Update on Magee causeway

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.

Soras and others at Magee Marsh

Just back from out of town, we wanted to check on the progress of spring migration, so Kim and I went to look at the walking trail at Magee Marsh (the walking trail behind the Sportsmen's Migratory Bird Center, not the boardwalk out by the beach). As expected, migration is not so far advanced here as is indicated by recent reports from southern Ohio, but there were a lot of obvious spring migrants. Kinglets were numerous, with at least 35 Golden-crowned and 25 Ruby-crowned seen/heard in a couple of hours. Other typical early-spring birds included Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (2), Eastern Phoebe (1), Hermit Thrush (2), "Myrtle" Yellow-rumped Warbler (1), Rusty Blackbird (10), Fox Sparrow (3, including one singing), Chipping Sparrow (20), and Savannah Sparrow (1). Tree Swallows are back in force, and nearby we saw one Barn Swallow. Audible highlights near the far end of the walking trail (where it approaches an extensive marsh area) were the calls of at least two Soras and the songs of at least half a dozen Swamp Sparrows.

Flocks of Bonaparte's Gulls were in evidence near most water areas today, and Great Egrets have returned in numbers, as we saw more than 20 for the day.