided, Cape May, Black-and-white, Canada, and Northern Parula. Again, this was just in the space of an hour, and there were undoubtedly other species present. I talked to Ken Grahl, who birds the boardwalk regularly, and he mentioned having seen at least 18 warbler species in the last few days.

As is typical of this time of year, the warblers were strongly concentrated in a few scattered flocks. During today’s hour near the west end of the boardwalk, I ran into only three flocks, and there were essentially no warblers at all in between these flocks. At one point, Ken Grahl and I spent more than ten minutes carefully looking and listening along 50 yards of the boardwalk without finding a single bird, and then we ran into another cluster that included at least a dozen warblers of five species. This pattern of occurrence suggests this strategy: keep moving until you catch some hint of a flock, and then stop and stay with the flock until you’ve seen everything in it.

These migrant flocks often associate with certain resident species. One of today's flocks was associated with Black-capped Chickadees and a White-breasted Nuthatch; another was associated with a couple of Downy Woodpeckers. So watching and listening for these birds can help you to locate the warblers.

While you’re watching for warblers, keep an eye out for dogwoods as well. The Rough-leaved Dogwoods in the Magee area are recognizable now by their clusters of small white fruits, and these fruits are very attractive to vireos and thrushes. It’s often possible to get excellent close looks at Red-eyed, Warbling, or Philadelphia vireos by watching at heavily laden dogwoods.

It’s important to pay attention to wind direction. Most of these small migrants will gravitate to the sheltered side of the woods, out of the wind, where small insects are easier to find. Today, for example, the wind was from the east, and birds were concentrated at the sheltered west end of the boardwalk. For another example: A couple of days ago, on Tuesday the 6th, the wind was strongly out of the north; on that day, relatively few migrants were in the woods near the beach. However, on that day Mark Shieldcastle and Ken Keffer banded eight species of warblers at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory headquarters. On that same day, John Sawvel reported that quite a few warblers and other migrants came to the water feature outside BSBO’s “window on wildlife.” BSBO is a mile south of the lake and more sheltered from north winds, so the greater concentration of migrants there was about as expected.

One final tip for birding the Magee Marsh boardwalk: after windy, rainy days, there are a lot of fallen wet leaves on the boardwalk, and they can be extremely slippery, so tread with care!

Tips for Finding Fall Warblers

2011-09-02T17:32:00.000-04:00

This female Blackburnian Warbler was photographed in spring, but some fall females are very similar. Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Ohio. Photo by Kenn Kaufman.

Northwestern Ohio is famous as “The Warbler Capital of the World” in spring, when warblers and other migratory songbirds are heavily concentrated in the woodlots along Lake Erie. During the fall, migrants are not so concentrated. They tend to be quieter in fall than in spring, and the denser foliage of this season adds to the challenge of finding them. But a determined birder can still find plenty of warblers in September, and their fall plumages often have a special, subtle beauty. Here are some things to keep in mind while seeking them.

Find the Flocks: During the fall, even more than during spring, migrant warblers tend to be concentrated in flocks. The flocks may be only loosely organized, and they may contain only a few individuals, but they are out there and worth finding.

In between flocks, you may not find any birds at all, and the woods may seem way too quiet. Barry McEwen and I birded a section of Sidecut Metropark this morning (Friday Sept. 2), and at one point we went almost 15 minutes without seeing a single bird – but then we found a flock that included Magnolia, Chestnut-sided, Bay-breasted, and other warblers, as well as Warbling Vireos and other birds. Later, after another quiet stretch, we found a concentration that included Wilson’s, Tennessee, and Magnolia warblers, plus American Redstarts and others. This is typical of what we expect in fall, and it suggests two strategic approaches:

1. Don’t give up too quickly. If you’re seeing no birds at all, move along and look and listen for a flock. These flocks can be inconspicuous, so you need to watch for movement and listen for chip notes. Warblers often associate with chickadee flocks, so if you hear chickadees, track them down and look for warblers with them. In areas where chickadees are scarce (like some woods on the immediate shoreline of Lake Erie), the warblers may hang around with flocks that have Downy Woodpeckers as their core species.

2. When you do find a flock, stick with it as long as possible, or until you’re sure you’ve seen all the birds involved, because it may be a while before you find anything else!

Look high and low. Literally. We may think of warblers as treetop birds, but especially in fall, some will be foraging close to the ground. Weedy edges of woodlots may be very good for some species. Dense stands of goldenrod or wingstem (which are blooming now) may hold species like Tennessee Warbler or Wilson’s Warbler. And some warblers, such as Ovenbird, Connecticut Warbler, and the two waterthrushes, do most of their foraging on the ground.

Start early. No, not necessarily early in the day, but early in the fall season. This year, according to Mark and Julie Shieldcastle, the BSBO main research station had already banded 20 species of warblers by the end of August. Early to mid-September is the peak season for diversity of warblers. If you wait until fall colors paint the trees, most of the warblers will have gone south.

Of course, different species have somewhat different timing. Yellow Warbler and Golden-winged Warbler tend to be very early fall migrants, becoming hard to find by the middle of September. Yellow-rumped Warbler and the scarcer Orange-crowned Warbler are late migrants, seldom seen until the latter half of September. So to see the full range of fall warblers, it helps to go out repeatedly from late August to early October.

Exciting news about access at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge

2011-08-10T12:45:00.000-04:00

Wilson's Phalarope - just one of the many cool species possible on good shorebird habitat in northwest Ohio.

Many birders in the northwest Ohio region may be unaware that Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge (halfway between Toledo and Port Clinton along State Route 2) has a new Manager. Jason Lewis started there just last March. While the previous manager was a great guy and very committed to conservation, Jason Lewis has the added quality of being a keen birder. He understands the importance of the Magee Marsh / Ottawa NWR area to local and visiting birders, and he’s going to take steps to increase birder access to the Refuge. Several of us from Black Swamp Bird Observatory have met with Jason Lewis repeatedly and we’ve been excited and pleased to learn about his plans.

One immediate effect involves shorebird habitat (which has been a scarce commodity in n.w. Ohio this season). Ottawa NWR staff are now working to draw down the water level in the impoundment called MS 5 to create ideal shorebird habitat. (To see where MS 5 is located, see our map of the Refuge at http://www.bsbo.org/birding/pdf/OttawaNWRMap-Overview.pdf ) This impoundment is located along the auto tour route. Kimberly Kaufman from BSBO talked to Jason Lewis about the Midwest Birding Symposium happening in this region in September, and Jason agreed to open up the auto tour for all three days of the Symposium: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, September 16, 17, and 18. The hours for those dates haven’t been finalized yet. But it’s great news for birders that we can expect good shorebird habitat and an extended period in which to check it out. A couple of years ago, at another point when MS 5 was in peak condition, I saw 17 shorebird species on this one impoundment in one morning, so I guarantee that there’s good potential!

In another exciting development, plans are being finalized to extend the Magee Marsh boardwalk to the west, into the adjacent section of Ottawa NWR. BSBO has done some work in that area, and we know that the concentrations of migrant birds there in spring are just as impressive as those along the boardwalk, but these woods have been inaccessible to most birders before now. Extending the trail into this area will relieve the crowding on the current sections of boardwalk and will make a great birding site even better! With luck, this new section of trail will be ready in time for next spring’s migration.

In a further development, many birders are aware of the good shorebird habitat sometimes present on Benton-Carroll Road just south of Route 2, but birding there has been difficult because of the lack of parking spots. The best of the habitat there has been acquired by Ottawa NWR, and Jason Lewis is planning to add a parking pulloff and eventually a raised viewing platform. So the news just keeps getting better!

I hope that everyone birding n.w. Ohio will show their support for Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. We’re lucky to have this protected habitat here, and lucky to have a Refuge Manager who wants to improve access for birders.

May 25 report, May 27-29 outlook

2011-05-26T09:43:00.000-04:00

One-year-old male American Redstart at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Ohio, May 23, 2011. The dark lores (between the eye and the bill) and the black spots on the face and chest are the easiest ways to tell that this bird isn't a female. By late May, most of the adult male redstarts have departed, but females and young males are still common. photo/Kenn Kaufman.

By this date, in inland areas of Ohio, songbird migration is essentially over: some are still passing through, but they are so scattered that they're hard to detect. By contrast, here in northwest Ohio, in the "migrant trap" areas along the Lake Erie shoreline, northbound songbirds will be obvious into the first week of June.

Yesterday (Wednesday May 25), Kim and I took a few friends back to the boardwalk at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, to show them this world-famous migrant trap and to see what birds were around. With east-northeast winds, the birds were concentrated back inside the woods, not out along the north edge as they had been during the strong southwest winds on Monday. In a little less than two hours in late morning, covering just a small part of the western section of the boardwalk (west entrance to about no. 12), we saw or heard 17 warbler species, plus a handful of other migrants. Birds are harder to detect now than earlier in the spring: the trees are almost fully leafed out, and most of the warblers passing through now are females or young males, much less vocal than the adult males. So the following numbers are certainly only a fraction of the numbers actually present, but they do give an idea of relative numbers:

Tennessee Warbler - 3
Northern Parula - 1
Yellow Warbler - 15 (some of these are local breeders)
Chestnut-sided Warbler - 17
Magnolia Warbler - 22
Black-throated Blue Warbler - 3
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 1 (getting late)
Black-throated Green Warbler - 2
Bay-breasted Warbler - 10
Blackpoll Warbler - 12
American Redstart - 24
Prothonotary Warbler - 4 (local breeders)
Northern Waterthrush - 1
Mourning Warbler - 1
Common Yellowthroat - 6 (probably includes local breeders)
Wilson's Warbler - 8
Canada Warbler - 3

No doubt we could have pulled out a few more species if we had spent more time. Also near the west end were all five eastern species of Empidonax flycatchers (we saw/heard Yellow-bellied 2, Acadian 1, Alder 3, Willow 1, Alder/Willow 1 silent bird, Least 2). Other migrants noticed included Swainson's Thrush (2) and Red-eyed Vireo (8) -- the latter species breeds in this general region, of course, but these numbers are still indicative of migration at this site.

Very stormy weather later in the day and overnight Wednesday probably meant that few birds left the area, despite the southwest winds. Today (Thursday May 26) the southwest winds continue, but they're predicted to switch around to northwest this evening, with more rain overnight. So it looks as if the mix of birds present on Friday May 27 should be similar to what was around on Wednesday. After that, the winds are supposed to shift around to southerly during the night Friday night, and stay southerly through Saturday and Sunday. So there should be a lot of turnover of migrants during the weekend.

The "grail bird" for late May, Connecticut Warbler, is still an excellent possibility on these dates. To have a chance of seeing one, the best approach is to walk quietly on the boardwalk or trails inside deep woods, watching for this quiet and inconspicuous warbler walking on the ground. This is also a great time to study female and young male plumages of warblers, and to see and hear Empidonax flycatchers (all 5 eastern species are possible now at the lakeshore migrant traps, and Alder and Yellow-bellied should be in good numbers).

Late May is also an excellent time for shorebirds. The best spot in recent days had been on Ottawa-Lucas Road on the west side of Ottawa Nat'l Wildlife Refuge. To get there, go west from the main Ottawa NWR entrance road on State Route 2. After 3 miles, SR 2 makes a big curve to run straight north. Half a mile north you'll pass Krause Road, and about a mile north of that, Ottawa-Lucas Road (the county line road) runs straight east. Take it to near the dead end, about a quarter mile in, and look at the big shallow impoundment to the south as well as the flooded field to the north. Recently this area has had large flocks of Dunlins and a few Semipalmated Plovers, yellowlegs, Least and Semipalmated sandpipers, and others; two Red-necked Phalaropes were there on May 23. However, the very heavy rains of May 25 have probably created a lot of temporary shorebird habitat in fields in the general area, so the birds may be more dispersed for the next few days.

May 22 report, May 23-24 outlook

2011-05-22T23:01:00.002-04:00

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher on trail behind Black Swamp Bird Observatory, May 22, 2011. photo/Kenn Kaufman.

Sunday May 22: As predicted, today produced a fair arrival of birds in the area of Magee Marsh / Ottawa NWR. Numbers were definitely higher than on the preceding two days, although down from the big numbers on Thursday May 19; diversity was decent, and typical of this date in the latter one-third of May.

Most noticeable today was an influx of flycatchers. An Olive-sided Flycatcher entertained birders for most of the day on the Magee boardwalk in the area of number 23b. For the first time this season, Alder and Yellow-bellied flycatchers were around in substantial numbers, and Least Flycatchers (common throughout May) and Willow Flycatchers (which nest locally) were also numerous. Eastern Wood-Pewees were widespread, including in areas where they won't nest, so we were seeing many migrants.

On the warbler front, Mourning Warblers were widespread, but I didn't hear of any definite Connecticut Warblers today. A few of us made specific searches for both Connecticut and Kirtland's, and came up dry. But there were excellent numbers of Magnolia (still), Canada, Wilson's, and Yellow warblers (both residents and migrants of the latter), good numbers of Blackpoll and Tennessee warblers and American Redstarts, and a good scattering of other species; I was aware of at least 18 warbler species seen locally today.

On the east beach (wildlife beach) at Magee, Jeri Langham found a Yellow-breasted Chat, and I and others saw it later in the morning. Other oddities out there included a Red-breasted Nuthatch and a Purple Finch, both of which seemed out of place with today's hot temperatures. Both Yellow-billed and Black-billed cuckoos were seen at various places, including the Magee boardwalk and Magee east beach.

As of late evening Sunday, winds are fairly strong out of the south, and it looks likely that a lot of birds will move tonight. Showers and thunderstorms are moving into the area, and depending on the timing, they could put down a lot of migrants here. I think that tomorrow (Monday May 23) will produce good numbers of birds in the lakeshore migrant traps in n.w. Ohio; depending on the distribution and timing of rains overnight, it could be a fairly average day or a very good day.

Winds are supposed to continue southerly or southwesterly through Monday and Monday night, and I expect that a lot of birds will be riding that train, including both birds arriving here from the south and local stopover birds leaving, so we should see a significant amount of turnover both Monday and Tuesday mornings. Sometime on Tuesday May 24, the wind is supposed to shift around toward the north, with slightly cooler temperatures; so anything that's around on Tuesday morning may stay for a while.

Migration Outlook May 21-23

2011-05-20T18:48:00.000-04:00

Female Bay-breasted Warbler at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Ohio, on May 19, 2011. During the latter part of the migration we see fewer adult males of most species, more females and young males. photo/Kenn Kaufman.

Friday, May 20: The pattern of the last few days has been distinctly unusual. The extreme chilly conditions of May 15-17 apparently were stressful for many migrants, which appeared to be struggling to find enough food. Unable to build up their fat reserves until the weather warmed up, many stayed longer than usual. At the same time, when conditions improved and the wind shifted a little on Wednesday night, quite a few new birds came in that night and joined the numbers that were already present. On Thursday, May 19, birds were unusually numerous and easy to see (even for here!) along the edge of the woods at Magee Marsh, continuing to feed relatively low, for outstanding views. By today (Friday), with temperatures warming further, the birds had moved higher in the trees. Numbers from the BSBO research station, and my impressions from the field, were that Friday’s numbers were about half those of Thursday.

Looking ahead, the weather pattern for the weekend is far from obvious. Winds tonight (Friday night) will be shifting around, mostly easterly but swinging northerly and southerly during the night. I expect that we’ll see some continued turnover, with many of the current crop of migrants moving out and a few birds moving in. The recent abundance of Magnolia, Chestnut-sided, and Bay-breasted warblers may diminish, and we may see larger numbers of Canada and Wilson’s warblers, Red-eyed Vireos, American Redstarts, and various flycatchers.

According to current forecasts, the winds will shift to a strong southerly flow sometime late on Saturday and continue that way through to Monday, and I think we’ll see a big arrival of birds on Sunday May 22 and Monday May 23. By this date, of course, they’re becoming harder to see as the trees and shrubs become fully leafed out, but still there should be plenty to look for. Females tend to migrate later than males for most species, so in the latter part of the migration we hear less singing and we see more subtly patterned birds.

Short prediction: Good variety but only moderate numbers on Saturday May 21; probably bigger numbers on Sunday May 22 and Monday May 23.

Mourning Warblers should be present for most of the next ten days; they stay low, often around fallen logs and dense thickets, but periodically coming up above eye level. Connecticut Warbler is less reliable: it seems to be found after every big push of migrants in late May, but often for only a brief period. For examples, a couple appeared along the Magee Marsh boardwalk on Thursday the 19th, but I don’t believe they were seen again on the 20th. So for this species, it pays to look on the big migration days, rather than waiting until the day after one is reported. Connecticut Warblers are secretive and very easy to overlook, as they walk slowly on the ground inside the forest.

Slight Update 5/18: Changing Weather

2011-05-18T12:54:00.000-04:00

Just a brief note: the weather forecast keeps changing, and it now looks possible that we'll have several hours of light south or southeast winds during the night Wednesday night. If that happens, Thursday morning, May 19, could turn out differently from what I had predicted earlier; we might see substantial turnover and the arrival of a fair number of birds. I still don't expect it to be huge, but there are a lot of birds dammed up to the south of us so I could be surprised. I'm going to be away from the computer for the rest of the day and won't have a chance to update before tomorrow morning, but if you're debating whether to come out, you might check the weather during the night or first thing in the morning.

Update: Migration Outlook May 18-23

2011-05-17T21:25:00.000-04:00

Magnolia Warbler at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Ohio, May 17, 2011. photo/Kenn Kaufman.

For the last three days (Sunday through Tuesday, May 15-17), migration has been shut down by cold temperatures, rain, and strong northerly winds. This hasn’t stopped the birding – in fact, the birding has been spectacularly good in some ways. In my post yesterday I mentioned that the warblers and other migrants were foraging very low and very close to the boardwalk and trails. This pattern continued through Tuesday, with the views of warblers being almost ridiculously good. As expected during this early part of the Second Wave, Magnolia Warblers and Chestnut-sided Warblers were especially abundant, but more than 20 warbler species were present. Many individuals were foraging literally within two or three feet of astonished birders along the Magee Marsh boardwalk, and views were also excellent along the trails behind the Ottawa NWR visitors’ center.

The Magee Marsh boardwalk isn't just for humans! Chestnut-sided Warbler at minimum-focus range, May 17, 2011. photo/Kenn Kaufman.

With cold north wind continuing tonight, this bonanza of low-foraging warblers will probably continue through Wednesday morning (May 18), but temperatures are supposed to finally start rising on Wednesday. As it warms up, tiny insects should be a little more active and small songbirds should be less cold-stressed, so viewing along the boardwalk should return to its normal state (excellent but not absurdly close).

The weather forecast for the next few days has changed a little. They’re now predicting that winds will swing around to the southeast and even south in the predawn hours of Thursday, May 19, and stay southerly for part of Thursday before swinging back to the east and then to the northeast. Thursday and Friday will also be warmer, and I expect we’ll see some turnover in the local migrants, with some of the current crop leaving and a few coming in on those days. Looking farther ahead, predictions are firming up for the wind to go strongly to the south on Saturday night. In that case, as mentioned before, Sunday May 22 and Monday May 23 should produce another big push of migrants, with a good variety of late-season warblers, probably a few more Connecticut Warblers, lots of flycatchers and vireos, and hopefully we’ll finally get our Kirtland’s Warbler for the season!

Short prediction: More extreme closeups of warblers on the morning of Wednesday May 18; some turnover and somewhat reduced numbers on Thursday May 19 through Saturday May 21, but warmer with more sunshine on Friday and Saturday, for more pleasant birding weather; another big arrival of migrants on Sunday May 22 and/or Monday May 23 (probably both days).

Migration Outlook May 16-23

2011-05-16T09:50:00.000-04:00

From last year: this Kirtland's Warbler entertained an estimated 1000 to 3000 birders at the Magee east beach on May 14, 2010. The species should still show up before the end of May 2011. photo/Kenn Kaufman.

Monday May 16: Well, the Biggest Week In American Birding is officially over, and not as many people are out birding this morning in the chilly wind and scattered rain, but the migration itself is far from over. The biggest migration days of the spring may still be ahead, since the second pulse of the Second Wave often produces the largest numbers and variety. So birders in the region are still looking ahead with anticipation.

On Sunday May 15, with rain, cooler temperatures, and north winds, birders at Magee Marsh and Ottawa NWR tallied “only” about 24 warbler species, but had extraordinarily good views of many of them: as expected in these conditions, the warblers and other songbird migrants were foraging very low and very close to the boardwalk and trails. Because the strong north winds persisted overnight, it’s doubtful that many migrants left the area. However, they may disperse back away from the immediate lake shore, so if you’re out today, it would be worthwhile to check woodlots a mile or two south of the lake: the woods behind the Ottawa NWR visitors’ center, for example, or around BSBO. A little farther west, Pearson Metropark (in the city of Oregon, east edge of Toledo) might hold a lot of birds right now in its well-sheltered woods.

Looking ahead, the forecast is for an unusually persistent pattern of northeasterly winds, cooler temperatures, and frequent showers for the next several days. Toward the latter part of the week (Thursday May 19 – Friday May 20), a couple of small high-pressure systems are supposed to move through just a little south of us, but it doesn’t look like they’ll do much to break the pattern of north winds. Birdwise, the current crop of migrants along the lakeshore should gradually decline over the next few days, without a lot of significant new arrivals. Toward Thursday and Friday, a few new birds should trickle in to give us some turnover, and more on Saturday as the north winds become lighter and more erratic.

But by that time there should be a large number of birds dammed up to the south of us. When the weather-dam breaks, we should get another big arrival of migrants. Right now the forecast is that the wind will finally swing toward the south on Saturday night; depending on just when that happens, the next really big migration day could be Sunday May 22 or Monday May 23.

Short prediction: Good diversity but gradually declining numbers of migrants through 5/18; a few new arrivals 5/19 – 5/21; big push of migrants 5/22 and/or 5/23.

Kirtland’s Warbler: So far this spring there have been no well-documented sightings in the immediate area (a surprising change after the last couple of springs, with their sightings shared by large numbers of birders). There’s still time for this year. The two birds seen by the most people in 2010 were found on May 14 and May 21, so obviously we’re still in the time frame for migration. Undoubtedly some have come through, and there may be some in the area right now, but finding a Kirtland’s is a needle-in-a-haystack proposition. Kirtland’s Warbler isn’t most likely to be found inside dense woods (such as along the Magee boardwalk or some forest-interior trails at Ottawa NWR); it favors more open, edge areas with scrubby low growth. On days with south wind or no wind, the east beach at Magee is a good place to look. With the strong north winds right now, I would look on the scrubby southern edges of large woodlots.

Connecticut Warbler: On Friday, May 13, there was a surprising push of these birds, with at least six definitely found in the immediate area. This is early for such numbers. Most Connecticut Warblers come through n.w. Ohio in late May, with some being found into the first week of June. The birds from the 13th either moved on or moved deeper into the woods, as I don’t think any were seen on the 15th. But there should be some more when the next migration pulse arrives around May 22 – 23.

Other late migrants: In addition to Connecticut Warbler, we can still look forward to the main push of Mourning Warbler, Canada Warbler, and Wilson’s Warbler – they’re all present already, but their peak passage is later. Flycatchers are a big factor in late May: the main push of Olive-sided Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Alder Flycatcher, and Willow Flycatcher is still to come. Swainson’s Thrush and Gray-cheeked Thrush are often most numerous in late May, and the passage of Red-eyed Vireos, American Redstarts, and others can be very impressive toward the end of the month. And of course, peak migration of shorebirds is a late May phenomenon.

In other words, the birding season isn’t over yet!

Big Wave Coming

2011-05-11T12:15:00.000-04:00

male Magnolia Warbler

Wednesday, May 11, midday: I just got off the phone with Mark Shieldcastle. We’ve both been looking at weather maps, and looking at what’s happening with the migration. I won’t go into detail right now, but the next two days – Thursday May 12 and Friday May 13 – should be very good for a big arrival of migrants.

Conditions are such that Friday is almost a guarantee for a lot of birds. Thursday is a little less certain. It should have more birds than today (which is already quite a lot) but it might turn out to be even bigger than Friday will be. Mark points out that there’s sometimes a phenomenon of birds ballooning out ahead of an arriving front – this is essentially what happened on the big day last Friday, May 6. A lot depends on very local weather conditions in the predawn hours, which are impossible to know with precision ahead of time. But it appears there are very large numbers of second-wave migrants fairly close to the south of us, and they’ll be arriving here soon. Mark quipped that “One of these next two days, people may feel like Magnolia Warblers have blanketed the earth.” And the second wave is the one with the biggest diversity, so even if total numbers fall short of predictions, there should be a great number of different species available.

If you can’t get out until the weekend, don’t despair – the weather is going to turn cooler again after Friday, and a good percentage of the birds arriving during the next two days should stay around for a while. But if you’re free to get out, it looks likely that Thursday May 12 and perhaps especially Friday May 13 could turn out to be memorable days here.

Mysteries of the Next Wave

2011-05-10T23:50:00.002-04:00

Tuesday night, May 10: I’ve been putting off posting another prediction because the weather has been so confusing. A few days ago, it had appeared that weather conditions would be set up for a big arrival of migrants today (Tuesday) or tomorrow (Wednesday May 11). Those weather conditions fizzled, but a lot of birds arrived today anyway. It’s hard to interpret what’s going on.

Winds have been mostly from the east, not from the south, but on Tuesday May 10 there was a big uptick in the numbers of Magnolia Warblers and American Redstarts – birds typical of the second wave – as well as a good handful of Canada Warblers, Blackpoll Warblers, and Wilson’s Warblers, all birds associated with later in May. Andy Jones reported that there was also a big arrival of migrants on South Bass Island, out in Lake Erie, so clearly a lot of birds were moving, even if it didn’t appear that conditions were favorable.

So the migration at this point doesn’t seem to fit with the weather, making it hard to predict what will happen next. I had a brief note from Mark Shieldcastle, who has been studying weather and migration in this area for years, and he agreed that conditions were confusing. He suggested that all these birds must have been just a little to the south of us before Monday night, so they didn’t have to come far to arrive here Tuesday. It still seems odd to me that they would come in without a tailwind.

My guess – and it IS mostly a guess – is that bird numbers will continue to be very good for the next couple of days, despite the prevailing easterly winds, making for decent birding on Wednesday May 11 and Thursday May 12. Then on Thursday evening, winds may shift to more southerly, and we may see a big (but not huge) arrival on Friday, May 13. Take this with a grain of salt, though, because it may turn out differently.

Notes about local spots: Metzger Marsh continues to host a Tricolored Heron, and Black Terns and Least Bitterns have been found there as well. The best local shorebirding at the moment is on Ottawa-Lucas Road, a dead-end road that runs east from Route 2 about a mile north of the big curve (between Krause Road and Veler Road – see our Ottawa NWR map). Randy Kreager checked this out on Monday and found several species of shorebirds in the flooded fields before the turnaround at the end of the road, including Semipalmated Plovers, Dunlins, Ruddy Turnstones, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, and others. Cliff Swallows have returned within the last few days and can be seen locally near water; one good spot is the east end of the parking lot at Porky’s Pizza Trof on Route 2, about 5 miles east of BSBO. Common Nighthawks have also returned; they're most easily heard at night over some nearby towns, including Port Clinton and Oak Harbor.

Migration: Recap of May 6-7, and outlook for May 8-11

2011-05-07T23:46:00.000-04:00

Black-and-white Warbler at Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area, Ohio, May 2011. photo/Kenn Kaufman.

Late Saturday night, May 7: The last two days have been outstanding for numbers and variety of songbird migrants on the Lake Erie shoreline in n.w. Ohio. We had predicted that these would be very good days, but Friday turned out to be substantially bigger than I had expected. The BSBO main research site had one of its biggest days ever for number of birds banded (over 1000 individuals!), giving good backup to the field observers who had the impressions of large numbers. Saturday was also excellent, with numbers perhaps 70 percent of what had been present the day before, and continuing good variety.

At least 30 species of warblers were recorded on Friday May 6, and at least 27 on Saturday May 7. To a surprising extent, the migration was still dominated by early-season species – Palm, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, Black-and-white, and Nashville Warblers, plus Northern Parulas (unusually common), White-throated Sparrows and a few others – the dominant species from the first wave. This suggests to me that the birds had been held up just a little south of us, and when conditions improved we got a major influx even without major winds. Of course, that means there are huge numbers of migrants still to come. Birds that will be a big part of the second wave, like Magnolia and Chestnut-sided warblers, are still present in only small numbers. They will pick up sometime soon.

Predictions: At 10 p.m. Saturday night the winds were very light and still southerly, but they are expected to shift to the northeast before morning, slowing down any potential bird movement. Sunday May 8 should have pleasant weather, and a decent percentage of today’s migrants should remain; I don’t expect a mass departure. With winds continuing mostly easterly through Monday, I expect a pattern of gradually declining numbers through Monday May 9. (Of course, at this season even a slow day should produce at least 20 species of warblers.) It still appears that there will be another big arrival of birds on either Tuesday or Wednesday – possibly both, but right now I would bet on Wednesday May 11 as the next major push of migrants. Hard to tell just how big it might be. The weather forecast maps are showing a major low-pressure system approaching from the west, setting up a big flow of air out of the south coming all the way up from the Gulf Coast, and my only questions have to do with timing: how soon will it be close enough to affect us? My guess at the moment is Wednesday, but I’ll try to update before then.

Short prediction: Good but with gradually decreasing numbers Sunday May 8 and Monday May 9. A big arrival happening Tuesday May 10 or much more likely on Wednesday May 11.

Notes for anyone coming into the area before then: A beautiful adult Tricolored Heron continues at Metzger Marsh, now present there for 2 weeks. A Marbled Godwit has been present for the last two days in a flooded field behind the Barnside Creamery, corner of Route 2 and Route 19, 1.5 miles east of BSBO. Prothonotary Warblers were seemingly a little late showing up in the area this year, but at least a couple of males are now establishing territories along the Magee Marsh boardwalk and they should remain through the season.

Migration Outlook May 5 - 10

2011-05-05T11:49:00.000-04:00

Male Blackburnian Warbler in northwestern Ohio, May 2011. photo/Kenn Kaufman.

Thursday, May 5: At this season the migration always proceeds in fitful pulses and waves. The urge to migrate is so strong that at least a few birds will be moving in practically any weather, but some days bring far more migrants than others. Southerly winds, especially with rising temperatures and with clear skies to the south of us, may bring major migrant waves. Strong northerly winds will shut things down, but the migrants that have already arrived will stay here, often for days at a time.

As a result of this pattern, there will be a great diversity of birds in this area every day from now through the end of May, so the time to get out birding is whenever you can. But if you have a flexible schedule, some days will be more productive than others, which is why we try to make predictions here.

After very chilly temperatures late Wednesday night, Thursday morning is sunny but cool, with light winds out of the west-northwest. By late afternoon, winds are supposed to shift to the southwest, and later to south-southwest for much of the night. It doesn’t appear that those southerly winds are backed up by any major pressure centers or long-distance air flow, so I don’t expect a huge arrival of migrants from far to the south, but there should be at least moderate numbers of new birds in the area on the morning of Friday, May 6. With the prediction of scattered showers, the warblers and other birds should be foraging low, for excellent views. The winds will shift to west-southwest through Friday night, with clearing skies, and the moderate push of new arrivals should continue on the morning of Saturday May 7. With winds shifting around subsequently to northeast or east, those migrants should mostly stay in the area through Sunday.

Cape May Warbler in northwestern Ohio, May 2011. photo/Kenn Kaufman.

A big arrival of birds should happen sometime shortly after the weekend. Earlier I had predicted that it might be Monday or Tuesday, but now it doesn’t look as likely that Monday will be the day. Mark Shieldcastle, BSBO research director, who knows the migration in this area better than anyone, has suggested that the weather is lining up for the Second Wave of migrants to hit here on Tuesday May 10. Looking at a different set of weather forecasts, I can’t tell whether the big day is more likely on Tuesday or Wednesday. A major low-pressure area is moving in from the west, with strong southerly winds ahead of it, but it’s not clear to me just when it will be close enough to affect us. Regardless, I’m reasonably confident that our binoculars will be burning up on Tuesday, May 10 and/or Wednesday, May 11.

Short prediction: moderate arrival of birds on May 6 and 7; possibly a major arrival on May 10 or 11.

Recent news: On May 4, a Little Blue Heron was on the Entrance Pool at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, and the Tricolored Heron was reported again from the causeway at Metzger Marsh. On the morning of May 5, ace photographer Brian Zwiebel (who took the cover photos for the brand-new Biggest Week in American Birding Visitors’ Guide) found a singing Prairie Warbler and a young male Blue Grosbeak on the east beach (wildlife beach) at Magee Marsh. The Tropical Birding guides reported a Cape May Warbler near the west end of the Magee Marsh boardwalk, along with other birds.

For lots of close-up photos and detailed info about the migration, check out the BSBO Bird Banders’ Blog at http://bsbobirdbander.blogspot.com/

And if you’re reading this on Thursday May 5, and you’re within striking distance, come over to Mango Mama’s in Port Clinton tonight for the big opening night social for the Biggest Week in American Birding! The social is hosted by the Ohio Ornithological Society (OOS) and Kaufman Field Guides. No cover charge, just lots of friendly birders, cool prizes, karaoke, a chance to share information, and tasty free munchies provided by Kokomo Bay Restaurant and OOS.

Migration Outlook May 3 - 7

2011-05-03T13:31:00.004-04:00

Nashville Warbler playing hide-and-seek with the rain, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, May 2007. photo/Kenn Kaufman.

After Sunday’s big day on the Lake Erie shoreline, things were quieter on Monday May 2, with fewer birds around. The sites on the immediate lake shore slowed down the most, as many birds probably filtered to areas a short distance inland; there were still large numbers at some of the woodlots on Ottawa NWR, and around the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, for example, while the woods at Metzger and at the Magee boardwalk were somewhat less active (but still with good diversity). This is about as expected when a big arrival is followed a day later by winds shifting more northerly: in these conditions, birders need to check other sites besides the famous lakeshore spots.

Today (Tuesday May 3) is chilly and raining, with light north winds, and the birds that are here now won’t be leaving soon. The rain should clear out before Wednesday, but northerly winds will persist Wednesday during the day and most of the night. A small high-pressure area may move over us and shift the winds to southerly by sometime Thursday morning, but it looks unlikely that it will happen early enough to bring a new arrival of birds for that day. Regardless, Thursday May 5 should be a pleasant day outdoors, partly sunny with moderate temperatures. If the winds stay southerly through Thursday night, as currently predicted, Friday May 6 could see a good arrival of migrants, although I don’t expect it to be a huge one unless rains hit just before dawn. Forecasts for Saturday May 7 don’t seem clear yet, but given the conditions between now and then, it’s reasonable to expect that we’ll have a very good diversity of bird species around over the weekend. I’ll update as the weekend gets closer.

A couple of notes: on Monday, May 2, two Lesser Black-backed Gulls were resting with other gulls and terns on the concrete pier at the end of the road at Metzger Marsh. Birds congregate here when no one is fishing from the pier, but at this season that doesn’t happen often. (If anyone is really keen to see a Lesser Black-back, or other gulls and terns, I’d recommend the beaches at Maumee Bay State Park or East Harbor State Park. Lesser Black-back is rare at this season but is a possibility at those sites.)

The causeway across the marsh at Magee Marsh has fewer ducks now than earlier in the season, but other marsh birds are picking up in numbers. On Sunday evening, May 1, a Least Bittern was calling consistently from east of the causeway near its north end, and Virginia Rails and Soras could be heard from the same spot.

At Pickerel Creek Wildlife Area, off Route 6 east of Fremont in Sandusky County, 19 or 20 American White Pelicans have been present for the last few days, visible from the observation platform on the north side of Route 6.

A pair of Trumpeter Swans has been highly visible on the Entrance Pool at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge recently. These are from the (re)introduced population, and opinions differ as to whether they’re “countable,” but it’s still a great opportunity to study the species up close.

Good numbers of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, White-crowned Sparrows, White-throated Sparrows, and other birds have been coming to the feeders outside the “window on wildlife” at Black Swamp Bird Observatory. If you’re in the area, please consider stopping in to tell us what you’ve seen.

Awesome May 1st migration

2011-05-02T00:43:00.000-04:00

Cerulean Warbler at Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area, Ohio, on May 1, 2011. photo/Kenn Kaufman.

Sunday, May 1: We had predicted that this would be a good day for arrival of migrants, and it turned out to be outstandingly good, certainly the best day of the spring so far. At least 29 warbler species were confirmed between the three sites of Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, and the Navarre unit of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge (where BSBO has its main banding station). Numbers were very impressive at all three sites. Yellow-rumped Warblers were most numerous, as expected at this stage in the migration, but there were also large numbers of Nashville Warblers and Black-throated Green Warblers. (At one point, at the woodlot at the end of the road at Metzger Marsh, I counted 14 Black-throated Green Warblers in one small tree! A couple of minutes later, the top of the next small tree held a Cerulean Warbler, a Blackburnian Warbler, a Cape May Warbler, a Northern Parula, and a Yellow Warbler all at the same time, for a stunning splash of color.) At least two Cerulean Warblers (possibly three) entertained birders for hours at Metzger. Highlights at the Magee boardwalk included Worm-eating, Kentucky, and Hooded Warblers, plus Yellow-breasted Chat. Navarre had a female Cerulean Warbler, and a surprisingly early female Mourning Warbler.

Non-warbler highlights included a good arrival of vireos, with at least five of the six expected species (I didn't see or hear about any Philadelphia Vireos). All five species of brown thrushes were recorded, and several Wood Thrushes were singing at Magee in the evening. Rose-breasted Grosbeaks were numerous -- at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, Kimberly Kaufman was able to get five males in one photo out the window. Two Blue Grosbeaks, a female and a young male, were on the beach north of the boardwalk parking lot at Magee. Eastern Kingbirds at many sites, Bobolinks and Cattle Egrets near the entrance to Ottawa NWR, and a Merlin at Metzger were among the other sightings. My own oddest bird of the day was a Whimbrel flying over the Magee causeway in the evening; this is an unusually early date for the species.

I haven't looked at the weather in detail yet, but with the sky overcast and the winds shifting to northwest during the night tonight, a fair percentage of today's birds should still be around on Monday.

Black-throated Green Warbler at Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area, Ohio, on May 1, 2011. Black-throated Greens were very numerous at both Metzger and Magee on this day. photo/Kenn Kaufman.

UPDATE for 4/30 - 5/1

2011-04-29T21:43:00.002-04:00

Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, April 29, 2011. photo/Kenn Kaufman.

UPDATE Friday night, April 29. The weather forecast for tonight has changed somewhat but it still shows the wind shifting to the southeast before morning, and I still expect that Saturday morning will produce at least a fair arrival of birds in the migrant traps along the Lake Erie shoreline. Please read the previous post for more details.

It appears now that Saturday should have beautiful weather, but Sunday may have many more migrants, because southerly winds will persist through Saturday night and rain showers will move in before dawn on Sunday. Short prediction: Saturday will provide very pleasant birding, a wonderful chance to get outside and enjoy the spring. Sunday will be messy weather, but with a lot of birds to look at for those who are willing to risk a little rain.

On Friday, the numbers and variety of birds in the lakeshore sites were reduced considerably from the three preceding days. There were still large numbers of Myrtle (Yellow-rumped) Warblers, Palm Warblers, and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. The boardwalk at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area produced a few notable birds. A male Hooded Warbler was moving around (and sometimes singing) north of the boardwalk in the vicinity of numbers 7A to 10; at times it moved a little farther north and was visible from the edge of the parking lot, just east of the platform by the west entrance. A Kentucky Warbler was present for much of the day near number 16, mostly hopping on the ground on both sides of the boardwalk. A couple of male Blackpoll Warblers (notably early) were being seen near the west end of the boardwalk, including near number 6. A Red-breasted Nuthatch was working the trees near numbers 3 and 4. Two Eastern Screech-Owls were spotted on day roosts, one south of the boardwalk and just a few yards west of number 13, the other north of the boardwalk and just opposite the short spur that goes off by number 10. For a reference on all of these numbered spots, see our map of the boardwalk at
http://www.bsbo.org/birding/pdf/magee_marsh_boardwalk_map_and_text.pdf

Also in the area, on the east beach (wildlife beach) at Magee, Sherrie Duris found a Red-headed Woodpecker Friday morning. Metzger Marsh was relatively quiet, but the Tricolored Heron was seen again.

Late Friday afternoon, I checked the woodlot north of the entrance at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge (see “East parking for trails” on our Ottawa map:
http://www.bsbo.org/birding/pdf/OttawaNWR-Trails.pdf ). The birds were actually more concentrated there than out at the Magee boardwalk; they were mostly Yellow-rumped and Palm warblers, but a Prothonotary Warbler was there as well. The east side of this woodlot was hopping, probably because it was sheltered from the west-northwest winds. In birding this area in spring, we'll always do better if we pay attention to wind direction!

Weekend Outlook 4/30 - 5/1

2011-04-28T23:44:00.000-04:00

Palm Warbler at Magee Marsh, April 28, 2011. photo/Kenn Kaufman.

It’s showtime! For the last three days, Tuesday through Thursday, April 26-28, warblers and other neotropical migrants have been all over n.w. Ohio, especially the migrant traps along the Lake Erie shoreline. Looking ahead, it appears that the weekend of April 30 / May 1 should be very good in the area. Although I don’t expect a massive arrival, the numbers and variety should be enough to keep us busy and happy through the weekend.

Mark Shieldcastle and I both have been looking at the weather forecasts independently, to try to get a read on what the migration will be like. The weather has been so unsettled that the forecasts are being revised frequently, so any bird predictions are a little uncertain, but here is how it looks at the moment.

Tonight (Thursday April 28) the wind was still strong out of the west-southwest at dusk. With overcast skies and wind shifting to west, it’s not a great night for migration, so some of the hordes of birds present today should stick around. By mid-morning Friday, the winds are supposed to shift toward the west-northwest. Those winds (not conducive to local migration) are supposed to continue through Friday evening, shifting to more northwest and then north during the night – and then swinging back around to southwest and then south just before dawn on Saturday! That might sound as if it would merely leave the birds confused; but forecasts show a low-pressure area approaching from the west and a high-pressure area moving off eastward over the Appalachians, and between them a sustained flow of air from the south. So despite the seemingly contrary winds for much of Friday night, I’m guessing that we’ll have a good arrival of new birds on Saturday morning. Saturday should be a good day to be outdoors, too, with diminished winds and fairly warm temperatures. Sunday may produce even more migrants, but it’s also likely to rain again, so that’s a factor to take into account.

Okay, so what has been around? Thursday 4/28 produced a phenomenal movement of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers and excellent numbers of Palm Warblers, to go with the abundant Yellow-rumped Warblers. Based on what I saw and on reports from others, at least 23 warbler species were present between Magee Marsh and Metzger Marsh on this day, with highlights including Yellow-throated Warbler at both sites and Kentucky, Hooded, and Prairie warblers at Magee. These four warblers are all “overflight” species: they nest mostly to the south of us, and they often show up on the lake shore in late April when they overshoot or overfly their breeding range. (Several years ago, Mark Shieldcastle dubbed the late April wave the “Overflight Wave” because of the predictable occurrence of these southerners.)

Northern Parula at Metzger Marsh, April 28, 2011. photo/Kenn Kaufman.

In addition to the warblers, medium-sized songbirds like Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Scarlet Tanager, and Baltimore Oriole have shown up, and there have been big daytime flights of Blue Jays. Broad-winged and Sharp-shinned hawks are widespread as single birds, perhaps wind-scattered. I saw a Black Vulture, rare in n.w. Ohio, flying north over the town of Oak Harbor during strong winds on Wednesday April 27. The Tricolored Heron found by Sherrie Duris several days ago was seen as recently as Thursday morning along the causeway at Metzger Marsh.

If you’re coming into the area this weekend, the best strategy for seeing a lot of birds would be to spend time in multiple locations. The boardwalk at Magee Marsh and the woodlot at the end of the road at Metzger Marsh are obvious spots, but the area around BSBO headquarters (just north of Route 2 at the entrance to Magee) has been very active, and the woods behind the visitors’ center at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge should be hopping as well – especially if the wind shifts to the north. East Harbor State Park, just east of Port Clinton, is often jammed with migrants at this time of year, but I haven’t had a chance to check yet. In windy conditions, the downwind side of the woods is likely to have more birds; on a chilly but sunny morning, the birds are likely to be in the areas of the trees that sunlight hits first.

The gift shop / window on wildlife at Black Swamp Bird Observatory will be open essentially every day from now through the end of May; if you’re birding in the area, we’d be pleased if you would stop by and tell us what you’ve seen. Remember that you can download our birding maps for several local sites from the section of the BSBO birding pages titled “Birding hotspots: directions and maps.”

4/27 should be big

2011-04-26T23:41:00.000-04:00

Late evening Tuesday, 4/26: As reported earlier today, this turned out to be a major day for migrants all over n.w. Ohio. Huge numbers of Myrtle (Yellow-rumped) Warblers were around, and one Audubon's Yellow-rumped was found near the west entrance to the boardwalk at Magee Marsh. This western form (which probably will be treated as a full species again in the future) is very rare in Ohio, and I can't resist pointing out that it showed up on John James Audubon's birthday! Other notables at the boardwalk area included Kentucky Warbler (on the boardwalk near number 27) and Blue Grosbeak (near the west end of the Crane Creek beach).

Myrtle Warblers swamped everything else in numbers today, but other birds present in numbers included Blue Jays (which stage a massive migration here each spring), Palm Warblers, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and Ruby-crowned Kinglets. Scarlet Tanagers and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks put in their first appearance of the year locally. Warblers that I saw or heard about at either Magee or Metzger Marsh were Blue-winged, Tennessee, Orange-crowned, Nashville, Northern Parula, Yellow, Cape May, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, Yellow-throated, Pine, Palm, Black-and-white, Ovenbird, Kentucky, and Com. Yellowthroat. Seventeen warbler species is a good total for this early in the season, and a big jump from the day before!

Tonight (Tuesday night) a lot of birds are moving, as indicated on the Nexrad radar images from Cleveland and Cincinnati. There may be a lot of turnover before morning, but tomorrow (Wednesday 4/27) could be a very big day. Mark Shieldcastle pointed out this evening that the conditions looked classic for bringing in a lot of birds from the south.

From the Weather Channel, here are conditions just before 6 p.m. Tuesday. The low-pressure area centered over eastern Iowa / n.w. Illinois and a high-pressure area off the screen in the Atlantic are contributing to the air flow from the south, which is clearly coming all the way up from the Gulf. There will be areas of rain overnight, but not enough to shut down the migration.

Also from the Weather Channel, here's a graphical presentation of those winds just before 6 p.m. -- strong winds out of the south, heading right up through our area. Although the wind speed slowed down considerably after dark, the overall flow is the same. It's almost certain that Wednesday morning will produce a major number of birds in northern Ohio. There may be stormy weather in the morning, but in between showers there could be a ton of migrants to sift through.

Update: 4/26, migrant wave

2011-04-26T10:45:00.000-04:00

Tuesday morning, April 26: Although the weather still was not looking good for migration as recently as midnight last night, a front came in from the south and there is a good arrival this morning along the Lake Erie shoreline. Mark Shieldcastle reports that the main BSBO research site (Navarre unit of Ottawa NWR, just east of Magee Marsh) is experiencing big numbers of Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers, along with a good scattering of other birds such as Yellow-throated Vireo, Pine Warbler, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker -- and, as the day warms up, lots of Broad-winged Hawks. In Oak Harbor, 8 miles south of the lake shore, numbers of White-throated Sparrows and Gray Catbirds have appeared in areas where they weren't present yesterday. According to Mark Shieldcastle's analysis of the weather, "The front has stalled just south of the lake but major movement normally balloons in front of the big warm fronts ... birds are falling out along the front and north of it. These birds normally "filter" migrate during the day on atmospheric situations like today. So that means get out whenever you can today as new arrivals will be making their appearance all day."

The current south winds are supposed to continue today, tonight, and tomorrow, and there could be even more migrants around tomorrow (Wednesday 4/27). But tomorrow could also produce a lot of heavy rain, and it's also possible that many birds will move out overnight and fewer will move in to take their places. The variables in weather make the migration forecast tricky at best! So if it's possible for you to get out today, go for it; don't put it off until tomorrow.

Next migrant wave 4/27 or later?

2011-04-24T23:56:00.000-04:00

Late evening Sunday, April 24: In an earlier post, I had suggested that we might have a good arrival of migrants in n.w. Ohio on Tuesday, April 26. That still might happen, but the latest weather forecast is making it look less likely. The latest prediction shows a lot of rain overnight Monday night, and winds mostly from the east, not shifting to southeast until shortly before dawn Tuesday. That’s not a good formula for a big overnight arrival of migrants.

Winds are supposed to be southerly on Tuesday and through Tuesday night. We may have a lot of rain and even strong thunderstorms during the day, but overnight it appears there may be a lot less rain. With southerly winds and a break in the rain, a lot of migrants could be moving, especially if there are clear skies anywhere to the south of us. So at the moment, it looks as if Wednesday April 27 could be a moderately good day in the migrant traps along the Lake Erie shoreline. A lot of species could put in their first appearance of the season. At the moment, diversity of warblers and other tropical migrants is a little lower than expected for this date, but that will change in a hurry as soon as a wave arrives.

Looking a little farther ahead, we’ll have rain and shifting winds off and on this week, but there’s a chance that Saturday could offer very good birding. According to some forecasts, by late Friday a large high-pressure area may have moved off to the east of us, with a couple of low-pressure areas lined up just a little to the west, and these could produce a strong southerly flow coming all the way from the Gulf states Friday night. If that forecast holds, that could be a setup for a really major arrival of birds Saturday morning – a good situation for the many birders who can get out most easily on weekends!

In the meantime, unsettled weather often produces records of interesting birds. Good finds today (Sunday) included a beautiful adult Tricolored Heron found by Sherrie Duris at Metzger Marsh, seen from the second pulloff on the causeway on the way in to the marsh. A Yellow-headed Blackbird was being seen on Veler Road, just west of the n.w. corner of Ottawa NWR (please be respectful of private property if you go to look for this bird!). The Black-necked Stilt and Cattle Egret mentioned in the previous post were both seen again today.

Update April 23: songbirds, raptors

2011-04-23T20:01:00.000-04:00

Saturday, April 23: Mark Shieldcastle, Research Director for Black Swamp Bird Observatory, reports that the main BSBO banding station (on the Navarre Unit of Ottawa NWR, a few miles east of Magee Marsh) had a good push of migrants today. Hermit Thrushes and White-throated Sparrows dominated, but there were 8 species of warblers recorded also. Biggest surprises were a Great Crested Flycatcher and a Northern Parula. Mark reports that Myrtle (Yellow-rumped) Warbler and Ruby-crowned Kinglet were in relatively low numbers; he suggests that they may arrive in force next week, as these are usually among the dominant species in this period. We both have been looking at the weather forecasts to try to figure out what will happen next, and it still appears that Tuesday or Wednesday, the 26th or 27th, may produce a good arrival of songbird migrants.

To see results of the banding operation at Navarre, go to:
http://www.bsbo.org/passerine/spring_passerine_migration_monitoring.htm

As expected with the warm temperatures and southwest winds, a good hawk flight developed by the middle of the day today. Conditions were right for these migrating raptors – moving north on a broad front across Ohio – to concentrate near the lake shore, moving west-northwest to continue their migration around the west end of Lake Erie at Toledo. I spent the period from about 1:10 to 3:40 p.m. today on the observation tower (“hawkwatch tower”) near the Sportsmen’s Migratory Bird Center at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, and counted the following apparent migrants:

Turkey Vulture 55 (see note below)
Osprey 3
Bald Eagle 4 (immatures – didn’t count the resident nesting pair)
Sharp-shinned Hawk 47
Cooper’s Hawk 19
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Broad-winged Hawk 11 (see note below)
Red-tailed Hawk 5 (evident migrants – didn’t count apparent local residents)
Merlin 1
The tally of Turkey Vultures and Broad-winged Hawks certainly would have been higher if I had been counting a little earlier and/or a little farther south. Around 12:30 p.m. I saw significant numbers of both along State Route 2 between SR 19 and the entrance to Magee Marsh. They were moving west, more or less paralleling the highway. It’s my impression that some of the soaring raptors may tend to stay south of the open marshes on these windy days. Other birds, such as some of the Accipiters, may follow lines of trees right through the heart of the marsh region, while still others follow the immediate lake shore itself. Therefore, even on good days, the migrating raptors may be spread out somewhat in the areas where marshes line the lake shore (Magee, Ottawa, Metzger, Mallard Club, Cedar Point NWR). To the west of there, where the marshes are less extensive and the end of the lake may be in sight for a flying bird, the raptors may be more concentrated in a narrow band near the shore. If anyone was counting at Maumee Bay State Park today, I expect their hawk totals will have been higher, but I haven't heard reports yet.

In other area news, the Black-necked Stilt on Benton-Carroll Road just south of State Route 2 was there again today. Sherrie Duris reported a Cattle Egret and a flock of American Golden-Plovers along the entrance road to Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area.

Again, Mark Shieldcastle and I have both independently suggested that this Tuesday or Wednesday, April 26 or 27, may produce a major arrival of migrants. But for those who want to brave the weather and get out before then, there are already good numbers of birds in the general area.

Easter Weekend outlook (April 23-24)

2011-04-21T17:02:00.000-04:00

Thursday, April 21, 2011: We’re entering the period when the first really big wave of migrants from Neotropical regions could arrive in n.w. Ohio. The weather forecasts for the next few days hold out the possibility that we might have a moderate arrival of birds on Saturday, the 23rd, although my best guess at the moment is that we’re more likely to have big numbers next Tuesday, the 26th. The uncertainty about Saturday is because of doubts about conditions to the south of us. Winds may be favorable Friday night, for at least part of the night, but major rain to the south of us could shut down most of the small birds that are nocturnal migrants. Regardless, the winds are likely to be from the west-southwest on Saturday afternoon, and if they are, we may see the last really good hawk flight of the season in areas near the lake shore.

Even if no big wave of new birds arrives for the weekend, there are interesting early-season migrants around now. Today I made a brief pass through the Magee Marsh boardwalk to assess the situation. Birds were scarce near the west end of the boardwalk (perhaps because of strong west winds yesterday) but fairly numerous in sheltered areas near the east end.

For reference to the numbered spots mentioned below, see our map of the boardwalk on the main BSBO birding pages under “Birding Hotspots: directions and maps.” A pair of Eastern Phoebes appears to be attempting to nest again under the observation tower at the west end (between numbers 2 and 3). Hermit Thrushes are now widespread along the boardwalk, especially toward the east end. A somewhat early Wood Thrush was photographed by Ryan Lesniewicz, and later seen by several of us, foraging close to the boardwalk between numbers 29 and 32. Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned kinglets, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and Brown Creepers are present in fair numbers, mainly toward the east side. Small numbers of Winter Wrens are present – a tiny bird seen disappearing UNDER the boardwalk is likely to be this species – and a few House Wrens have arrived. A couple of Eastern Towhees are being seen consistently toward the west end, near number 6, and a few small groups of White-throated Sparrows are roaming through the woods. Rusty Blackbirds are past their peak migration but a few can still be heard; a good area for actually seeing them is near numbers 12 to 14, where there is some shallow water on both sides of the boardwalk.

With the trees not yet leafed out, it’s still easy to watch the sky from the boardwalk. Today we saw four Sandhill Cranes fly over near number 28, headed out toward the Magee causeway. Tree Swallows are up to their usual summer abundance, and Bank Swallows have returned and may be seen over the parking lot. Large numbers of Lesser Scaup and Ruddy Duck were still just offshore today.

The best local find today was by Barb Padgett, who spotted a Black-necked Stilt in flooded fields just south of State Route 2 and just east of Benton-Carroll Road (half a mile east of the Magee Marsh entrance road). If you go to look for this, exercise extreme caution – do not stop or slow down on S.R. 2! With care, you can check out the area by turning down Benton-Carroll road (there is room for a couple of cars to park on the west side, a couple of hundred yards south of S.R. 2).

Again, the outlook for this weekend is still up in the air – I’ll update if the weather forecast is clarified. The birding could be anything from fair to excellent. Next Tuesday might be a big day, but it should be easier to predict as we get closer to the time.

Weekend outlook, April 16-17

2011-04-15T12:12:00.000-04:00

April 15: We are definitely into the season of full-on migration, with new species appearing practically every day. The birds arriving now are mostly those that winter in the southeastern U.S., but a few of the long-distance migrants from deep in the tropics are starting to show up.

The weather word for the next few days is "unsettled." A strong low-pressure area, currently centered over the Kansas City region, is expected to track toward the northeast, passing north of our area over the weekend. Local conditions over the weekend are likely to be windy (winds near 20 mph), with some periods of rain, and temperatures not rising past the mid-50s. But birders who get out and look are probably going to see a lot of early migrants and perhaps some rarities.

As of Friday morning, April 15, local winds are from the east or east-northeast. Winds should shift to the southeast during the night, and to the south or southwest for much of the day Saturday. Rain is very likely late Friday night and early Saturday morning. By early Saturday afternoon, with south winds and an end to the rain, we may see a moderate movement of birds of prey along the Lake Erie shoreline. Magee Marsh, Metzger Marsh, and Maumee Bay State Park would all be good vantage points. Saturday night will probably produce some more rain, and winds will shift more toward the west by Sunday morning, but Sunday should be mostly clear. Depending on exact wind direction on Sunday, it could also produce some raptor migration along the lake shore: more if the wind is more southwesterly, less if it's directly from the west, so check the wind before you decide to go hawkwatching.

The auto tour at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge will be open on Saturday, the 16th. Two American White Pelicans were seen at the refuge on April 13th (near the Crane Creek estuary) and a male Eurasian Wigeon was found on April 9-10 on MS 8b, which is the first major impoundment to your right as you begin the auto tour route. These birds may still be in the area, and Ottawa usually holds some surprises at this time of year.

Although I don't expect any big waves of songbird migrants to arrive over the next couple of days, there are already many birds in the area, and both days this weekend should provide good birding if you stick to the downwind sides of the woodlots. Sparrow numbers and variety are excellent. Seven sparrow species were at the feeders at Black Swamp Bird Observatory on April 14. There are still surprising numbers of Fox Sparrows around (mainly in thickets very close to the lake) and American Tree Sparrows are still widespread, while we're seeing a good arrival of Chipping, Field, and Swamp sparrows at the woods and marshes, and Savannah and Vesper sparrows in more open country.

Purple Finches have been widespread in the area during the last few days, and we're seeing a decent passage of Winter Wren, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Towhee, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Hermit Thrush, and other typical early migrants. Rusty Blackbirds are past their peak but still present. Both kinglet species are around, although they seem to be in surprisingly low numbers. Many local breeders are arriving back on territory, including Brown Thrasher, Barn and Northern Rough-winged swallows, and Purple Martins.

The warblers, the stars of the show in May, are just now appearing. At least 9 species have been reported in nw Ohio during the last week, mostly in very small numbers. In addition to Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers, of course, this early part of the migration is good for Pine and Palm warblers, and some others such as Black-and-white Warbler and Black-throated Green Warbler have shown up as scattered singles. The first Prothonotary Warblers should be here any day now. The latter part of April is the best time in spring to look for Orange-crowned Warbler. This is also the season for "overflight" species: warblers that nest to the south of us, which sometimes overshoot their nesting territories and show up here. Louisiana Waterthrush is annual in April in swampy spots along the Magee Marsh boardwalk, and other "southern" warblers such as Hooded, Worm-eating, Prairie, and Yellow-throated are worth watching for.

Finally, with all the unsettled weather and with winds shifting to the west by Sunday, it would be a good idea to check the lakeshore and open water areas for stray birds such as Franklin's Gull or American Avocet. Wherever you go, have a superb time, and please consider stopping by BSBO to let us know what you've seen.

Raptors & other migrants coming 3/17

2011-03-16T14:00:00.004-04:00

Red-shouldered Hawk migrating over Magee Marsh during March. This is the best month for seeing this species near the Lake Erie shoreline.

Migration is in full swing, and it appears that Thursday, March 17, should be a good day for seeing migrants, especially birds of prey, in northwestern Ohio and nearby areas.

As of Wednesday afternoon, March 16, a high-pressure area is centered over the southeastern U.S., and the flow of air around that high is bringing in warm air from the southwest toward Ohio. That air flow should continue overnight, with skies at least partly clear, encouraging early migrants to move north. I expect traditional early birds like Tree Swallow and Eastern Phoebe to be around on 3/17. Numbers of migrant sparrows are already growing, with a big push of Song Sparrows during the last few days, and there should be many Fox Sparrows around for the next couple of weeks. Numbers of Rusty Blackbirds are increasing -- northwest Ohio represents one of the major stopover areas for this declining species, and we have a good opportunity to study it here. Hermit Thrush, Pectoral Sandpiper, and American Pipit are other birds to be watching for right now.

On Thursday 3/17, temperatures locally should climb into the 50s, with continuing south-southwest winds. This is a classic setup for a good flight of raptors (birds of prey) near the Lake Erie shoreline in northwest Ohio. We never get massive numbers of raptors, such as those sometimes seen in fall migration at the northwest corner of the lake; but by spending a while watching from a good vantage point, we can sometimes see a decent variety. One standard lookout is the "hawk watch tower" (observation tower) near the Sportsmens Migratory Bird Center on the way in to Magee Marsh Wildlife Area; another is the sledding hill at Maumee Bay State Park. But any open area with a good view of the sky, within a mile of the shoreline, may be a good vantage point.

Mid-March is a little before the peak of raptor migration but it still offers some good possibilities. Our healthy population of local nesting Bald Eagles is aumented by numbers of migrants passing through in early spring. March is the main month for migrating Red-shouldered Hawks. Northern Harriers, Rough-legged Hawks, and Cooper's Hawks may all be on the move. (By contrast, Broad-winged Hawk and Sharp-shinned Hawk mostly move later, in April.) Northern Goshawk is always extremely rare here, but conditions like those expected tomorrow could at least produce an outside chance.

If you get out to watch for passing raptors, you may spot other birds on the move as well. Sandhill Cranes are actively migrating now. Ace birder Karl Overman saw a Whooping Crane fly over Maumee Bay State Park on March 14, undoubtedly a bird from the reintroduced Wisconsin flock. Randy Kreager found a Yellow-headed Blackbird on Krause Road several days ago, and this bird is probably wandering the area with the mixed blackbird flocks. And with migration under way, there's no telling what else you might find.

Spring migration is on now!

2011-03-02T13:16:00.006-05:00

March 2, 2011: Here in "The Warbler Capital of the World," the first substantial waves of warblers won't be arriving for another 6 or 7 weeks, and the peak of warbler migration is still more than 2 months away. But other signs of spring are unmistakable. They remind us that this region has a lot more to offer than just warblers.

Here's a brief rundown of some current happenings, arranged by group:

Waterfowl: Ducks, geese, and swans are moving into the region in big numbers. They're not at peak numbers yet, and they're not concentrated -- many of them are spread out over a large area of flooded farm fields, north and south of Route 2 in Lucas and Ottawa counties. Scattered flocks of hundreds of Tundra Swans are widespread, and smaller groups may be seen flying over anywhere. (There are also Trumpeter Swans and Mute Swans in the area, but a really large flock invariably will be mostly Tundras.)

Sherrie Duris saw a flock of nearly 30 Greater White-fronted Goose ( a large number for this region) on Stange Road just south of Rt. 2 on 2/28. Others saw smaller groups on Krause / Stange Roads, and I saw small flocks flying over Metzger Marsh and the Magee Marsh causeway on 3/1. During the last few days, small flocks of Snow Geese have been seen at Metzger, the Magee causeway, and in flooded fields in the region, and Brian Zwiebel saw at least two Ross's Geese at Maumee Bay State Park on 2/28. Large numbers of Canada Geese are now everywhere, and it's worth checking their flocks for Cackling Geese; I saw 2 (loosely associated with Canadas) on the ice at Metzger Marsh on 3/1.

Numbers of ducks are still increasing, and the big arrival of Wood Ducks and others is still ahead, but many Northern Pintails are moving in. There is still enough ice along the Lake Erie shoreline that viewing is poor at many lakeshore sites. At Bayshore Power Plant and Bayshore Park in the city of Oregon (just west of Maumee Bay State Park), there is plenty of open water holding large numbers of Canvasbacks, Redheads, Common Mergansers, and others. One or more Long-tailed Ducks have been seen here recently, and a Red-necked Grebe was seen from the boat launch near Bayshore Power Plant on 2/26 and 2/27.

Turkey Vultures: A few started showing up in the area in mid-February. The first really large movement was on March 1, with moderate SSW winds concentrating the birds near the lakeshore. Around 5 p.m. on 3/1, I watched straggling groups of Turkey Vultures totalling about 220 moving from east to west near the lake at Maumee Bay State Park -- a big number for this early date.

Birds of Prey: There are still scattered Rough-legged Hawks in the area; I've seen them recently on Krause / Stange Roads and at Maumee Bay State Park. Migration of other raptors should crank up soon. On any day with southwest winds, from now through April, it's worthwhile to find a vantage point near Lake Erie and watch for passing raptors. The observation tower at Magee Marsh and the sledding hill at Maumee Bay S.P. are two particularly good hawkwatch spots. Incidentally, I saw a Merlin at the Magee Marsh causeway on 3/1, and Chris Knoll had seen it there a day or two earlier ... an odd sighting for this season.

Shorebirds: Killdeers have arrived in force within the last few days, and the first American Woodcocks were heard at BSBO and Maumee Bay on the evening of 3/1. Wilson's Snipes should be arriving now, and the first Pectoral Sandpipers should show up in flooded fields soon.

Short-eared Owl: At least three are still present along the Magee Marsh causeway, spending most of their time in the southern part. They are very unlikely to be seen during most of the daylight hours. Near sunset they appear, flying around over the marsh with oddly deep, floppy wingbeats. In most years, these wintering birds will stay at least through March.

Crows: Flocks of dozens of American Crows are currently being seen in places near the lakeshore, such as Magee Marsh, Metzger Marsh, and Maumee Bay. This is actually a migratory movement; for most of the year, crows are distinctly scarce in this area.

Northern Shrike: A single bird along the Magee Marsh causeway is being much more elusive this year than in past winters; its main hunting areas must be well away from the road. Scott Hites has seen it a few times, and I finally saw it on 3/1 (flying across the causeway at about the halfway point, and flying straight to the west and out of sight). Based on past records, it could still be around through most of March.

Blackbirds: When Randy Kreager and I went out to the Magee causeway on 2/27, we saw an unmistakable sign of spring: the male Red-winged Blackbirds were scattered out over the frozen marsh, one here, one there, staking out their nesting territories. Other Red-wings are still in flocks, of course, big numbers of Common Grackles are moving in, and we should see a good arrival of Rusty Blackbirds very soon.

There is still some wintry weather ahead, of course. But from now through the end of May there will be new signs of spring every day, so it's a great season to get out and go birding just as often as you can!

Sabine's Gull 11/25 at Metzger, plus access to Magee Marsh

2010-11-25T11:56:00.003-05:00

On Thursday, November 25, Delores Cole reports that the Sabine's Gull is still present at Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area, still providing good looks from the area of the parking lot at the end of the road at around 10:30 a.m. See previous posts for more information.

Delores (along with observers Bill and Ann Toneff) also saw large flocks of Snow Buntings along the entrance road into Metzger. The fields on the north side of the entrance road, just after the turnoff from State Route 2, are often very good for open-country birds like Snow Buntings, Lapland Longspurs, Horned Larks, blackbirds, etc., and are always worth a look.

On a different listserve, I received a question about access to the causeway at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area (where a Northern Shrike has probably settled in for the winter). According to information from the Ohio Division of Wildlife, the causeway and the areas beyond (boardwalk and wildlife beach) will be open to the public on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 27, and all day Sunday, Nov. 28. These areas will be closed the rest of the time for the next week and a half, through Friday, December 3. Then they should be open on Saturday, December 4, and for the rest of December. So if anyone is considering coming up to look at the Sabine's Gull -- it may not stick around after today -- it has already stayed longer than most previous Sabine's in Ohio. But if you can't get here until Saturday, looking for the Northern Shrike on Saturday afternoon would be an additional possibility.

Sabine's Gull at Metzger 11/24

2010-11-24T09:50:00.002-05:00

The Sabine's Gull at Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area, mentioned in the previous post, is still present as of about 9 a.m. on Wednesday, November 24. Thanks to Erik Bruder for getting the word out quickly. The wind and the cold front that came through yesterday don't seem to have pushed the bird out, but this is a species that nests in the high Arctic, after all.

Sabine's Gull at Metzger Marsh

2010-11-23T10:23:00.004-05:00

A juvenile Sabine's Gull turned up at Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area on the afternoon of Sunday, November 21. Sabine's Gull is a very rare migrant in Ohio; records are now almost annual along the Lake Erie shoreline in the eastern half of the state, but there are very few records for the region between Toledo and Sandusky. Sabine's Gulls found in fall are often seen for only very brief periods, but this individual actually has stayed for more than a day, and it is still present on Tuesday morning, November 23.

See our map of Metzger Marsh (under "birding hotspots: directions and maps" on the BSBO birding pages) if you're not familiar with the area. The road in to the wildlife area ends at a parking lot on the edge of Lake Erie, with a concrete fishing pier extending out into the lake. The Sabine's Gull has been spending time in the area just east of this pier. Part of the time it rests on the water out on the lake, often with Bonaparte's Gulls, at which time the Sabine's can be picked out by its much darker upperparts. Occasionally it gets up and flies around, showing its spectacular wing pattern.

When I first found the bird I was afraid that it would not even stay long enough for anyone else to see it. Now that it has stayed for more than 24 hours, there is a chance that it will stick around for a few more days. I'll try to post updates here as they become available.

Northern Shrike, Rough-legged Hawk, and other birds near Magee Marsh

2010-11-07T20:13:00.003-05:00

At least one Northern Shrike has returned to the causeway that runs north across the marsh at Magee Marsh. This has been a reliable site to find the species for the last couple of winters. This afternoon (Sunday Nov. 7) I saw an apparent adult near the north end of the causeway (closest to the beach), and then later in the afternoon I saw one in flight near the south end of the causeway -- likely the same individual, but not necessarily.

Birders who want to look for this shrike will have to wait until next weekend. At this season the road in to Magee Marsh Wildlife Area is closed for waterfowl hunting on weekdays and on Saturday mornings. But it is open on Saturday afternoons (after about 12:30) and all day Sunday, and it's well worth a visit then.

This afternoon I took advantage of the opportunity to check out the causeway and the east (wildlife) beach at Magee. The beach yielded nothing rare, but it held a good number of typical late-fall birds, including 13 Fox Sparrows, 9 American Tree Sparrows, 60 Rusty Blackbirds, and a Winter Wren. Along the causeway there were still Swamp Sparrows, and fair numbers of American Coots and Pied-billed Grebes. Three flocks of migrating Tundra Swans (totalling 31 birds) flew over headed west to east; the next couple of weeks will be an excellent time to watch for migrating swans anywhere in northern Ohio.

At about 3:30 this afternoon, a Rough-legged Hawk (my first one for the fall) flew past, just north of the parking lot for the Black Swamp Bird Observatory (just north of Route 2, at the entrance to Magee Marsh). It could have been a migrant, but the species does usually winter in this general area, especially over fields on Ottawa NWR just to the west of us. Jeff Gordon, the new president of the American Birding Association, had stopped by BSBO for a brief visit, and he got to see this bird just before he left to continue his drive west -- so the Rough-leg provided a bit of Ohio birding hospitality.

October Shorebirds at Ottawa NWR

2010-10-07T23:48:00.003-04:00

On the afternoon of Thursday, October 7, there was a lot of bird activity at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. For those unfamiliar with ONWR, the comments and directions here will make more sense if you consult the birding map of the trails in the eastern section of the refuge, available through the BSBO birding pages under "Birding hotspots: directions and maps."

The best shorebirding on Oct. 7 was in the Crane Creek estuary. To reach this area, drive straight north from the refuge entrance to the lot marked "East parking for trails" on the map, and hike north from there for about a mile on the dike road alongside the impoundments labelled MS 8b, Pool 2c, and Pool 2b. In about a mile the dike road angles northwest and then southwest, and the estuary becomes visible on the right (north) side, while the open areas of Pool 2b are visible to the left.

Water levels in Crane Creek estuary are very much affected by winds. Southwest winds push water out into Lake Erie and expose good mudflats, while northeast winds push water into the estuary from the lake and raise the water levels, covering the flats. On Oct. 7 there was a moderate amount of open mudflat surface and a lot of shallow water, and 16 shorebird species were present. Highlights were 23 Hudsonian Godwits (all juveniles, as would be expected on this date), 3 Marbled Godwits, 2 Red-necked Phalaropes, 2 Stilt Sandpipers, 6 White-rumped Sandpipers, 32 Black-bellied Plovers, and 2 American Golden-Plovers. Historically, Ottawa NWR probably has been the best place in Ohio to find numbers of Hudsonian Godwits; there are records of over 100 in a day there in late September and early October, although normally it's unusual for us in Ohio to see more than a dozen at a time.

Other water birds of interest on the estuary or on Pool 2b included 2 Snowy Egrets (getting late), about 190 Northern Pintails, about 450 Ruddy Ducks, and 7 Ring-necked Ducks (slightly early).

Songbird migrants were abundant in the woodlot adjacent to the parking lot and in the shrubbery along the dike roads, with big numbers of kinglets, Yellow-rumped Warblers, White-crowned and White-throated sparrows, and a scattering of other birds such as Winter Wrens, Swamp Sparrows, and Blackpoll Warblers. The southeastern corner of Pool 2b is often particularly good for migrants, and this area had Orange-crowned Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Fox Sparrow, and Rusty Blackbird, among other things.

This Sunday, October 10, the auto tour at the refuge will be open. (Incidentally, the usual route for the auto tour doesn't come close to the Crane Creek estuary, so hiking out there would be a separate activity.) Also this Sunday, the Ohio Young Birders Club will be holding a "Big Sit" at Ottawa NWR from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and any interested birder is invited to stop by and join them. More information is here:

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck at Pipe Creek

2010-08-13T23:01:00.003-04:00

Friday, August 13, 2010: Today, ace birder Larry Richardson (former director of the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center, and former board member of BSBO) found a Black-bellied Whistling-Duck at Pipe Creek Wildlife Area, on the east side of Sandusky, Ohio. This strikingly patterned tropical and subtropical duck is known to wander, and indeed there had been records from some surrounding states and provinces within the last few weeks. The bird was seen by a number of birders during the day, and was still present in the evening. It was associating with Mallards on a small island near the north dike of the wildlife area (on Unit B, as shown on the map linked below).

Pipe Creek is at the base of the causeway that goes out to the Cedar Point amusement park. Here are directions from our BSBO birding pages: From U.S. Highway 6 on the east side of Sandusky, turn north on Cedar Point Drive, then turn right at River Avenue (just after the McDonald’s). The small parking lot for Pipe Creek is at the end of River Avenue. Impoundments are good for shorebirds, waterfowl, and wading birds, while the woods hold fallouts of songbirds during migration. Note that traffic going to Cedar Point can be very heavy on warm weekends. For a map of Pipe Creek from Ohio's Division of Wildlife, click here.

Arctic Tern at Maumee Bay State Park

2010-08-11T20:01:00.004-04:00

Wednesday, August 11, 2010: Maumee Bay State Park, on the Lake Erie shoreline in Lucas County just east of Toledo, Ohio, is a superb place to study terns in late summer and early fall. The concentration of Common and Forster's terns there often reaches 200-300 individuals, offering a fine opportunity to compare their plumages, shapes, and flight patterns.

I went to the park today mostly to look at juvenile Ring-billed Gulls, but while I was there I scanned through the flock and was surprised to find an adult Arctic Tern resting with the Common and Forster's terns. This species is generally quite rare in the interior of eastern North America; Ohio had only a few previous records. The Arctic Tern was present for at least half an hour, long enough for me to shoot some photos and call some other birders, but by the time anyone else arrived, the bird had disappeared. Fortunately it came back in mid-afternoon, and many other birders got to see it late in the day.

Field guide treatments may emphasize bill colors: usually solid red on adult Arctic Tern, red with a black tip on Common Tern. However, many adult Commons in late summer become entirely red-billed. The Arctic Tern present today, however, had a very dark bill, which is an uncommon phenomenon for so early in the season but more expected later on in fall.

Here are some photos and some discussion of how today's bird was identified.

While standing, this bird was noticeable by its overall dark gray look and its short legs, but these are both tricky points. Both Common and Arctic terns vary in their overall shade of gray, and Common Tern can look shorter-legged depending on its posture and the position of its feathers. To confirm the I.D., it's very helpful to see flight pattern.

Here, with the bird taking off, we can see that all of its primaries are about the same shade of gray on the upperside, rather than having the outer primaries much darker than the inner ones. And the trailing edge of the primaries (outer part of the wing) is traced by a narrow black line. On Common Tern, there is a broader, smeary dark trailing edge but it involves the tips of fewer feathers.

Here's another angle showing the relatively uniform color on the upperside of the wing and the narrow black trailing edge on the whitish underside of the wingtip, as well as the strong wash of gray on the underparts. Notice also that the wings appear to be set far forward on the body, an illusion enhanced by the small head and long tail.

This photo compares the Arctic Tern (above) with a Common Tern, perhaps a two-year-old bird rather than a full adult, with a different shape and different wing pattern.

With practice, the wing pattern of Arctic Tern can be seen from a number of different angles.

In this photo, the Arctic Tern is seen flying with several Common and Forster's terns. The differences in shape and wing pattern are evident here.

Migration update May 28

2010-05-28T18:50:00.004-04:00

Friday, May 28: After the good numbers of migrants last weekend in the woodlots near Lake Erie, things were gradually trailing off from Monday through Thursday of this week, and then dropped off sharply today. The weather has been very warm all week, so even though the winds have not been favorable for migration, birds obviously have been continuing their northward trek.

Up through mid-week, there were still good numbers of such typical late migrants as Wilson's, Blackpoll, and Canada warblers, American Redstarts, Swainson's Thrushes, Red-eyed Vireos, Yellow-billed Cuckoos, and Least, Yellow-bellied, Willow, and Alder flycatchers. By today (Friday), only the cuckoos were really in evidence. This doesn't mean that the migration is over: some birds like Swainson's Thrush and Wilson's Warbler should still be passing through as late as June 5. But evidently a lot of birds left on Thursday night, and (perhaps because of thunderstorms that came through the area very late) no new birds came in to replace them.

The most sought-after migrant at this season is that elusive skulker, Connecticut Warbler. There were reliable reports each day this week, from the boardwalk at Magee Marsh or from the boardwalk behind the nature center at Maumee Bay State Park, but none of these birds proved cooperative for numbers of birders to see them. The only individual that I heard about today (Friday May 28) was along the Magee boardwalk near number 5.

Looking at the weather predictions for tonight and for the next few days, I don't see any conditions that would produce huge numbers of late migrants, although there undoubtedly will be some minor pushes of migrants during the next week or ten days. If you're in the area and want to look for Connecticut Warbler, my best advice is to walk quietly on trails inside the woods (like the Magee boardwalk, trails at Ottawa Natl Wildlife Refuge, Maumee Bay State Park) and keep watching wherever you can see the ground back in the deep shade. Connecticut Warbler walks slowly and deliberately on the ground, and you just might get lucky and spot one. If you're out early in the morning, you might hear a male singing its choppy song and you might be able to track it down by sound.

Shorebird migration will still be going on for another couple of weeks, if you can find a patch of good habitat. The entrance pool at Ottawa NWR is still worth checking -- Dan Sanders and Doreene Linzell found a Black-necked Stilt there on May 25 -- as is the area of Krause and Stange roads on the southwest edge of the refuge. The beaches at East Harbor State Park and Maumee Bay State Park get some interesting shorebirds, but on this holiday weekend you would have to arrive early before the crowds scare the birds away.

Saturday update, 5/22

2010-05-22T14:34:00.002-04:00

Saturday May 22: Brief update on the current situation in the migrant traps on the Lake Erie shoreline in n.w. Ohio. The Kirtland's Warbler found on the east beach at Magee yesterday has not been refound today. (Incidentally, analysis of photos last night showed that the May 21 bird was definitely a different individual from the one found on May 14.) As of 2 p.m., there hasn't been a cooperative Connecticut Warbler in the area either, but there have been brief looks at a couple of spots, including near 20b and 24b on the Magee boardwalk (see the BSBO map of the boardwalk for specifics) and on the trail behind the Sportsmen's Migratory Bird Center. There are probably multiple individuals in the area, so it's just a matter of patient searching (and luck, of course). The best habitat is probably in the woods behind the visitors' center at Ottawa NWR.

Aside from these two specialty warblers, there has been a good movement of migrants in general in the area, including good numbers of Empidonax flycatchers, Yellow-billed and Black-billed cuckoos, and various late-season warblers like Mourning and Wilson's.

Illustrating the perils of trying to predict bird migration on the basis of weather, none of the weather forecasts for the last two days have turned out to be correct here in n.w. Ohio! The heavy rains predicted for last night failed to materialize, and right now the wind is from the west, even though it was supposed to be out of the south all day. So this should be taken with a grain of salt ... but if tonight's weather is as predicted, with light winds from a southerly direction all night, there should be a good arrival of birds on Sunday morning, May 23. Best bets for first thing in the morning would be the woodlots right along the lake shore, such as at Magee, Metzger Marsh, or East Harbor State Park, but later in the day there might be as much action a little farther inland, such as the interior woods at Ottawa NWR.

Incidentally, Jerry Jourdan saw a first-cycle Little Gull at Pt Mouillee in s.e. Michigan this morning, and it was last seen flying east over Lake Erie. If anyone is near the beach at Magee, Metzger Marsh, Maumee Bay State Park, etc., this weekend, it would be worthwhile to take a second look at any gatherings of gulls or terns.

Weekend forecast, 5/22 - 5/23

2010-05-21T18:03:00.003-04:00

Friday, May 21: Predictions for the migration can't be any more accurate than the weather forecasts, and of course sometimes the latter can be a little off. The heavy rain in n.w. Ohio this morning took us by surprise, as most forecasts hadn't predicted it. After the showers cleared off, birders found a few decent birds in the area of Magee Marsh. As mentioned in the previous post, a Kirtland's Warbler was found on the east beach (wildlife beach) in early afternoon; it was elusive part of the time, but part of the time it was allowing good views, even through late afternoon. It was being seen about 100 yards east from the entrance to the beach (see BSBO map of Magee for clarification). A Connecticut Warbler was found along the lakefront dike between the boardwalk parking lot and the east beach parking lot, and it skulked in that area, singing occasionally, for several hours midday. There were also reports of another Connecticut along the large eastern loop of the boardwalk.

Looking ahead at the weather forecast, it's hard to tell whether tomorrow (Saturday 5/22) will be a good day. There should be good southerly winds tonight, but there's also a strong chance of rain storms overnight, diminishing around dawn. Depending on just where the rains are located, they could pretty much shut down migration. There's also a chance that the rains will be less widespread than predicted now, and that a lot of migrants could come in from the south and got stopped right here, but that's a long shot. At any rate, rain is supposedly going to stop shortly after dawn, and southerly winds are supposed to continue through Saturday and all night Saturday night. With clear skies and light southerly winds Saturday night, there should be a strong movement of migrants, and there may be a lot of new arrivals on Sunday May 23. At this time of the season, such migrants should include flycatchers like Alder and Yellow-bellied, Red-eyed and Philadelphia vireos, Swainson's and Gray-cheeked thrushes, and Mourning, Canada, and Wilson's warblers -- and if we're lucky, more Connecticut Warblers.

So: hard to tell what the birding will be like on Saturday morning, but if you're really eager to see today's individual Kirtland's or Connecticut warblers, they may stick around for one more day. If you just want to see a different selection of birds, Sunday may have better possibilities. There are still a lot of individual migrants somewhere to the south of us, and they have to come through here (or over us) before too long.

Connecticut & Kirtland's warbler 5/21

2010-05-21T13:24:00.003-04:00

Friday, May 21, at 1:50 pm: At Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, a Connecticut Warbler has been heard and occasionally seen during the last couple of hours, out along the lakefront dike northeast of the boardwalk's east parking lot. As of about 1 p.m., there was a Kirtland's Warbler on the east beach (wildlife beach) at Magee -- this is about a quarter-mile east of the boardwalk parking lot; see the BSBO birding map of Magee for clarification (through the BSBO main birding pages, follow the links for "birding hotspots -- directions and maps"). The Kirtland's was about 100 yards east along the beach from the point where the trail begins.

Next wave 5/21 - 5/22

2010-05-19T17:42:00.002-04:00

Wednesday, May 19: The hard-working guides from Tropical Birding were back out on the boardwalk at Magee Marsh today, finding a decent diversity of birds and more pleasant weather than the last couple of days. Golden-winged Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, and Black-billed Cuckoo were among their highlights. Jim Witter and Shane Roberts also did a census of Magee for the Division of Wildlife today, coming up with 21 warbler species including Orange-crowned, Mourning, and Canada, as well as Philadelphia Vireo and a good variety of flycatchers and thrushes. So there are certainly birds around for those who are willing to search, despite the northerly winds that have prevailed recently.

Tonight a high-pressure system will pass over the area and the wind will shift around during the night. A few new migrants will probably come in (and some of the current crop probably will leave) but I don't expect a big arrival of birds on Thursday, May 20. Friday and Saturday, May 21 and 22, are looking more promising. The weather forecasts are somewhat contradictory so I can't guess which of those two days will be best, but it appears the winds will be mostly southerly on Thursday and Friday nights and there should be at least moderate numbers of birds showing up on Friday and Saturday mornings. This may be the best weekend to find Connecticut Warbler in the migrant traps near Lake Erie. Numbers of the species could be even higher later in the month, but the adult males tend to be the first migrants to appear, and they are more likely to be singing (giving us a fighting chance to find these elusive skulkers).

Update 5/17; next wave 5/21-5/22?

2010-05-17T17:00:00.004-04:00

Monday, May 17: Strong north winds for the last couple of nights seem to have shut down the migration temporarily. At the BSBO main banding station today, a high percentage of the migrants encountered were recaptures from previous days, so birds seem to be staging in the area and waiting for the weather and winds to change. Birders who were out on the trails of Magee Marsh and Ottawa NWR today did manage to find a fair diversity of migrants, including Mourning Warblers lurking in the undergrowth, but wind and rain put a damper on the action during the latter part of the afternoon.

It doesn't appear that Tuesday May 18 will be a good day for birding -- the weather forecast calls for more rain and more north winds. Wednesday the 19th should be more pleasant, as a high-pressure system should pass just to the north of us. The winds won't be right for more migrants to show up on Wednesday. Perhaps this would be a fine day for looking at local nesting birds out at Oak Openings, checking for shorebirds on the Ottawa NWR entrance pool or in the Stange Rd - Krause Rd area, or enjoying the Black Terns and other wetland birds at Metzger Marsh.

Sometime after Wednesday, however, the winds will shift and we'll have another big arrival of birds. I just talked to Mark Shieldcastle, Research Director at BSBO, and he's been looking at the long-term forecast also. We can't tell for sure when the wind is going to change. If the fronts accelerate, we might have south winds Wednesday night and a decent flight on Thursday, but at this point it looks more likely that Friday and Saturday will be the big days -- May 21 and 22. This weekend should be a good time for seeing sought-after flycatchers like Olive-sided, Yellow-bellied, and Alder, and numbers of some of the other late-spring migrants like Red-eyed Vireo and Mourning, Canada, and Wilson's warblers. The next two weeks represent the best time of year to find the elusive Connecticut Warbler, and with favorable flight conditions this coming weekend, we're almost sure to have a few found in this area. I'll keep watching the weather and will try to update the prediction as we get more information.

Saturday 5/15 update

2010-05-15T17:59:00.003-04:00

Saturday, May 15: With the breeze shifting around to the northwest near morning, and then to the north, many birds seemed to have stayed put from Friday. Unfortunately, yesterday's star bird -- the Kirtland's Warbler that had been viewed by over a thousand birders over a period of ten hours plus -- apparently left overnight, as no one could find it today.

Even without that rarity, however, there was a lot of variety in the area. Almost all the expected warblers were seen, including several Mourning Warblers. An Orange-crowned Warbler at Metzger Marsh was on the late side for this species, which usually trickles through here in late April and early May. A Connecticut Warbler was identified in flight over the east beach at Magee, but so far no Connecticuts have been found as viewable stakeouts on the ground. This late migrant is most expected here during the last week of May.

Shorebirds were good today, with Marbled Godwit seen again on the east side of Stange Road (south of the observation platform) and up to three Upland Sandpipers seen from the west side of Stange a little farther south. Other birds on the Stange-Krause roads loop included Black-bellied Plovers, Short-billed Dowitchers, Ruddy Turnstone, Dunlins, both yellowlegs, etc.

With the sky now lightly overcast and the breeze light out of the north, Sunday May 16 should have most of the same birds that were seen today -- that is, probably not many will leave or arrive. Of course, all of us from Black Swamp Bird Observatory, Tropical Birding, Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, and Kaufman Field Guides will be out scouting around for last-minute rarities and good stakeouts, hoping to finish up the Biggest Week In American Birding on a high note.

May 14: spectacular migration plus Kirtland's Warbler

2010-05-14T17:51:00.002-04:00

Friday, May 14: It's never possible to predict big arrivals of migrants with absolute certainty, but the predictions for today turned out to be right on target. This was by far the biggest day of the spring so far in terms of numbers of migrants along the lake shore in n.w. Ohio.

For the last few days we'd been having modest numbers but very good diversity. Today the diversity went up a little and the numbers were at least ten times what they had been. I started off by going to the east beach at Magee Marsh (about half a mile east of the boardwalk; see the BSBO birding map of the Magee area for clarification). The low trees near the beach were hopping with American Redstarts, Gray Catbirds, Least Flycatchers, Magnolia Warblers, Baltimore Orioles, and many other birds. I saw my first good numbers of Indigo Buntings for the spring, several Scarlet Tanagers, and a lot of other migrants including Orchard Oriole, Lincoln's Sparrow, and Mourning and Wilson's Warblers. Diurnal migrants were streaming past: flocks of Eastern Kingbirds, Blue Jays, Cedar Waxwings, and all the expected species of swallows.

At about 9:15 a.m. I was lucky enough to find a male Kirtland's Warbler. I was luckier still that it stayed around: I sent out the word via Twitter and cell phone, hundreds of people arrived during the next four hours while I was there, and it was still being seen after 4:30 pm. The location was along the east (wildlife) beach about 300 yards east of the parking lot. The bird was feeding low for the entire time, sometimes hopping on the ground, sometimes foraging among low branches of sumacs or willows, or even among brush piles. Often it was amazingly easy to see, and several times it flew toward crowds of people and foraged unconcernedly within a few yards of its admirers. I'm sure it was seen by over a thousand birders, and undoubtedly tens of thousands of photos were taken; this is probably the most-photographed Kirtland's Warbler in history!

Of course it's impossible to say whether the bird will still be there Saturday morning, May 15, but I'm sure that people will go to look for it. I will try to get the word out early if it is seen Saturday.

Right now the winds are still out of the west-southwest, and they should be out of the west for most of Friday night, shifting to northwest sometime Saturday. My best guess is that Saturday will have somewhat fewer individual birds than today, but still very large numbers, and lots of variety.

Aside from the excitement of the Kirtland's: I heard about sightings of roughly 30 species of warblers in the general area. Several Mourning Warblers were found in the woods at Ottawa NWR and the Magee boardwalk, and Golden-winged and a "Brewster's" hybrid were found at the latter location. The first C0nnecticut Warblers of the season were found at the BSBO banding station (on a closed section of Ottawa NWR), so the species should show up soon at the Magee boardwalk.

Nine American White Pelicans circled over the Magee - Ottawa area around the middle of the day. A Marbled Godwit was being seen from the observation platform on Stange Road (southwest corner of Ottawa NWR -- see the BSBO map of the refuge) and at least two Yellow-headed Blackbirds were being seen a short distance west of there on Krause Road.

Tomorrow (May 14) still looks good

2010-05-13T17:39:00.002-04:00

Well, we must be in northwest Ohio. The temperature has gone from near freezing a couple of days ago to near 80 right now (late afternoon Thursday May 13) -- there's a strong, hot wind out of the southwest, and Broad-winged Hawks have been passing over the Black Swamp Bird Observatory and other spots near the lake, the last of the raptor migrants making their push through the area. Blue Jays, too, have been blasting by along the lake shore. These diurnal migrants, riding the wind, probably foreshadow what's going to happen with the larger numbers of nocturnal migrants tonight.

There's still rain in the area, and thunderstorms are likely to roll through around 10 pm tonight. But it looks as if southwest or WSW winds will continue for much of the night, switching to west by morning, with chance of rain diminishing after dawn and temperatures cooling down to something moderate in the morning. The wind flow out of the southwest is coming from a long way south, and there are still a LOT of migrant songbirds that haven't made it here yet, so we could have a massive arrival on Friday morning. I know that a lot of us are going to be out there looking! And we'll report as soon as we have an idea of what's going on.

If you can't make it out to the migrant traps on Friday, it looks as if Saturday also could be quite good -- maybe some more arrivals overnight Friday night, with winds shifting around to northwest on Saturday to hold some things in place. And even if huge numbers don't materialize, the overall diversity of migrants in the area is good enough to make for good birding.

Update 5/12, next wave May 14?

2010-05-12T16:26:00.002-04:00

Wednesday May 12: We've reached that point in the spring when some migrants are going to push northward even if conditions for migrating are not favorable. That's the only explanation I can see for the fact that a number of new birds showed up today. Tuesday night there were heavy rains and cool temperatures, and only a brief period during the night when winds were southerly, but today it was obvious that many thrushes had come in overnight. In the woods at Ottawa NWR and Magee Marsh, all five brown thrushes were seen, with numbers of Veery and Swainson's Thrush especially noticeable. White-crowned Sparrows and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks also appeared to have increased in numbers. Once again, the numbers of individual warblers were only moderate, but the variety of warbler species was excellent.

As of late afternoon Wednesday, winds are from the northeast, it's raining to the south of us, and rain is very likely tonight and tomorrow. I don't expect that many migrants are going to come in tonight. On Thursday rain is likely for much of the day, especially late morning and afternoon, and the forecast calls for possibly severe storms in late afternoon and early evening. So the migrants that were around today are likely to still be here tomorrow, but if you're pursuing them, be prepared to dodge rain showers.

On Thursday evening, even though scattered showers will continue, temperatures will be warmer and winds are predicted to be out of the south for most of the night. Also, it appears that there won't be a lot of rain to the south of us, so migrants that have been dammed up to the south will probably be moving this direction. It's too early to say for sure, but this could be a setup for a big arrival of migrants on Friday, May 14. It will depend on exactly where the rain showers are located late at night on Thursday, but if we get lucky, we could have a major influx of the second wave of warblers and other neotropical migrants on Friday. Keep your fingers crossed!

May 10 migrants, predictions for May 11 and 12

2010-05-10T16:59:00.002-04:00

Monday May 10: Once again, the woodlots in the area featured modest numbers of migrants but excellent variety, with well over 20 species of warblers, many allowing very close views. Today once again the best warbler spot was the boardwalk at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area. Highlights reported from there by the guides from Tropical Birding included Golden-winged Warbler and Philadelphia Vireo (mostly near the small loop near numbers 7 and 7A), Pine Warbler (mostly near the west entrance to the boardwalk), Wilson's Warbler (near number 25), and two Mourning Warblers (in the vicinity of number 15 to 18). At the small spur jutting south near number 10, a Prothonotary Warbler appeared to be competing with a House Wren for a choice nest site, and the brilliant golden "swamp warbler" was affording fabulous views. For all of these locations on the boardwalk, see our map available through the main birding pages -- go to http://www.bsbo.org/Birding/ and follow the links for "birding hotspots -- directions and maps."

The last couple of days have been unseasonably chilly, with northerly winds keeping the migrants in place (and keeping them low, where they're easy to see). According to current weather forecasts, rain is supposed to move into the area very late Monday night, and on Tuesday it will almost certainly rain during the morning and perhaps into early afternoon before clearing up. (All the more reason to come to Ottawa NWR visitors' center at 11 a.m. to hear Paul Baicich, one of the country's top bird experts, talk about "The ten most important things you can do for birds and bird conservation.") By late afternoon, after the rain stops, the migrants in the woods at Ottawa NWR and Magee should be very active and very visible. Tuesday night the wind is supposed to shift to southerly for several hours before swinging around to the north again. If it does turn out that way, Wednesday morning will probably see some significant turnover in the migrant traps, and perhaps the first minor movement of the second major wave.

White Pelicans, shorebirds, etc. May 10

2010-05-10T16:22:00.002-04:00

Monday, May 10: Some of the attention today shifted away from warblers and toward waterbirds. At Metzger Marsh, 9 American White Pelicans were being seen from the second pullout along the road. From the parking lot at the end of the road at Metzger, looking south from the dike, birders were seeing Black Terns and Yellow-headed Blackbirds.

Meanwhile, at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, the shorebirding was excellent at the Entrance Pool. To reach this site, turn in to the refuge main entrance from Route 2; and instead of going west to the visitors' center, loop around to go straight north. The Entrance Pool will be along the right (east) side of this road. It stretches for at least half a mile north, and today most of the shorebirds were in the northern part of the pool, where there is very shallow water and extensive exposed mudflats. Highlights included at least 3 White-rumped Sandpipers, 5 Pectoral Sandpipers, 1 Short-billed Dowitcher (of the prairie race, hendersoni, and in bright breeding plumage), at least 9 Solitary Sandpipers, 30 Lesser Yellowlegs, 60 Dunlins, 15 Least Sandpipers, 12 Semipalmated Plovers, etc. A telescope is very useful for birding this area, and the light is much better in the afternoon than in the morning when you're looking into the sun. But this spot seems to be having constant turnover now, so if you're birding in the area, it would be worthwhile to check it more than once.

Migration update May 8 and 9

2010-05-08T23:05:00.002-04:00

Saturday, May 8: The birding turned out to be surprisingly good (considering the weather) in the wooded areas near the Lake Erie shoreline in n.w. Ohio today. Storms last night and very strong WSW winds today didn't make for an encouraging prospect, but birders who worked the interior and downwind sides of the woodlots wound up seeing very good variety of migrants. At the Magee Marsh boardwalk, numbers of migrants were modest but the diversity was excellent -- no one species predominated, so every time we raised our binoculars there was a good chance we'd be looking at something different. Excellent views of Golden-winged, Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, Black-throated Blue, Blackburnian, Chestnut-sided, and Nashville warblers, Northern Parula, Rusty Blackbird, Veery, Yellow-throated Vireo, etc., etc., were all crowd pleasers, and the action seemed to get better as the afternoon went along, with lots of happy birders still on the boardwalk after 6:30 pm.

The wetland areas on Ottawa NWR were a little slow, probably because of the effects of the high winds driving birds into hiding, but Sandhill Cranes were seen by many, and the wooded area behind the visitors' center produced many migrants. The woodlot at the end of the road at Metzger Marsh also held a number of migrants, including at least two more Golden-winged Warblers.

The winds tonight are diminishing but they have shifted around to west-northwest, not very good conditions for migrants to be on the move. By morning the winds should have died down to about 12 mph, but morning temperatures may dip below 40, so with the wind chill it's going to feel very cold at dawn. I suspect that most of the migrants that were around today will still be present on Sunday May 9. With the wind shift, they'll probably shift to more sheltered areas of the woods. At Ottawa NWR, the southeastern edges of the woodlots should become more productive. At Magee, there probably will be fewer birds along the edge of the parking lot, and more in the interior of the woods along the boardwalk, plus in woods near the Sportsmans Center and Black Swamp Bird Observatory. During the chilly part of the morning, if you can find a spot that's out of the wind but in the sunlight, warblers and other songbirds are likely to concentrate there.

Weekend May 8-9: Unsettled Saturday

2010-05-07T09:33:00.001-04:00

Friday, May 7: At 9:20 a.m., the guides from Tropical Birding reported that a female Golden-winged Warbler was being seen at #5 on the Magee Marsh boardwalk.

The migration and the weather are both unusual right now. The diversity of warblers has been excellent for the last couple of days in the migrant traps near Lake Erie, and other migrants have been showing up in good variety also, but we still haven't seen the expected pulses of really big numbers. And it looks like those won't materialize in the next couple of days. The good news is that most of the diverse set of birds seen on Thursday will still be around Sunday, and we'll probably have some rare birds showing up as well.

According the current forecasts, a low pressure center will move right over n.w. Ohio tonight (Friday night), with some showers and shifting winds, and as that low moves off to the northeast, we'll have strong west winds developing. Saturday May 8 will probably have cool temperatures, scattered showers, and strong winds out of the west. The winds should diminish Saturday evening. Sunday morning will be quite chilly at first (with temperatures perhaps dipping below 40) but sunny, with light west-northwest winds, so as the day warms up it should be pleasant birding conditions.

I don't expect many songbird migrants to arrive under these conditions, but I don't expect most of the current crop to leave, either, so there should be a good diversity of warblers and others in the woods throughout the weekend. And in terms of larger birds or water birds, I expect the west winds to bring in something unusual. There already have been scattered Wilson's Phalaropes around, and we may see more of those -- or perhaps Franklin's Gull, Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, White-faced Ibis, or other species that are usually more prevalent farther west.

So: unsettled weather on Saturday, chilly but calmer on Sunday; probably no big arrival of waves of migrants, but the total species list for the weekend should be very good. And looking ahead, there may be a very big arrival of migrant songbirds later in the week -- sometime between Wednesday and Friday. More info here as the weather forecasts become more detailed and believeable.

Thursday 5/6 update

2010-05-06T12:06:00.004-04:00

Thursday May 6: Yesterday turned out to be excellent for variety in the migrant traps near the Lake Erie shoreline. No fewer than 28 warbler species were found at the Magee Marsh boardwalk, and the total for the BSBO main banding site east of Magee was well over 20 warbler species.

Last night some heavy rain came through late in the afternoon, and winds shifted to northerly, so it appears that most of yesterday's birds are still around today. An early report from the BSBO banding site was that today was like yesterday but with more Tennessee and Black-and-white warblers. At the Magee boardwalk, a Kentucky Warbler was showing off well at the small loop (near number 7A), and Cape May Warbler and Black-billed Cuckoo were crowd-pleasers near the west entrance.

Dick Ashford, chair of the board of the American Birding Association, saw eight dark ibises fly over near the entrance to Ottawa Nat'l Wildlife Refuge yesterday evening, just before the storm hit. These are the first ibises I've heard of so far this spring. Ottawa NWR is the best place in Ohio to find these birds; Glossy Ibis occurs more often than White-faced Ibis, but both species have been found in recent years, and it takes a close look to distinguish them. Hopefully they'll be found along the refuge auto tour route this weekend.

The entrance pool at Ottawa NWR had an early White-rumped Sandpiper yesterday and a good selection of more common shorebirds today. This morning I had a female Wilson's Phalarope at Toussaint Wildlife Area, north of Oak Harbor; the bird was being harassed by Lesser Yellowlegs and eventually it left, but it's likely to show up at Ottawa also.

Purple Gallinule east of Magee Marsh

2010-05-05T12:37:00.002-04:00

No, it's not a "chase-able" bird, but it's interesting nonetheless. This morning -- Wednesday May 5 -- a man who lives in one of the small communities on the edge of Lake Erie, a few miles east of Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, found an injured Purple Gallinule wandering around in his yard. He brought it to Black Swamp Bird Observatory, where it was cared for and kept quiet for a short time until it could be transported to our friend Mona Rutger, the dedicated wildlife rehabilitator who runs Back To The Wild, of Castalia, Ohio.

Purple Gallinule is ordinarily a rare visitor to Ohio, averaging fewer than one record per year in the state. But amazingly, this makes four Purple Gallinules found in Ohio in the last few days: another injured bird found in Miami County, one that appeared briefly in a back yard in Medina County, the famous and now much-photographed bird in Lorain County, and the Ottawa County bird. This species occasionally stages odd northward "invasions," and something of the sort is clearly happening right now; if four individuals actually have been found, there may be dozens out there undetected. It would be worthwhile to actively look for Purple Gallinules during the next few days in wetland areas with lots of emergent or floating vegetation such as cattails and lily pads. Metzger Marsh, Ottawa NWR, and Toussaint Wildlife Area would all seem like good places to search.

Wednesday 5/5 morning update

2010-05-05T10:05:00.003-04:00

Wednesday May 5: As of 9:30 this morning, the guides from Tropical Birding had already found 22 species of warblers at the boardwalk at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, and said they expected a warbler species total in the high 20s for the day. I was leading a birdwalk on private property farther east in Ottawa County first thing this morning, and although we weren't in prime warbler territory, there were a lot of migrants around including Orchard and Baltimore orioles, Eastern Kingbirds, Northern Waterthrushes, Tennessee Warblers, and scads of Yellow Warblers. So this looks like a significant day for migrants, if you can get to good habitat before the rain showers move in this afternoon (predicted for around 3:30 - 4 p.m.).

Solitary Sandpipers have been everywhere the last couple of days -- I've seen multiples in flooded fields, on the entrance pool at Ottawa NWR, along the causeway to the Magee boardwalk, etc. Usually these birds are seen only in small numbers (as their name would suggest) so it's startling to encounter so many. Watch for them around the edges of any kind of water, even very small ponds or streams.

Tuesday 5/4 update, long-range forecast

2010-05-04T10:31:00.002-04:00

Tuesday, May 4: As of this morning, numbers of individual birds are a little light but variety is excellent in the migrant traps along the Lake Erie shoreline. At the boardwalk at Magee Marsh, according to the guides from Tropical Birding, a Kentucky Warbler is present again (or still?). Other highlights there include Yellow-throated, Blue-headed, and White-eyed vireos, a number of warblers including Magnolia and Black-throated Blue, plus Summer and Scarlet tanagers and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Looking at the long-range weather forecast, I expect good numbers of birds to arrive overnight the next two nights, so there should be a lot of new arrivals on Wednesday and Thursday, May 5 and 6. After that, it appears that a major low-pressure system will pass by well to the north of us, and winds will shift to the west and then north, with some rain showers moving in over the weekend. That should mean that most of the birds present this Thursday should still be around over the weekend. Birders taking part in the International Migratory Bird Day festivities on Saturday, or in the Big Half-Day Bird Race on Sunday (see details at http://www.biggestweekinamericanbirding.com/ ), should see great variety but not huge numbers. Days with passing showers often produce great birding in the woodlots within a couple of miles of the lake: the birds often stay put, stay relatively low, and become very active and very visible in between showers. But on a day with no big fallout, the key is to keep moving, keep checking different spots, as individual birds may be settled in for the day in limited areas.

This is almost purely speculation at this point, since the weather predictions can change so much from day to day; but if current weather forecasts hold true, the biggest migration day of the season might turn out to be Friday, May 14. But don't quote me on that! A lot could change in the next ten days! I'll keep watching the weather and will try to update this prediction.

Predictions for migration, 5/3 and 5/4

2010-05-02T19:53:00.002-04:00

Sunday, May 2: In the area of the Magee Marsh Wildlife Area boardwalk, this was another day with only modest numbers of migrants but good variety. Among the highlights were Worm-eating, Prothonotary, and Hooded warblers, all showing off well near the west end of the boardwalk.

Tonight's weather looks very unsettled, with a lot of rain to the south of us and heavily overcast skies here. The wind is predicted to shift to more westerly (or even northwesterly) for part of the night. I think most of the birds that were around today will still be in the area tomorrow, and that not many new ones will come in. Monday May 3 is supposed to have fairly decent weather, so it should make for pleasant birding conditions. But I suspect there won't be much turnover, so if you were birding over the weekend and you'll be birding again on Monday, I'd suggest going to different sites if you want to see something different. Check out the page of "birding hotspots: directions and maps" from the main BSBO birding pages for ideas of other migrant traps nearby.

According to current predictions, southerly winds will continue Monday night and the weather will be more favorable for migrants, so I expect that a lot of new arrivals will show up on Tuesday. Again, it may not be a day for big numbers, but it should produce excellent diversity again.

With a strong westerly component to the winds recently, we expect some shifting of midwestern migrants in this direction. Reports of single Clay-colored Sparrows at various points in Ohio over the last couple of days may be a reflection of this. Flooded fields are likely to have flocks of American Golden-Plovers in addition to other shorebirds. A flock of about 50 golden-plovers was seen on both Saturday and Sunday south of Maumee Bay State Park: From State Route 2, go north on Curtice Road (the road that goes to MBSP) for one mile to Seaman Road, then turn east. The plovers were seen just east of this intersection on Saturday and I believe they were near the same spot on Sunday. If you stop to look at flooded fields in this area, be sure to find a spot where you can pull completely off the road and avoid blocking traffic.

Migration update 5/1, predictions for 5/2

2010-05-01T19:06:00.003-04:00

Saturday, May 1: In the migrant traps on the Lake Erie shoreline, today was the biggest day of the year so far for sheer variety of species. As of mid-afternoon, a minimum of 26 warbler species had been reliably reported from the Magee Marsh boardwalk itself, with at least 29 for the area as a whole. The rarest bird at the Magee boardwalk itself by mid-afternoon was a Kentucky Warbler (probably the same individual moving between #16 on the boardwalk and the woods adjacent to the southwest corner of the East Parking Lot). Two Cerulean Warblers were near #17 on the boardwalk, and Greg Links found another individual at the "Wildlife Beach" east of the boardwalk. A female Hooded Warbler was near #6. A few Blackpoll Warblers were somewhat early, including one hanging around the west entrance to the boardwalk. All five brown thrushes were along the boardwalk -- in fact, individuals of all five were seen just north of #6, as well as elsewhere. Other noteworthy birds included a Black-billed Cuckoo near 7a, a Yellow-breasted Chat that moved around quite a bit, and at least four Summer Tanagers (possibly more). For a reference on the numbered spots along the boardwalk, see our detailed map available through the link for "birding hotspots: directions and maps" from the BSBO main birding pages.

Elsewhere in the area, the entrance pool at Ottawa NWR had at least three Solitary Sandpipers, as well as both yellowlegs species and Pectoral Sandpipers. At the woodlot at the end of the road at Metzger Marsh, Greg Links found a Prairie Warbler.

The theme for today was variety, not abundance. Most migrant species were present only in small numbers, but most birders who persisted in searching wound up seeing a lot of different species.

Okay, so what about tomorrow? For Sunday, May 2, I expect birding conditions to be similar. There's still a good flow of wind out of the south-southwest, but there is also (as of early evening) a lot of rain falling in southern Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, so I don't expect many birds to be coming from there tonight. Undoubtedly there will be some turnover, and some birds will continue to move into the better patches of habitat, but I think the overall numbers and variety on Sunday will be similar to today's. We'll probably see heavy showers moving through the area in the morning, but in between rain showers, bird activity should be intense. To see a lot of variety, visit multiple sites: check out the woods at Ottawa NWR, Metzger Marsh, and East Harbor State Park. Look at shorebird habitat at Ottawa and along the Magee causeway: numbers of shorebirds are still building up.

If you're in the area, be sure to stop by the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, just north of Route 2 at the entrance to Magee Marsh Wildlife Area. The observatory will be open every day in May from 10 to 6. We'll be glad to share the latest sightings and we'll be eager to hear what you've seen!

Migration update 4/30

2010-04-30T15:41:00.002-04:00

Friday April 30: As predicted, there was a good arrival of migrants this morning in the vicinity of the boardwalk at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area. With the strong southerly winds, migrants were concentrated along the north edge of the woods (south edge of the parking lot), but there were also many inside the woods along the boardwalk itself. Birds were continuing to move into and through the area as the morning went on. As of midday, at least 19 species of warblers had been reliably reported from the boardwalk area, with highlights including Blue-winged, Golden-winged, Orange-crowned, and Yellow-breasted Chat. Singing male Blackburnian, Cape May, Black-throated Green, Black-and-white, and Pine warblers were crowd-pleasers. Numbers of Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) and Palm warblers were greatly increased from the previous day, offering a chance to hear the songs of these birds repeatedly -- most birders don't get many opportunities to hear the song of Palm Warbler, a sort of rough trill broken by a repeated dip in tone.

Other notable arrivals today included Eastern Kingbird, Great Crested Flycatcher, Least Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, Swainson's Thrush, Wood Thrush, Gray Catbird, White-crowned Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. At least four Whip-poor-wills were found roosting near the boardwalk -- one of the advantages of the number of birders present is that it increases the chance that these cryptic nightjars will be spotted. The rarest bird of the morning was a young male Blue Grosbeak seen and photographed near the tower at the west end of the boardwalk.

In terms of diurnal migrants, there were far fewer hawks today than yesterday. (Jen Brumfield called to report that many hawks were moving eastward along the lake shore east of Cleveland, so the migration has shifted since yesterday.) But many Blue Jays, swallows, and American Goldfinches were moving along the lake shore.

The strong south winds were such that birds were not likely to remain in areas that were not at least somewhat sheltered. Lee Garling reported that there were few birds in the woodlot at the end of the road at Metzger Marsh -- that woodlot is probably just too exposed to the wind on a day like this. Birds should filter into the more protected woods now, so the extensive tracts at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge should be excellent for the next several days, especially on the downwind side.

Migration update 4/29

2010-04-29T13:25:00.003-04:00

This morning -- Thursday 4/29, as predicted, there was a decent movement of diurnal migrants along the Lake Erie shoreline at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area. Broad-winged Hawk and Sharp-shinned Hawk were moving in decent numbers, and there were some small migrant flocks of Blue Jays and American Goldfinches following the lake shore. There were a few Neotropical migrants in the woods along the Magee boardwalk, with small numbers of Nashville, Black-throated Green, and Black-and-white warblers, Baltimore Oriole, Warbling Vireo, and a few others. Numbers of Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) and Palm warblers still appear to be picking up, and Ruby-crowned Kinglets are abundant.

I talked to Julie Shieldcastle at the BSBO main banding site (on the Navarre unit of Ottawa Natl Wildlife Refuge, about four miles east of Magee) and she said the selection of birds there this morning was quite similar, with the addition of one Orange-crowned Warbler, plus one Wood Thrush, more Hermit Thrushes, and larger numbers of White-throated Sparrows.

Based on what we're seeing and on the weather forecast, it still looks as if Friday April 30 and Saturday May 1 should be very good days for arrival of migrants on the lake shore in n.w. Ohio. The winds should continue to be southerly at least through Saturday morning. Friday it will be quite warm and windy in the afternoon, and Saturday morning there are supposed to be scattered showers starting before dawn. Depending on the exact location of those showers, the birding on Saturday could be anything from fairly good to fantastic. But Friday should be a day for a lot of "first-of-the-season" birds.

If you come to the area for migrants, take time to check some of the areas back away from the lake shore itself. Not everything winds up in the migrant traps. This morning, for example, there were a lot of Yellow Warblers singing in the trees near the Black Swamp Bird Observatory itself, just north of Route 2 at the entrance to Magee Marsh, and almost none up in the vicinity of the Magee boardwalk. Apparently the local summer-resident males come in and set up their territories before we start to see transients that are passing through going farther north -- so the species can be common a mile south of the lake shore before the first migrants show up near the beach.

Update: migration forecast 4/29 to 5/1

2010-04-28T22:04:00.002-04:00

As of late evening on Wednesday April 28 (4/28): temperatures are going to be chilly again tonight in n.w. Ohio, but the sky is clear and the wind has shifted to southerly already, earlier than had been predicted. I expect there will be a decent arrival of migrants on each of the next three days -- Thursday through Saturday, 4/29 through 5/1. Right now I'm guessing that Friday the 30th will be the biggest day for new migrants to show up, but Saturday may have somewhat more species even if there are fewer individuals. Friday it's supposed to be very warm and windy in the afternoon; Saturday there are likely to be scattered showers but that shouldn't spoil the birding.

As long as the wind is strong out of the south, the biggest concentrations of migrants are likely to be near the immediate lake shore, such as the shoreline woodlots at Metzger Marsh, Magee Marsh, and East Harbor State Park. But the woods at Ottawa Nat'l Wildlife Refuge should also hold a lot of migrants every day from now through the end of May. The boardwalk and trails behind the Ottawa NWR visitors' center are almost always productive in spring, even when the wind shifts and the shoreline spots slow down a lot.

Next big wave 4/30 - 5/1

2010-04-28T08:26:00.002-04:00

During the last few days, even with unfavorable winds, migrants have been moving into northwestern Ohio, with a tide of White-throated Sparrows and other early migrants showing up everywhere. But there are still a lot of warblers and other birds that haven't made their appearance yet.

Up here in northwest Ohio, the weather predictions can change as fast as the weather itself. But based on current forecasts, there should be an excellent arrival of Neotropical migrants this Friday and Saturday, April 30 and May 1, in the migrant traps along the Lake Erie shoreline in n.w. Ohio (Maumee Bay State Park, Metzger Marsh, Ottawa Natl Wildlife Refuge, Magee Marsh, East Harbor State Park, Sheldon Marsh, etc.).

Right now (morning of Weds. 4/28) the temps are in the 30s and it will be chilly again tonight, but by Thursday morning the winds should be shifting to the south. Thursday 4/29 might see a good movement of daytime migrants along the lakeshore, including Blue Jays, swallows, flickers, and what's left of the hawk flight. With south winds continuing overnight Thursday, on Friday morning 4/30 we may see the first really big numbers of the nocturnal migrants of the Neotropical persuasion (warblers, vireos, tanagers, orioles, etc.). Saturday might be even better, although it's hard to say.

At this point I'm not sure about Sunday, but Friday and Saturday are looking good, perhaps very good. We'll be watching the weather and trying to update predictions.

Avocets at Maumee Bay S.P.

2010-04-24T15:55:00.002-04:00

Saturday, April 24: the unsettled weather last night and this morning seems to have moved some birds around. Dana Bollin, naturalist at Maumee Bay State Park, reports that there were 30 American Avocets on the inland beach (just south of the Lake Erie beach) at 1:30 this afternoon. Well to the east of our area, at Rocky River Park in Cleveland, Paula Lozano found a Willet this morning, another migrant shorebird that is rare in spring, along with a good number of Caspian Terns. Clearly it would be worthwhile to check other shorebird spots this weekend.

For anyone coming to the area of Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, the area just west of the causeway (on the way out to the beach and boardwalk) has some exposed mudflats, good for shorebirds. Also, the "entrance pool" at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge is being drawn down and is now providing some excellent shorebird habitat that may only get better during the next couple of weeks. The entrance pool is straight north of the entrance to the refuge from Route 2 -- instead of going west toward the visitors' center, loop to the right and then go straight north; the entrance pool is along the east side of this road for almost half a mile north from Route 2.

Chimney Swifts also seem to have arrived at a number of sites in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan where they had not been seen before today.

At the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, Pine Siskins are visiting the feeders outside the window on wildlife, and numbers of White-throated Sparrows have increased. The big push of warblers has not arrived yet, but in the meantime there are plenty of other birds to look at.

Weekend of April 24 at Magee

2010-04-23T00:09:00.001-04:00

In the migrant traps at Magee Marsh W.A., Ottawa NWR, and other points along the Lake Erie shoreline, the floodgates of migration have not opened yet. Following some unseasonably warm weather in early April, things have slowed down, and the arrival of migrants is now about average or a little late.

In 2009, April 24 was the first really big day for arrival of neotropical migrants, with good numbers of warblers, vireos, and a few Scarlet Tanagers and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks at the Magee boardwalk and elsewhere in the area. Based on what's around right now, and on weather predictions for the next few days, that won't be repeated this year. Migrants in the woods at Magee are dominated now by Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Hermit Thrushes, and others of the moderately-early bunch. There are Myrtle (Yellow-rumped) Warblers present, but not in huge numbers yet, and a few Pine Warblers. A few Rusty Blackbirds and Winter Wrens are still in the woods. So there are some birds to see, but the big rush of spring migrants has not arrived, and probably won't arrive until after this weekend. The good news is that the vast majority of those birds are still to the south of us, and the best is yet to come!

The weather forecasts going forward are uncertain enough that I don't want to make strong predictions, but purely on the basis of the current ten-day forecast, the first really big day for lots of warblers might turn out to be Thursday April 29 or Friday April 30. But I'll be watching the weather forecasts closely and will probably revise that thought closer to the time.

At any rate, at this time of year it's worthwhile to get out any time if you can. Some days have more birds than others, but there's no such thing as a bad spring day.

Update on Magee causeway

2010-04-22T21:26:00.003-04:00

At Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, the causeway continues to offer interesting birding as of Thursday, April 22. On the road going north from Route 2 to the beach and the boardwalk, the causeway is the last stretch that runs straight north across the marsh itself. The water level in the area west of the road is still low in places, exposing some good shorebird flats. A particularly good area is west of the road and just south of the second of the three pullouts along the causeway; in this area in late afternoon on the 22nd I saw a single American Golden-Plover, as well as two Pectoral Sandpipers, two Greater Yellowlegs, and three Lesser Yellowlegs. The area west of the northernmost pullout also had Greater Yellowlegs and Pectoral Sandpiper (three of each). In areas along the causeway where the water is a little deeper, there are still good numbers of ducks, including Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, and Blue-winged Teal.

Soras have arrived in numbers, as I heard several calling late this afternoon. Ordinarily these small rails are heard calling from the marsh and remain unseen, but with the extensive mudflats immediately adjacent to the marsh vegetation, there's an increased chance of seeing them. I actually saw three this afternoon, all lone individuals poking along on the mud at the edge of the marsh. For anyone who is going to or from the Magee boardwalk, it's definitely worth spending some time checking out the habitat along the causeway.

East Harbor State Park 4/20

2010-04-22T20:02:00.003-04:00

This is a belated post, but on Tuesday April 20 I took a brief look at East Harbor State Park. This park just east of Port Clinton is a gem, sometimes overlooked by birders but with a lot to offer. On Tuesday, songbird migrants were in low numbers (as they have been at other points along the lake this week), but trails near the Lockwood Picnic Shelter on the west side of the park produced Hermit Thrush, Palm Warbler, Winter Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and good numbers of White-throated Sparrows, as well as Brown Thrasher and Field Sparrow that have arrived for the summer. I didn't have time to check the woodland trails south of the east beach, but that's another good area for migrant songbirds at times.

East Harbor is excellent for waterbirds as well as land bird migrants. On the large lagoons in the center of the park, and off the beach on the east side of the park, there were hundreds of Ruddy Ducks, scores of Lesser Scaup, and a little group of four Greater Scaup. The north part of the east beach is often a good area for gulls, even early and late in the season when the mid-winter concentrations are not around; on 4/20 there was a single Lesser Black-backed Gull there along with good numbers of Bonaparte's, Ring-billed, and Herring gulls.

Weekend of April 17 at Magee

2010-04-15T23:37:00.001-04:00

The upcoming weekend should provide good birding at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area and other wooded spots along the Lake Erie shoreline. Good numbers of migrants are in the area as of Thursday April 15. This day had record high temperatures with southwest winds; the southwest winds are supposed to continue overnight Thursday night before some scattered rain moves in on Friday the 16th, with the wind shifting to northwest by Friday evening. More migrants are likely to come in Thursday night, but most of the birds that are around on Friday morning should stay for most of the weekend. Saturday and Sunday, the 17th and 18th, will be cooler, with temperatures mostly in the 40s and with northwest or north winds diminishing on Sunday. Despite the cooler temperatures, there should be plenty of birds to look at.

A check of the Magee boardwalk late on Thursday found large numbers of some early migrants, like Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler, Hermit Thrush, and Rusty Blackbird, and smaller numbers of others such as Ruby-crowned Kinglet (but very few Golden-crowneds), Palm Warbler, Winter Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. A male Prairie Warbler was along the north edge of the woodlot (adjacent to the south edge of the middle parking lot), and singing male Pine Warblers were near the west entrance to the boardwalk and along the boardwalk near no. 22 (see our map of the boardwalk, linked from the main BSBO birding pages, for locations of these numbers).

For birding the area this weekend, if the wind has shifted to the northwest or north, the birds are likely to be back in along the boardwalk toward the south side of the woodlot. The warblers present are very much concentrated in flocks, so if you find some Yellow-rumps, look around carefully to see what might be with them. This would be the way to find other warblers such as Palm, Pine, Black-and-white, Black-throated Green, or other early species. I haven't heard of any Orange-crowned Warblers yet but we're getting into the best time period to find them. Winter Wrens are scattered through the woods in small numbers -- if you see a tiny bird scoot under the boardwalk as you approach, it may be a Winter Wren. There are still a lot of Rusty Blackbirds around, but they’re easy to overlook. Listen for their song, a creaky tlic-tli-tleeeee, ending on a very high note, and look carefully at any blackbird foraging on the ground close to the water inside the woods (but remember that there are lots of Common Grackles in the woods as well).

On the lake just off the Magee beach on Thurday there were large numbers of Ruddy Ducks and Lesser Scaup, and some Northern Rough-winged Swallows flying with the many Tree Swallows.

The Black Swamp Bird Observatory, located just north of Route 2 at the entrance to Magee Marsh, is open in April on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday from 11 to 5. Stop in to check out the action at the window on wildlife or to get the latest birding news.

Shorebirds on Magee causeway

2010-04-15T21:41:00.001-04:00

Birders going to Magee Marsh Wildlife Area in the near future should check for shorebirds along the causeway. On the road going north from Route 2 to the beach and the boardwalk, the causeway is the last stretch that runs straight north across the marsh itself. Today (Thursday April 15) the water level in the area west of the road was low in places, exposing some good shorebird flats. Late in the evening, scoping from the second of the three pullouts along the causeway, I saw 8 Greater Yellowlegs, 14 Lesser Yellowlegs, 2 Dunlin, one Wilson's Snipe, 6 Killdeer, and one Short-billed Dowitcher. (This early part of the migration is a good time to look for Long-billed Dowitcher, but this bird was Short-billed, as identified by call as well as by structure and plumage.) There were fewer birds in this area when I checked earlier in the evening, indicating that the birds move around a lot, so it's worthwhile to take a look at this habitat both on your way to the boardwalk and after you leave. Pectoral Sandpipers should be in this area too, and this kind of marshy spot is a good place to look for Ruffs in spring migration.

Early migrants in good numbers

2010-04-08T02:03:00.003-04:00

Large numbers of waterfowl moved through northwest Ohio in March this year, as expected, but the big concentrations seemed not to last as long as usual. As of now, April 7th, there appear to be fewer ducks, geese, and swans in the area than there sometimes would be on this date. The variety present is still excellent; all the expected species seem to be here, just not in the numbers that we might have seen in other years. I think this is largely a function this season’s weather. After the cold and snowy conditions of February, things warmed up very rapidly. Waterfowl tend to be opportunistic in their spring migration, moving north as soon as conditions are favorable, so the big push of ducks moved through our area more rapidly than usual. With a check of the Lake Erie shoreline and area marshes, however, it’s still easy to find hundreds of individuals and more than a dozen species, and this should hold true for the next couple of weeks at least.

The land bird migrants expected in early April are around in good numbers. In wooded areas near the lake shore, specialties of this week include Hermit Thrush, Fox Sparrow, and Rusty Blackbird. There are also good numbers of Golden-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Brown Creeper, Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler, and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. At least two Louisiana Waterthrushes have been seen recently at the Magee Marsh boardwalk. Louisiana Waterthrush is generally scarce this far north, but any waterthrush seen in the first half of April is almost certain to be of this species; large numbers of Northern Waterthrushes migrate through here in May, but the first ones don’t show up until around April 20.

Spring migration starting up

2010-02-24T09:23:00.004-05:00

A male Red-winged Blackbird summoning spring at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, n.w. Ohio

Although the amount of snow on the ground and in the forecast might make it seem unlikely, spring migration of birds is already under way in n.w. Ohio. During the last few days in the area of Oak Harbor, Ottawa Co., small flocks of male Red-winged Blackbirds have been showing up, as well as flocks of Common Grackles, in areas where few were seen during the winter. These harbingers are right on schedule, as they arrive in late February every year, raising the curtain on migration.

This early part of the migration features a few predictable groups of birds. Waterfowl are among the highlights; from now through the end of March, flocks of ducks, geese, and swans will be pouring into n.w. Ohio. At the moment there is only a limited amount of open water for them. Along the Lake Erie shoreline, the distribution of ice changes from day to day, but if you can find open water it should have rafts of diving ducks. Inland ponds that are open, such as the famous pond in Castalia, Ohio, should host increasing numbers of all the ducks.

Killdeer should be appearing right about now at any patches of open ground that are not snow-covered. Likewise for American Woodcock; these secretive and bizarre woodland sandpipers are hard to see, but on warm nights they should be performing their flight-song displays just after dark. As soon as I hear positive reports, I'll post the locations.

Some early migrants among the songbirds include American Crow (surprising numbers pass through the area in very early spring); Eastern Meadowlark (transient birds pass through starting in late February, apparently a separate population from those that nest here); Rusty Blackbird (flocks should be arriving any day now, with their peak migration in the latter part of March); and a number of species of sparrows. Early migrant raptors, such as Red-shouldered Hawks, will be on the move shortly. Hawks, crows, meadowlarks, and most blackbirds are daytime migrants in early spring, and the best way to look for them is to be near the Lake Erie shoreline during the warmer part of the day, especially on days with light southwest winds. In that situation, you may see small flocks of crows, meadowlarks, etc., flying northwest, paralleling the lake shore. Water birds out over the lake (or over the ice) also may parallel the shoreline, so by putting yourself in that position, you can double your chances of spotting something interesting.

Tundra Swans, Dunlins, and other birds in the area in late November

2009-11-26T13:23:00.003-05:00

This could be of interest to birders who are out in n.w. Ohio this holiday weekend. If you have even a short amount of time to swing in to Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, there have been good numbers of Tundra Swans on the "Entrance Pool." If you turn in to the refuge from Route 2 and go north toward the old parking lot, not west toward the new visitors' center, the Entrance Pool is all along the east side of this short road. On Tuesday Nov. 24 at noon there were over 100 Tundra Swans on this pond; if you stay in your car they won't be spooked, and you can get good studies. Sometimes there are also Trumpeter Swans here, for a good comparison, but I saw none on Tuesday; I did have good looks at a couple of Tundra Swans that completely lacked the yellow spot in front of the eye -- tricky! Fortunately they were right next to other Tundra Swans, so I could see that they were exactly the same size and shape.

Also present on the Entrance Pool on Nov. 24 were a number of American Black Ducks along with lots of Mallards, and at least three Mallard X Am Black Duck hybrids, always interesting to study. There were also Green-winged Teal, Killdeers, a couple of Gadwalls, and a lot of Canada Geese that looked like migrants from the north, not resident birds. If you find anything unusual there, of course, remember the courtesy of stopping at the refuge visitors' center and telling the staff there what you've seen.

The Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO), half a mile east of Ottawa NWR at the entrance to Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, will be open every weekend through the end of the year, Friday - Saturday - Sunday from 11 to 5. This is another great place to find out what's being seen or to report what you have found. At the feeders and water feature outside the "window on wildlife" at BSBO, recent birds have included Fox Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, and American Tree Sparrow, while Pine Siskin and Rusty Blackbird have been heard in the immediate area. Even if you don't see rare birds at BSBO, you can make some rare finds in the gift shop, including perfect holiday gifts for the birders and naturalists and conservationists on your list.

Two miles east of the entrance to Ottawa NWR or 1.5 miles east of BSBO, Lemon Road runs south from Route 2. Just barely over a mile south of Rt 2, Lemon Road crosses Turtle Creek; just before you get to the creek, there's a good place to pull off on the east side of the road. A loop of Turtle Creek just east of here often has exposed mudflats. On Tuesday Nov. 24, in addition to hundreds of Ring-billed Gulls, these flats had 83 Dunlins, a good number for so late in the fall in northern Ohio. The only other shorebird with them was a single Least Sandpiper. But this spot will continue to be worth checking for the odd things that might turn up.

Birds to watch for in early November

2009-11-05T00:49:00.003-05:00

At this point in the fall, in early November, the warbler migration is essentially over and most of the shorebird migration has gone past. But we can still look forward to new arrivals over the next month or so. The main waterfowl migration still hasn't arrived, and we can anticipate big numbers of ducks, geese, and swans appearing in the next few weeks. Tundra Swans have been seen in passage over northern Ohio during the last few days, and these fly-by flocks could be seen anywhere. Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge is particularly good for numbers of Tundra Swans in early winter, and flocks of Snow Geese should be stopping off there as well. Along the Lake Erie shoreline we can still expect big numbers of scaup, Common Goldeneyes, and Common and Red-breasted Mergansers to show up soon, along with decent numbers of various other diving ducks.

Raptors are still moving, and Rough-legged Hawks should be arriving in northern Ohio about now. Areas to the north of us have been reporting fair numbers of Northern Goshawks, and this might be the season to find one of these big northern hunters in our area.

Some of our wintering sparrows and related birds have not yet moved into northern Ohio in full numbers, so we can still expect a major influx of American Tree Sparrows, Lapland Longspurs, Snow Buntings, and others.

This winter is not likely to see anything like last winter's invasion of White-winged Crossbills -- that species may not appear here at all this year. But just in the last few days there have been scattered Pine Siskins around, so we may have an "echo flight" of those.

There is still a lot of bird movement going on across the continent, so there is always the chance of something really unusual showing up. Strays from the west often are found in late fall, after most of the regular migrants have cleared out. But even without rarities, there are plenty of birds to seek right now.

Magee Marsh update, Toussaint River gulls

2009-10-24T22:48:00.003-04:00

From now through November 28, the road in to Magee Marsh Wildlife Area will be closed beyond the Sportsmen's Migratory Bird Center on weekdays and on Saturday mornings. The road will be open on Saturday afternoons and all day Sunday. The area around Black Swamp Bird Observatory, and the trails around the Sportsmen's Center, will be open all week.

On Saturday, Oct. 24, I spent a couple of hours at the wildlife (east) beach and at the west end of the boardwalk. With the strong southwest winds that prevailed, the birds were concentrated on the lee side of the trees, i.e. in more sheltered areas of the beach and along the south edge of the parking lot (north edge of the woods) at the boardwalk. The most unusual bird was a juvenile Eastern Wood-Pewee hanging around near the platform by the west entrance to the boardwalk. It was doing some subsong and it was a well-marked, typical individual, so I didn't have to entertain any thoughts of Western Wood-Pewee. This is not a record-late Eastern -- in fact, I had one at Metzger Marsh on Oct. 31, 2006 -- but it's still exceptionally late for northern Ohio. "Birds of the Toledo Area" by Anderson et al. (2002) lists October 14 as the late date for this region.

Between the east beach and the boardwalk I had about eight Fox Sparrows and about 40 Rusty Blackbirds, representing the two signature migrant species of late fall and early spring at Magee. White-throated Sparrow, Myrtle (Yellow-rumped) Warbler, both kinglet species, and Dark-eyed Juncos were numerous at both areas, with lesser numbers of Hermit Thrush, Winter Wren, White-crowned Sparrow, and Brown Creeper. One Palm Warbler at the boardwalk was the only non-Yellow-rumped warbler I could find.

There were very few gulls along the edge of Lake Erie here. A little southeast of Magee, however -- where State Route 19 crosses the Toussaint River, south of SR 2 and north of Oak Harbor -- there were hundreds of Ring-billed and Bonaparte's gulls today. I stopped and scanned through them a couple of times without finding anything unusual, but birds were coming and going constantly so something else could show up. (Incidentally, if you're visiting the area, don't slow down on SR 19 -- there's a pulloff on the west side just north of the river, with a sign marked "Toussaint Area," and this is the safest place to stop and scan the water.)

Terns and gulls at East Harbor SP and Port Clinton

2009-10-10T14:24:00.003-04:00

In past years, a good place to see terns and gulls in mid to late fall has been the north end of the beach area at East Harbor State Park (Ottawa Co., a short distance east of Port Clinton). I checked this area on Thursday, Oct. 8, and found a good selection of birds there, on the beach and on the small rocky islands just offshore. Among the birds present were at least 19 Caspian Terns, more than 40 Forster's Terns, good numbers of Bonaparte's, Ring-billed, and Herring Gulls, and my first local Great Black-backed Gull of the fall. In mid-September, there were two Lesser Black-backed Gulls at this spot. This is always a good place to check if you're in the area; I never go into the park without making a point of checking the north end of the beach.

Another good area is the immediate beach front in Port Clinton itself. A good vantage point for scanning the area is the base of the municipal pier (reached from the east edge of the "downtown" area). From there you get a good view of the boat channel, the lake, and east along the beach. Hundreds of birds were visible from that point on Thursday, and although they didn't include anything unusual, this is another place where I've seen Lesser Black-backed and Glaucous Gulls in the past.

Incidentally, the photo above shows an adult Caspian Tern in winter (basic) plumage in October. Note the blackish tip on its bill. When the Midwest Birding Symposium was in town last month, some birders questioned the MBS logo because it showed a Caspian Tern with a black bill tip ... and that detail didn't show up in their field guides. But it's common to see this mark on adult Caspians in fall.

Warbler wave, Sept. 27-30

2009-09-29T19:41:00.003-04:00

Despite the very strong winds of September 28-29, there have been large numbers of warblers and other migrants in the woodlots close to Lake Erie. The BSBO main banding station (at the Navarre unit of Ottawa Natl Wildlife Refuge, about five miles east of Magee Marsh) had 16 species of warblers on Monday, Sept. 28, with Blackpoll, Cape May, and American Redstart leading the charge. Species composition was similar on Tuesday; the unsettled weather of Monday night probably prevented many birds from leaving. At this point it appears that the numbers of birds present on Wednesday, Sept. 30, should be good as well, and with the winds diminishing, they should be easier to see.

At this season, as I've mentioned before, it's essential to find the little mixed flocks of birds. On Sunday Sept. 27, when I visited the west end of the Magee Marsh boardwalk, I spent 20 minutes not seeing or hearing a single migrant -- and then suddenly I was surrounded by a flock that contained at least 17 Blackpoll Warblers, 4 Cape May Warblers, 2 Nashville Warblers, a Yellow-throated Vireo, and various other migrants. If I had given up after the first 15 minutes, I might have thought there were no birds there at all.

Lots of migrants Sept. 22

2009-09-22T13:11:00.001-04:00

Just a quick heads up for anyone who's close to the lake in northwest Ohio. I'm stuck in meetings today but I just talked to Kim over at Black Swamp Bird Observatory, and she told me there are a LOT of migrants in that area today (Tuesday Sept. 22). Just outside BSBO's window on wildlife in the last few hours there have been more than a dozen species of warblers (BT Blue, BT Green, Blackpoll, Bay-breasted, Nashville, Magnolia, etc.), plus Philadelphia Vireo, Gray-cheeked and Swainson's Thrushes, Am. Woodcock, and many more birds. I would guess that all the woodlots in that general area (Magee Marsh, Ottawa Natl Wildlife Refuge, etc.) would be good this afternoon for anyone who can get out. And tonight's weather prediction suggests it may be a bit unsettled, so today's birds may stick around for Wednesday as well.

Kirtland's Warbler at East Harbor State Park

2009-09-18T16:41:00.002-04:00

One side-effect of having 700 birders in the area for the Midwest Birding Symposium is that there's a lot of birding coverage right now. So it was almost expected that something rare would appear, but we didn't expect the Kirtland's Warbler found today (Friday Sept. 18) at East Harbor State Park.

The bird was found during the morning and seen several more times (I saw it about 2 p.m.). To find the bird, go to East Harbor State Park, drive in the entrance, and take the first left/north (after about 100 yards) signed for Lockwood Picnic Area. From the parking lot for Lockwood, walk back south almost to the stop sign and take the trail entrance signed for the Meadow Trail. (There are three entrances for for Meadow Trail, this is the southernmost one.) Walk in (west) on the Meadow Trail for about 20-30 yards and turn right at the first fork; walk another 20-30 yards right (north) and watch the trees off to your right. The last tall tree off to the right is a locust (feathery foliage) and beyond that it's all shorter dogwood scrub. The Kirtland's was hanging around this locust, occasionally foraging up quite high and being fairly easy to see, then moving down into the lower cover and becoming more difficult to find.

There's no way to predict whether the bird will still be there on Saturday. Weather tonight won't prevent it from leaving, but fall migrants of other species often stop over for several days in this area.

Current Conditions at Local Birding Sites

2009-09-16T01:03:00.006-04:00

Updated 5 p.m. Sept. 18: More on Ottawa and Magee
Updated 10 p.m. Sept. 16: More information on Ottawa NWR

For anyone birding in northwestern Ohio the weekend of Sept. 17-20, and particularly for those visiting from out of the area for the Midwest Birding Symposium, here are updates on current birding conditions at some key sites. This posting will be updated through the weekend as new information becomes available.

It appears that weather will be good throughout the weekend, with moderate temperatures and little chance of rain until Monday. There are not likely to be any major fallouts of migrant birds, but there should be decent numbers just about everywhere. Note that mosquitoes are common at most local birding sites, and can be pretty fierce at dawn and dusk, so be sure to carry repellant everywhere.

For "BSBO birding maps" referenced here, go to http://www.bsbo.org/birding/ and follow the links for "Birding hotspots: directions and maps."

In these notes, the sites are listed in order roughly from west to east; they include a couple that are not "official" sites for the Midwest Birding Symposium (MBS).

Maumee Bay State Park (not an MBS site) -- The whole park can be good for birding, but when I have limited time for a visit, I go out to the beach (to the left from the main entrance road) and check both the Lake Erie beach and the small inland beach just to the south of it. Often there will be a handful of interesting shorebirds there, as well as good concentrations of gulls and terns. A juvenile Red Knot spent a week there recently, and there are often Sanderlings, Ruddy Turnstones, and others, even on days when there are a lot of people on the beach.

Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area (not an MBS site) -- See our BSBO birding map. The small woodlot at the end of the road often has an interesting selection of songbird migrants, and gulls and terns hang around the breakwater. Water is high in the marsh now, so there are no shorebird flats to speak of, but this is a good place to look for Common Moorhen and other marsh birds. Least Bitterns nest here (and some are still around through September), and occasionally can be seen flying low over the marsh.

Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge -- Note that the birding possibilities here differ between Friday and Saturday. On Friday Sept. 18, the best areas to visit are the woods behind the visitors’ center and the trails in the east section of the refuge (see the BSBO birding map of the trails). On Saturday Sept. 19, the auto tour through the entire refuge will be open. In observance of the MBS, the auto tour will be opening early this Saturday, at 6:30 a.m., and it will be open through 4 p.m. (see the BSBO birding map of the auto tour).

Update on the walking trails: In late afternoon on Sept. 16, Pool 2b held good numbers and variety of birds. Exposed mudflats, mostly on the west side and in the northernmost section of this pool (see BSBO birding map of the trails section of the refuge), held 12 species of shorebirds, including 1 juv. Baird's Sandpiper, 1 adult White-rumped Sandpiper, 3 juv. Western Sandpipers, 9 juv. Long-billed Dowitchers, and larger numbers of both yellowlegs plus Least, Semipalmated, and Pectoral Sandpipers. The adjacent east edge of Pool 2a had 2 juv. Short-billed Dowitchers associating with 1 juv. Long-billed, 8 juv. Stilt Sandpipers, and several yellowlegs. Pool 2b also had 23 Snowy Egrets and several species of ducks. It is at least a mile's walk from the parking lot to the southwest corner of Pool 2b, and a spotting scope is almost essential for decent views here, so be prepared for a substantial hike. There are likely to be other shorebirds along the auto tour, open only on Saturday.

update on the Auto Tour: The best numbers of shorebirds seem to be on Unit MS 3 (see our birding map), toward the north side. From the road paralleling the north side of this impoundment you can see into the area, but it's a bit of a challenge because there's a channel and a dike between the road and the impoundment. Watch where you are, and try to climb up on top of your car when you're across from the northeast corner of MS 3. Looking south into the impoundment from there, with a scope, you may be able to see Buff-breasted Sandpiper, White-rumped Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitcher, Stilt Sandpiper, or various other shorebirds that have been there during the last few days.

Magee Marsh Wildlife Area -- The boardwalk at Magee is the most famous birding site in Ohio, and even though it’s not quite as spectacular in fall as in spring, most birders will probably want to drop by to pay their respects and see some warblers. (See the BSBO birding maps of the boardwalk and of the general Magee area.)

Seeing fall warblers requires a different strategy from spring birding, with special attention to flocks (see the posting on "Finding Fall Warblers" on our birding pages on Sept. 13). The warblers and other migrants may be less concentrated near the lake shore at this season, more generally distributed in the mile or two of lake plain south of the shoreline itself. The walking trails behind the Sportsmen’s Migratory Bird Center and Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO) are worth checking, especially if the boardwalk doesn’t produce. I’ve seen good diversity of warblers and others recently, just looking out the Window on Wildlife at BSBO.

At BSBO (just north of Route 2 at the entrance to Magee Marsh) there will be free public demonstrations of bird-banding on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 18 and 19, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

Note that there is construction on the Magee Marsh entrance road, so it may take a little extra time to drive in. The road is supposed to be open through the weekend, but closed on Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 21 and 22.

update from Friday Sept. 18: good numbers of thrushes were in the area, especially around BSBO, where Gray-cheeked, Swainson's, and Wood Thrushes were all present in the morning. Numbers of warblers on the boardwalk were not notable today, but some were present, and Ethan Kistler saw two Philadelphia Vireos along with other migrants.

Toussaint Wildlife Area -- This MBS site is seriously under-birded, so I don’t want to discourage you from going; there may be fabulous rarities lurking there, waiting to be discovered. When I checked the area on Sept. 15, it was fairly quiet. There are currently no good shorebird flats on the area, and few waterfowl aside from Wood Ducks and a family of Trumpeter Swans. I saw a few small flocks of migrants, and fair numbers of Swamp Sparrows, but I couldn’t find Nelson’s or Le Conte’s Sparrows, which might be expected to occur here.

East Harbor State Park -- The area of the swimming beach had good numbers of gulls, including two Lesser Black-backed Gulls, a few days ago. The woods to the south of the southernmost beach parking lot are often very good for fall migrants, but not after strong east winds; I saw very few birds in that area in such conditions last week. If those woods fail to produce warblers and other migrants, check the area north and east of the Lockwood Picnic Area (east of the "frisbee golf" course) near the park exit on the west side.

Pipe Creek Wildlife Area -- Recently removed from the list of MBS field trip sites, because it’s currently closed except for those with special use permits. It may be open to the public again after Sept. 20, so it might be worth checking, for those who are around after the weekend.

Sheldon Marsh State Nature Preserve -- This site just east of Sandusky can be excellent for warblers (I saw 15 species there last Saturday) and other songbird migrants. Note that we have a brand new BSBO birding map for this site -- more detailed than anything else available on the web. If you’re considering a trip east to Sheldon, be sure to consult our map by going to the main birding pages ( http://www.bsbo.org/birding/ ) and following the links for "birding hotspots: directions and maps."

Migration Prediction, Sept. 15 to 20

2009-09-14T17:15:00.002-04:00

So far this fall season, conditions have not been ripe for a major fallout of migrants in northwestern Ohio. Good numbers of birds are passing through, but no days so far have produced exceptional numbers. As far as I can tell from the weather forecasts, that general situation will continue through this next weekend.

Tonight (Monday night, Sept. 14) may be the best conditions for bringing a strong flight, with winds out of the northwest for at least part of the night, so there may be a good influx of migrants right along the Lake Erie shoreline on Tuesday morning. After that, most of the forecasts suggest that the wind will be light and variable out of the east or northeast for most of the week. There will still be a lot of migrants around, but they’re likely to be in scattered flocks within two or three miles of the lake shore, not concentrated in woodlots on the lake shore itself. So the key to successful birding will be to cover a variety of areas, and to keep moving until you find a concentration of migrants.

Of course, weather forecasts can change, and I’ll be watching to see if conditions seem to favor a big arrival of birds on a particular day. And even on a slow day, as I've pointed out before, there are more migrants to be seen here than in most areas of North America.

Access to local birding sites

2009-09-14T16:11:00.003-04:00

With many birders coming into northwest Ohio now for fall migration, and especially for the Midwest Birding Symposium scheduled for Sept. 17-20, here are a couple of notes about access to birding sites.

Pipe Creek Wildlife Area (on the east edge of Sandusky) is closed at the moment except for those with special use permits. It will probably be open again after September 20, but I don’t have confirmation of this.

At Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, there is currently some construction along the entrance road. (Please note, the timing is an unfortunate coincidence, and not the fault of the Division of Wildlife, which is making sure that the road stays open through this coming weekend.) You may have to plan a couple of extra minutes for driving back to the Sportsmen’s Migratory Bird Center, the Wildlife Beach, or the Boardwalk, but these areas will remain accessible through September 20. The road will be closed at its junction with State Route 2 on Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 21 and 22, so those would be good days to bird other sites. The trails at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge or the woodlot at Metzger Marsh would be good alternate sites in the same immediate area to look for songbird migrants.

For those visiting before Sept. 21, note that BSBO’s Window on Wildlife and the trail behind the observatory (just north of SR 2 at the entrance to Magee Marsh)have had a lot of action during the last few days, with birds like Cape May, Magnolia, and Wilson’s Warblers, Ovenbird, Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Yellow-throated Vireo, et cetera. With northerly winds, the birds seem to be well dispersed through woods a short distance south of the lake, and not concentrated in the woodlots on the immediate lake shore.

Finding Fall Warblers: the importance of flocks

2009-09-13T23:31:00.002-04:00

A Blackpoll Warbler in typical fall plumage, lurking among the leaves

Woodlots along the Lake Erie shoreline in northwest Ohio hold excellent numbers of migrant warblers in fall as well as in spring, but fall is more challenging and requires a different strategy. In spring, you can find many warblers just by wandering along the Magee Marsh boardwalk and stopping wherever you see clusters of birders. In fall, birders are less numerous and the warblers and other birds are less conspicuous.

In fall, even more than in spring, there is a strong tendency for the warblers to be in flocks. These flocks may be only loosely organized, but there may be anywhere from three or four to thirty or forty birds traveling in the same general area. So if you see one warbler, it is a good idea to stop and look around very carefully for others. Chances are you’ll find more nearby.

These individuals and flocks tend to be inconspicuous, so you need to watch for movement and listen for chip notes. Often the warblers will be associated with Black-capped Chickadees or sometimes with Downy Woodpeckers, so if you see or hear those species, again, it’s a good idea to check the surrounding area, even spending a couple of minutes scanning and waiting for warblers to appear. And when you do find warblers, stick with the flock for a while, until you’re sure that you’re seeing every individual bird for at least the second time.

In fall, in between flocks, things can seem extremely quiet -- almost scary-quiet. Spring warblers may be concentrated in flocks as well, but between flocks in spring we have other birds, resident birds, actively singing on territory. With those lacking in fall, the woods can seem dead until we find a flock. It takes a certain amount of resolve to keep going and searching when the woods seem absolutely birdless. But with persistence, practically any day in fall along the lake shore, we’ll eventually find those roving flocks to make the effort worthwhile.

East Harbor State Park, Sept. 11

2009-09-11T23:48:00.002-04:00

Late this afternoon (Friday Sept. 11) I checked out several areas in East Harbor State Park, just east of Port Clinton. In the area of the swimming beach and around the small offshore islands there were good numbers of Ring-billed, Herring, and Bonaparte's Gulls, plus two Lesser Black-backed Gulls (both in second-cycle plumages). There didn't seem to be any other small gulls associated with the approximately 100 Bonaparte's, but this would be a logical time and place to look for Little Gull.

The area south of the southernmost beach parking lot has extensive trails through the woods, and in the past I've often found this area to be very good for fall migrants. Today it was surprisingly quiet, with few birds of any kind and almost no migrants. The wind was strong out of the east and it has been that way a lot recently, so this rather exposed eastern edge of the park may have had the birds blown out. With a shift in wind direction, of course, it could be excellent again sometime in the next few days.

Checking other areas in the park, I found a couple of mixed flocks of warblers in the thickets of dogwood and other trees around the edge of the "frisbee golf" course, northeast of the Lockwood picnic area near the park exit. Most interesting were two Mourning Warblers, only loosely associated with the other warblers. As usual at this season, I noticed them first by their odd "thick" chipnote, and managed to pish them up out of the thickets. Notable among the larger birds were three Bald Eagles overhead and more than 50 Wood Ducks on the sheltered bays.

Migration prediction, Sept. 8 to 12

2009-09-07T20:40:00.000-04:00

Over the Labor Day weekend that just ended, numbers of songbird migrants were fairly low in the woodlots along the Lake Erie shoreline. Most of the expected species were around, but it took some digging to find them.

Looking at the weather predictions for the next few days (Tuesday through Saturday, Sept. 8 to 12), I don’t expect any major arrival of warblers and other songbirds before the weekend. A few will probably slip in between rain showers overnight Monday night and probably a few more Tuesday night, on east-northeast winds, so there may be modest turnover and fair variety in the migrant traps on Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 8 - 9. After that, the winds are supposed to be strong out of the east and southeast for several days and nights, not good conditions for bringing in more migrants. Determined birders still will be able to find a decent variety but not without some effort.

I don’t have a lot of faith in the weather predictions beyond Saturday, and things may change before then anyway, but the current forecast is for winds to stay mostly east or southeast through the middle of next week. If that happened and then the winds switched to northwest, there COULD be a huge influx of migrants around September 17th -- just in time for the Midwest Birding Symposium. That would be a sweet deal for all the visiting birders.

Of course, there’s a good chance that the weather forecast will change, as it often does! But we’ll be watching the weather maps closely to try to predict when the next big arrival of migrants will be. In the meantime, remember that there are great possibilities for birds here even on a "slow" day, so it’s always worthwhile to get out and look around.

Red Knot at Maumee Bay State Park

2009-09-07T19:34:00.001-04:00

A juvenile Red Knot was found at Maumee Bay State Park, on the inland beach just 100 yards south of the Lake Erie beach, several days ago. I expected that it would be driven away by all the weekend crowds going to the state park over Labor Day weekend, but the bird was seen all three days of the weekend, Saturday through Monday, Sept. 5 through 7, so there's a fair chance that it will stick around for a few days more. Apparently it has become habituated to the presence of people so it is unusually approachable. This is a good chance for local birders to get a close look at this striking plumage, with the sharp scalloping on the gray feathers of the back, scapulars, and wing coverts.

Magee boardwalk migrants 8/28

2009-08-28T20:41:00.001-04:00

Early fall birding at the boardwalk at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area has a very different feel from birding there in spring. In mid-April, you can traverse the boardwalk and feel pretty certain that you're seeing every warbler there, even if it's only four or five species. In early fall there are a lot more individuals and a LOT more variety, but you can't even hope to see every bird. The vegetation is just so thick that it's a challenge to see birds. But you can tell that there are a lot of them around, so it's sort of like reaching into a grab bag to see what selection you can come up with.

Between rain showers today (Friday, August 28 -- it would have been Roger Tory Peterson's 101st birthday) I made a quick check of the west end of the boardwalk. As expected at this season, migrants are strongly clustered in small flocks, with essentially no birds in between flocks. Still, in a short visit I was able to find a couple of mixed flocks and a good diversity of migrants. The two good concentrations were near number 6 on the boardwalk and between numbers 8 and 9. For the locations of these numbers, go to our birding pages and follow the links for "birding hotspots: maps and directions."

It was interesting to see five Veeries and no other brown thrushes; Veery is quite an early migrant in fall. Three Yellow-bellied Flycatchers were of interest also, and migrant warblers included three Chestnut-sided, three Tennessee, two Nashville, one Wilson's, one Black-and-white, and one Black-throated Blue. I also saw one Prothonotary Warbler, something of a surprise; Prothonotaries nest here, but the species is such an early fall migrant that it's quite possible that the local nesters have left already and that this was a stray from elsewhere. A Philadelphia Vireo and several Warbling Vireos were feeding on the conspicuous whitish fruits of Roughleaf Dogwood (Cornus drummondii), as were two of the Veeries, several Cedar Waxwings, and a couple of Downy Woodpeckers. The most anomalous sighting was of a single Red-breasted Nuthatch in the cypress trees near no. 6 on the boardwalk ... I'm not sure what it was doing here at this season.

Be advised that there are a lot of mosquitoes in the woods at Magee now, enough that I actually used repellant, which I seldom do. Be sure to carry repellant if you want to have an enjoyable birding experience there in the next few days. Also note that some fallen leaves have accumulated on the boardwalk, and these can be extremely slippery, especially when they're wet.

At the Black Swamp Bird Observatory (just north of Ohio State Route 2 at the entrance to Magee Marsh), Karen Zach saw several migrants this afternoon visiting the water feature outside the Window on Wildlife, the most notable being a Mourning Warbler. BSBO will be open 11 to 5 both days this weekend, August 29 and 30.

Shorebirds at Pickerel Creek Wildlife Area

2009-08-24T22:07:00.004-04:00

Today I spent about two and a half hours in early evening at Pickerel Creek Wildlife Area, Sandusky Co., concentrating on one impoundment that has been most productive recently (see below for directions). The highlight was the presence of two Red Knots, juveniles in beautiful fresh plumage, silvery gray with fine dark subterminal scalloping on the scapulars and coverts. Red Knots are very uncommon migrants in Ohio and this is on the early side of the migration for juveniles; the reports I'd heard so far for this fall, elsewhere near Lake Erie, had been of adults.

These two Red Knots were present the whole time I was there, but there was a marked amount of turnover in the species composition and numbers of other shorebirds. Most of the birds seemed flighty, flushing repeatedly (often for no obvious reason) and flying around before settling again, thus "shuffling the deck" in terms of which birds were located where.

This is a very interesting time of the fall to be looking at shorebirds, because of the mix of adults and juveniles. Although it's fairly consistent for the peak migration of adults to be earlier than the peak migration of juveniles, the ratio of ages on a given date will vary by species. So today, in late August, I was seeing no adult Short-billed Dowitchers (they've mostly gone farther south or at least to the coast by now) and I was seeing no juvenile White-rumped Sandpipers (they probably won't show up here until September).

Other notables on the evening of the 24th included:
Hudsonian Godwit: one molting adult, undoubtedly the same individual that was here last week. This bird didn't appear until I had been there for almost two hours, and after Sheryl Young had also been there for half an hour; we looked up from our scopes and the godwit was out in an obvious spot in the open. I assume that it flew in silently while we were glued to our scopes.
Western Sandpiper: one brightly patterned juvenile was present when I first arrived, but then I didn't see it again.
Baird's Sandpiper: one juvenile was flying around calling for a while, then landed for a few minutes, then left.
White-rumped Sandpiper: up to eight present at once, a good number. All were adults.
Pectoral Sandpiper: up to 50 present, still mostly adults, but with a few juveniles mixed in.
Semipalmated Sandpiper (at least 100) and Least Sandpiper (at least 20): almost all juveniles now, just a few adult Semis.
Lesser Yellowlegs: still a mix of ages, mostly juveniles but a few adults.
Short-billed Dowitcher: five juveniles. No Long-billeds were present.
Interesting (and further evidence of the turnover here) was the absence of Stilt Sandpipers; observers last week were finding good numbers of these.

Aside from shorebirds, other interesting birds included several flocks of Bobolinks (possibly coming into the marshes to roost for the night) and a migrant Northern Waterthrush in the small woodlot.

For those who haven't been there, Pickerel Creek Wildlife Area is well marked with signs along U.S. Highway 6 between Fremont and Sandusky, and the easiest way to find the exact spot is to find the observation deck on the north side of Route 6, about 8 miles east-northeast of Fremont. From the the observation deck, drive a couple of hundred yards east to where a canal runs straight north from the highway, and pull in and park in the large dirt parking area on the east side of this canal. Then walk north a quarter mile on the road that follows the canal, past a small woodlot, and look in the large impoundment just north of this woodlot. The best view is looking east from up along the west side, so the light is best in the afternoon, and a scope is essential for decent views. I didn't check the impoundment just north of the observation deck, but it had good numbers of birds reported last week.

Shorebirds at Ottawa NWR

2009-08-14T17:41:00.002-04:00

The auto tour at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge will be open on Saturday, August 15. I was at the refuge today (Friday the 14th), and found that the best shorebirding along the auto tour route was at MS 3. (To see where this is located, follow the links from the BSBO birding pages for "Birding Hotspots: maps and directions"). To see the birds on MS 3, the best approach is to park near the southeast corner of this impoundment and walk 10 or 20 yards north to a vantage point between the southeast corner of MS 3 and the southwest corner of MS 4. A telescope will be almost essential here.

Shorebirds on this impoundment today included one American Golden-Plover, several Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plovers, Solitary Sandpiper, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Short-billed Dowitcher, Wilson's Snipe, Pectoral Sandpipers, a few Semipalmated Sandpipers, and large numbers of Least Sandpipers, almost all of the latter being juveniles in beautiful fresh plumage. A Peregrine buzzed the shorebirds here at least once. A few Snowy Egrets were far back on the impoundment with the more numerous Great Egrets, and several Bald Eagles were seen in the area.

Elsewhere on the refuge, I heard Sedge Wrens singing at Stange Prairie at first light, but they were silent when I checked the area again near midday. At least 30 Black-crowned Night-Herons were along the north-south causeway between MS 4 and MS 5. Along the walking trails (away from the auto tour) there are still some shorebirds on Pool 2a, but conditions are becoming less favorable there.

In terms of shorebirds that avoid the shore -- just after noon on the 14th, an American Woodcock was preening out in the open just outside the Window on Wildlife at BSBO. No guarantees that it will show up there again soon, but the observatory will be open on both Saturday and Sunday this weekend.

Sedge Wrens at Ottawa NWR

2009-06-19T13:41:00.002-04:00

Sedge Wren is an uncommon and local breeding bird in northwest Ohio, with its locations often changing from year to year, so it can be a tough species for birders to catch up with. Right now there are a number of singing males at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, in the Stange Prairie in the southwestern part of the main unit of the refuge. (See our maps of the refuge, available through the BSBO birding pages under "birding hotspots: directions and maps" for clarification.) On Thursday June 18 there were at least five singing males on the prairie, possibly more. They were singing frequently, and they would often perch up on a stalk above the top of the grass for a minute or two at a time while singing. The birds are far enough out in the grass that you'll need a telescope for good views. The birds might be visible any time from the observation platform on Stange Road just south of Krause Road. Or if you take the Ottawa auto tour (open Saturday June 20, from 9 to 4) you can see them by looking south from the road just across from MS 7. In this area you can actually listen to Marsh Wrens singing from the cattails on the north side of the road, Sedge Wrens singing from the field on the south side.

Migration update 5/29

2009-05-29T17:54:00.002-04:00

Today (Friday May 29) I spent most of the day at my desk -- toward the end of May Madness, here in Migration Wonderland in n.w. Ohio, I’m so far behind on work that it’s ridiculous -- but I did get out for a couple of hours to see what was happening with the migration. In just a couple of hours at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, split between the wildlife beach and the eastern part of the boardwalk, I saw plenty of typical late-season migrants that don’t nest in this immediate area. Highlights were 2 Alder Flycatchers, 1 Philadelphia Vireo, at least 8 Swainson’s Thrushes (including 4 singing), 1 Tennessee Warbler, 4 Magnolia Warblers, 1 Black-throated Blue Warbler, 2 Black-throated Green Warblers (including a singing male), 10 American Redstarts (all females and young males), 1 Ovenbird, 2 Mourning Warblers, 3 Wilson’s Warblers, and 4 Canada Warblers (including 2 singing males). The local nesting warblers (Prothonotary, Yellow, Com Yellowthroat) put on a good show also. I didn’t go to the west end of the boardwalk so I don’t know what was seen there, but I know that at least one Connecticut Warbler was at the BSBO banding station east of Magee Marsh.

Looking at the weather tonight, I don't expect a big push of migrants to come in for the weekend. Winds are likely to be west or northwest for most of the night. Saturday's selection of birds will likely be similar to what was around today. Of course everyone is hoping that a cooperative Connecticut Warbler will be found along the boardwalk at Magee. There are certainly some in the general area; the trick is to find one that's actually viewable.

Tomorrow (Saturday May 30) there will be a public bird-banding demonstration at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, just north of Rt. 2 at the entrance to Magee Marsh, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. No guarantees on what birds might be around, but at this late date in May there’s a good chance that a few tricky Empidonax flycatchers might show up to be examined.

Multiple Connecticut Warblers 5/27

2009-05-27T15:27:00.002-04:00

Phil Chaon tells me that the main BSBO banding station (on the Navarre Unit of Ottawa NWR, just east of Magee Marsh) had five Connecticut Warblers this morning, Wednesday May 27. In addition, Rick Nirchl saw two at the Magee boardwalk this morning (or one, twice, at separate locations). This obviously means there are some around today, despite all the rugged weather that prevailed to the south of us last night. Weather looks dicey for the rest of this afternoon and tonight, and I'm guessing that some of these birds will be around tomorrow as well, when viewing conditions may be a little drier. Thursday morning's weather is supposed to be heavily overcast, but probably not raining at first.

Migration forecast May 26-29

2009-05-25T11:48:00.000-04:00

Last year, on May 26, 2008, I saw two Connecticut Warblers and ten Mourning Warblers along the boardwalk at Magee, plus many other warbler species, Philadelphia Vireo, Black-billed Cuckoo, etc., for a fine birding experience. Last year on May 29 I saw all five species of eastern Empidonax flycatchers, good numbers of Wilson’s, Canada, and Blackpoll Warblers, and various other migrants. I duplicated that mix the previous year on May 28, 2007, with four Gray-cheeked Thrushes for good measure. So based on past experience, I certainly don’t consider the migration to be "over" as early as today, May 25th.

For the last few days, though, the birding has been slow (by local standards) in the Magee / Ottawa area. There are still more than a dozen warbler species being seen each day, decent numbers of Swainson’s Thrushes, lots of Red-eyed Vireos and the occasional Philadelphia, etc., and this would seem like a lot of migrants in the interior of the state, but for this area it’s slow compared to the typical spring day. And looking ahead at the weather forecasts, it’s hard to say when things will change. Tuesday the 26th looks like it will have a lot of rain. There should be an air flow from the south on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, but there may be a lot of rain to the south of us, discouraging any migrants that remain in that area from moving. If the weather south of us is not as wet as predicted, we could have a decent arrival of birds on Wednesday May 27 or especially Thursday May 28, but at the moment I don’t expect those to be very big days. Winds out of the north, predicted for Thursday night, would keep things in place here, so if Thursday turns out to be a good morning then those birds would stick around for a while.

Beyond Thursday the weather predictions become even more vague. I could see a possible scenario where Sunday May 31 and especially Monday June 1 could have a very good push of migrants. The first few days of June are well within the normal migration period for the majority of our spring transients, so there’s nothing far-fetched about such an idea. But the weather forecast is likely to change, so I’m not making any strong predictions for the moment.

Updated weekend forecast: May 23-24

2009-05-22T17:52:00.002-04:00

Last night (Thursday night, May 21), as predicted, the wind was out of the southwest until about dawn on Friday and then abruptly swung around to the northeast. Friday was much cooler than the couple of preceding days in birding sites along the Lake Erie shore.

In the woods of the Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, there were good numbers of birds Friday but they were mostly not easy to see. Blackpoll Warblers, Magnolia Warblers, Red-eyed Vireos, and Swainson’s Thrushes were numerous. Young male American Redstarts (like females, but more orange-tinged and with spots of black on the face, and singing) seemed to be everywhere. Various other species were scattered through the woods, including Canada, Wilson’s, Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blue, Black-and-white, and Yellow Warblers, Scarlet Tanager, Black-billed Cuckoo, and White-crowned Sparrow. I had all five of the expected species of Empidonax, including an Alder Flycatcher singing persistently near no. 19 on the boardwalk in the afternoon and a single Acadian near no. 12. Most surprising was a male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker near the west end of the boardwalk (around no. 3), an exceptionally late migrant here, the first one I’d seen since April. You never know what odd thing is going to turn up at Magee!

The wind is supposed to continue more or less out of the northeast for the next two nights and days, perhaps veering more to the east at times. It’s hard to predict what this will do to the migration. Numbers of birds seemed a bit higher at Magee on Friday than on Thursday. It may be that birds moving gradually north will pause longer at Magee and other lakeshore sites if there are unfavorable winds at night, so the numbers of migrants here may build up over the weekend. We have arrived at prime dates for Connecticut Warbler but so far we haven’t had a cooperative and viewable individual for everyone to enjoy, and we hope that one will turn up this weekend.

A couple of tantalizing birds have been briefly present the last couple of days. Rick Nirschl had a Kirtland’s Warbler singing along the Magee boardwalk (near no. 14) early Thursday morning; it moved off and as far as I know it hasn’t been found since, but might still be in the general area. Iain Campbell found a Ruff on Friday morning at Ottawa NWR, on Pool 2a (see our map of the refuge walking trails); he was able to show it to a group, but birders who looked for it at midday and early afternoon couldn’t find it. This is likely the same bird found Tuesday in a closed area of the refuge, so it may be shifting around, and undoubtedly some birders will check Pool 2a for it again over the weekend.

Weekend Migration Forecast: May 22-24

2009-05-21T19:47:00.001-04:00

The last few days (Tuesday - Thursday, May 19 - 21) have been hard to interpret in terms of the migrants that we’re seeing on the ground. Bird numbers seemed lower than I had expected on Wednesday and Thursday. During the preceding two nights there had been favorable winds from the south, and the radar picture late at night had shown large numbers of birds on the move from well to the south of us, but the numbers of migrants along the Lake Erie shoreline -- particularly in the woods at the Magee boardwalk -- have seemed low.

I talked to Mark Shieldcastle (Research Director for BSBO), who has been looking at weather and migration in this area essentially every day in spring for the last 30 years, and asked for his perspective. Mark felt that we were seeing a migration on a very broad front, the birds filtering north, not forming large concentrations anywhere. He also pointed out that there have been large hatches of midges recently in the marsh region, so the birds can feed heavily without having to move very far, and since the woods and thickets are now fully leafed out, the birds are less conspicuous. The diversity in the area is still excellent -- the BSBO banding operation has had more than 20 species of warblers every day this week, with goodies like Connecticut, Mourning, Orange-crowned, and Hooded -- but birders are having to work a little harder now to find these birds.

(Incidentally, as I’ve mentioned before, you can find fascinating info by checking the BSBO website for the latest data from the banding station, and for Julie Shieldcastle’s “Bander’s Blog.”)

I was out checking various spots today (Thursday May 21) and found relatively few birds near the west end of the Magee boardwalk, probably at least partly because of strong winds from the west-southwest. On the Wildlife Beach I found a lot of warblers (mostly Am Redstarts, Wilson’s, and Blackpolls), but mostly just east of the dike at the west end, where the thickets are more protected from the wind. I had a much higher density of migrants in the woods at Ottawa NWR in a brief check there. Again I was concentrating on areas sheltered from the wind, on the north and east sides of the wooded areas (see our map of the walking trails at Ottawa for a better idea of how the woodlots are arranged).

Tonight (Thursday night) the winds are supposed to continue more or less from the southwest all night, but right around dawn, a cool front is supposed to pass through and shift the winds abruptly so they’ll be coming from the northwest. If the timing of this is just right, it could make for a better concentration of birds in the migrant traps along the lakeshore. I think the best bet on Friday morning will be to check the standard lakeshore areas (like the Magee boardwalk area, Metzger, etc.), and then if there aren’t a great number of birds there, go to check areas of woods just to the south. The wooded areas at Ottawa NWR are excellent on some “off” days for the boardwalk. Along the Ottawa trails there are a lot of areas that look perfect for Connecticut Warbler. I’m sure there have been a few in there this week; it’s just a matter of finding them.

Sedge Wren, Wood Thrushes

2009-05-21T17:05:00.002-04:00

A couple of brief notes. Tom Johnson, ace birder from Ithaca, NY, found a Sedge Wren singing along the Magee Marsh causeway on Wednesday May 20. I heard the bird sing a few times on the morning of May 21. The location was about 100 yards north of the first pulloff on the causeway as you start north from the woods toward the beach. Sedge Wrens in May are often just lone migrants passing through, but it would be worth checking to see if this bird sticks around.

There have been a few Snowy Egrets seen consistently along the Magee causeway also. These birds nest on West Sister Island out in the lake and come to the mainland to feed. The Magee causeway is one of the best and easiest places in the state to see this species.

There will be migrant Swainson's and Gray-cheeked Thrushes around for another week or more, and a few Swainson's through the first week of June, but Wood Thrushes have mostly passed through the migrant traps -- they're not being seen now in the woods at the Magee boardwalk, for example. A good place to see Wood Thrushes now is along the trails at Ottawa NWR. See our map of the refuge trails (through "hotspots: directions and maps" on the BSBO birding pages). If you take the boardwalk behind the visitors' center, and then go east on the dirt trail from the northeast corner of the boardwalk, you'll soon pass through territories of a couple of pairs of Wood Thrushes that apparently will be nesting here. This area can be great for seeing migrant thrushes, vireos, warblers, and others as well.

Strong overnight movement May 19-20

2009-05-19T23:43:00.003-04:00

Just in case anyone is reading at this hour -- at a little after midnight Tuesday night, May 19 (or 12:15 a.m. on Wednesday, May 20) the radar picture appears to show a huge amount of bird movement in the Midwest. There has been some obvious departure from northern Ohio with birds heading north across Lake Erie, but there is also a much larger movement of birds well to the south of us, in southern and southwestern Ohio and central Kentucky, of birds headed this direction. I'm guessing that the timing is such that large numbers will be reaching the latitude of the lake around dawn. We don't have any rain or other weather predicted that would put them down so I don't think areas away from the lake will see big concentrations, but there should be at least a few new migrants virtually everywhere. In the migrant traps right along the Lake Erie shoreline there should be very obvious turnover and a lot of new birds on Wednesday morning. A good day to check out any habitat that you have close at hand.

Migration Forecast May 19 - 21

2009-05-18T11:45:00.001-04:00

Yesterday morning (Sunday May 17), with much cooler temperatures and winds out of the north, migrants were still present in good variety and fair numbers at the migrant traps along the Lake Erie shoreline. Of course, with the wind shift, they were not quite as concentrated along the north edge of the woods as they had been on Saturday, so they weren’t quite as convenient for photography along the edge of the parking lot at Magee Marsh. But there was plenty of variety to be found inside the woods.

Sunday’s highlight was the Kirtland’s Warbler found by Andy Johnson and then relocated twice by guides from Tropical Birding and shown to at least a hundred lucky birders. So far today (Monday May 18, about 11 a.m.) the bird has not been refound. See previous post for more info.

A high-pressure system over us now is moving toward to east more slowly than expected, so as of late morning Monday the winds are still light out of the north. Numbers of birds are still decent although not exceptional in the migrant traps along the lake shore.

After the high passes us and moves east, the winds are supposed to shift to southeast sometime late Monday afternoon and then southerly for the rest of the evening and night. Based on current weather forecasts, I think that Tuesday, May 19, could have a very good arrival of birds. After that the picture is less certain, because the forecast calls for rapidly changing wind directions overnight Tuesday night, so it’s hard to say what the birding will be like on Wednesday (aside from warm, relatively calm and pleasant conditions). Thursday, though, has good potential, after southerly winds Wednesday night.

Good flights at this time of month should include an excellent variety of warblers, with Wilson’s, Mourning, and Canada becoming more numerous, and Connecticut Warbler becoming more likely as we get closer to May 25th. Flycatchers are increasing in numbers and variety: Yellow-bellied showed up in good numbers for the first time on Saturday May 16, and there will be more of them through the end of the month, along with lots of Alder and Willow Flycatchers and a few Olive-sided Flycatchers. Swainson’s Thrush will continue to be numerous, and Gray-cheeked Thrush will be easier to find now in the latter part of May. Yellow-billed and Black-billed Cuckoos put in their best showing in late May, and this is also a good time for uncommon migrants like Philadelphia Vireo.

At this point I can’t predict what’s going to happen the weekend of May 23-24. It’s well within the migration timing for all the birds mentioned in the paragraph above, but at the moment I’m getting contradictory weather predictions for Friday and the weekend so it’s too soon to tell what the numbers of birds will be like. Still, if weekends are your only available birding times, and if you’re after Connecticut Warbler, the next two weekends would be your best possibilities of the year.

Kirtland's Warbler: detailed directions

2009-05-17T23:15:00.003-04:00

On Sunday, May 17, a Kirtland's Warbler was found at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area. Originally found, identified, and photographed by Andy Johnson, a very sharp teenaged birder from Ann Arbor, Michigan, the Kirtland's proved elusive, but was seen for a while by many birders around 3 p.m. and then rediscovered by Iain Campbell and watched for another period by several birders between 6:30 and 7:30 p.m.

With cool temperatures and light north winds prevailing tonight (Sunday night), it's possible that this rare migrant will still be in the area tomorrow. The map below shows where the bird was seen, on trails behind the Sportsmen's Migratory Bird Center. Andy Johnson found it first near the observation blind on the trail (right-hand letter "X") and the two later observations were farther west on the trail (left-hand "X"). During the later observations, it was foraging very quietly and inconspicuously within the conifers along the trail (pines and spruces surrounded by deciduous trees), and it could disappear for minutes at a time within a dense tree before reappearing on the edge.

For those unfamiliar with the general area, below is a low-resolution copy of our overview map of Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, to clarify the location of the Sportsmen's Center and the trails behind the center. This map is available through the BSBO website for free downloading and printing; go to the main birding pages and follow the links for "Birding hotspots: directions and maps."

Update: migration May 14-16

2009-05-14T19:01:00.001-04:00

With the rough weather that prevailed this morning, I was sweating my prediction that the birding would be good today, wondering if the migrants had made it through. But they had: the birding was spectacular at Magee Marsh and other nearby areas. From what I saw or heard about, there were at least 27 warbler species in the area. But of course, the number of species doesn’t tell the whole story; what was more impressive was the number of individuals, the excellent overall variety (that is, there was no single species that dominated -- we saw lots of most species), and the fact that the warblers were foraging very low along the north edge of the woods at Magee, probably to be out of the strong southwest winds. Many species qualified as common today: Bay-breasted, Cape May, Black-throated Blue, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Am. Redstart, Ovenbird, etc., while some earlier migrants like Black-throated Green were in reduced numbers but still easy to find. The sheer visibility of these warblers is amazing to people who visit for the first time -- or even for some of us who have been here a lot. This would be hard to prove, but I’d be willing to bet that more than 30,000 warbler photos were taken at Magee today.

The winds are now shifting to west-northwest, and by morning (Friday morning, May 15) they’re supposed to be more north-northwest. Probably there won’t be nearly as much bird movement tonight as there was last night. I assume that there will be somewhat fewer birds in the lakeshore migrant traps on Friday, but even with reduced numbers it should still be good birding. Friday night the winds are supposed to go to the south again, so probably we’ll have another big influx on Saturday morning, the 16th, undoubtedly with a fair amount of turnover.

Near the east end of the boardwalk this morning was the first (that I’ve heard of) Connecticut Warbler for the season. If you’re keen to see the species, though, don’t worry about rushing over to try to find this individual; the peak migration for this species typically is later, closer to May 25, so your best chance would be late in the month.