Next migrant wave: May 28-29

Willow Flycatcher at Magee Marsh, late May 2013. Willow and Alder flycatchers are almost identical in appearance, and individual variation in both makes it dangerous to try to identify them by sight.  However, their callnotes are distinctly different: a dry "whit" from Willow, a liquid "kep" from Alder Flycatcher.  Fortunately, this Willow Flycatcher was calling  a lot, and even sang a couple of times.

Saturday, May 25:  An excellent movement of birds during the early part of this last week was pretty much shut down when winds shifted around to the north on Thursday.  By that time, however, the woodlots near Lake Erie had filled up with migrants typical of the third wave.  Flycatchers were abundant, Red-eyed Vireos and American Redstarts had become numerous, and the predominant warblers were late-season birds like Blackpoll, Canada, Wilson's, and Mourning warblers.  The prized find among late species, Connecticut Warbler, proved elusive; one or two were heard or seen along the Magee Marsh boardwalk on some days, but most people have missed the species so far this spring.

After the wind shifted to the north, most of the birds that had been around earlier in the week seemed to be pinned down where they were, so that birding continued to be good on Friday and today.  As often happens with north winds, some of the birds filtered southward away from the Lake Erie shoreline, so that there were many in the woods near BSBO, for example.

At this point on Saturday evening, with winds still out of the northeast, it appears that we won't see much new arrival on Sunday or Monday.  But by Monday night, a high-pressure area to the east of us and a low-pressure center to the west should create a strong flow of air all the way up from the Gulf of Mexico, and this will increase during Tuesday and Tuesday night, along with temperatures getting much warmer again.  So we should see a big turnover on Tuesday May 28 and probably even more on Wednesday morning, May 29.  

After Wednesday, the current forecast shows southerly or southwesterly winds persisting through the latter part of the week, right up to Sunday morning, June 2nd.  Along the Lake Erie shoreline, it's usually possible to find a lot of lingering migrants through the first week of June.  However, these favorable winds are likely to sweep a lot of the migrants on toward their destinations, so things may be getting a little thin by the weekend.  If you are still determined to find that Connecticut Warbler, or to practice on Empidonax flycatchers, you may have better luck if you can get out on the 28th or especially the 29th, rather than waiting for the weekend.  

Of course, even after the songbird migration winds down, we'll still have shorebird passage up through the second week of June... and the first southbound shorebirds of the "fall" will show up before the first of July.  So in reality, in this corner of the world, migration is happening most of the time!  And regardless of the weather conditions, every day holds the potential for exciting discoveries, so it's never a bad day to go birding.

  

May 25 report, May 27-29 outlook

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

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.

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

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.