Pickerel Creek shorebirds

Right now, as far as I know, the single best shorebird spot in n.w. Ohio is one of the impoundments at Pickerel Creek Wildlife Area, on the north side of Rt 6 in Sandusky County, about 7 miles east of Fremont. From the southwest corner of the wildlife area (corner of CR 256/Pearson Rd and Rt 6), continue east on Rt 6; in a little over half a mile you'll pass an observation platform on the north side of the road, and a quarter mile past that is a pulloff next to a pumphouse. If you park next to the pumphouse you can walk east on a dike that runs along the south side of a shallow impoundment that has excellent shorebird habitat now, with shallow water and exposed mudflats. On Friday, July 4, I counted the following there: Killdeer 24, Spotted Sandpiper 5, Lesser Yellowlegs 53, Short-billed Dowitcher 86, Least Sandpiper 104, Dunlin 3, and American Avocet 1.

This is the beginning of the fall shorebird migration, and aside from the Dunlins (surprisingly early) and the Am Avocet (surprising anytime), today's species composition was as expected. Lesser Yellowlegs show up in numbers before Greaters, Least Sandpipers show up before Semipalmateds. Within a few days or a couple of weeks, if the habitat remains as good as it is now, the diversity of shorebirds should pick up even more.

Incidentally, if you go back to Pearson Rd / CR 256 and go north a little over a mile, there's a pullout on the right with an interpretive sign about the Prairie Fringed White Orchid. As Su Snyder pointed out a few days ago, there are Sedge Wrens singing in the field east of this sign. On July 4 (in addition to seeing 2 Sedge Wrens), in a brief search northeast of the sign, I found 7 of the orchids blooming, and they're worth seeing as well.

Ottawa NWR this Saturday

This Saturday (June 21) the auto tour at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge will be open, and as always, if you're in the area it's worth taking advantage of this chance to traverse the back sections of the refuge. A few of us made a nighttime visit to the refuge on June 14, and heard surprising numbers of Common Moorhens calling in the marsh, as well as a scattering of Virginia Rails. A Least Bittern was calling actively near the start of the auto tour (or about halfway between that road and the observation tower on the dike to the north) on both the 14th and the 18th. According to biologists who have been back in the interior of the refuge recently, Yellow-headed Blackbirds are again present near the northwest end of the auto tour. Our BSBO birding map of the refuge is not finished yet; we hope to have it available before the July date of the auto tour, and that will make it easier to communicate about specific locations there. But regardless, Ottawa NWR is a wonderful area of marshes, woods, fields, and water, and it's always worthwhile to visit.

May 31 migration prospects

Friday, May 30 -- I hadn't been paying much attention to the weather today, but Mark Shieldcastle pointed out to me that an interesting pattern was developing and that I should look at the maps. Sure enough, looking at the large-scale pattern, there's a large high-pressure area off to the east of us and a low-pressure area off to our northwest, and between the two of them there's a strong flow of air coming all the way up from Texas. Any concentrations of migrants that are still to the south of us are probably going to ride that train into our area during the night tonight. It's likely to be stormy overnight tonight and windy tomorrow, but still there could be a lot of birds around on Saturday, the 31st.

This late in the season, the variety is more limited than it was in mid-May. Some of the birds that are common now are just characteristic late migrants, like Red-eyed Vireo, Swainson's Thrush, and American Redstart. Among warblers there's an interesting pattern with Mourning, Canada, and Wilson's Warblers being among the latest to peak here: all three of these are species that migrate around the Gulf of Mexico instead of across it, coming around through Mexico and Texas rather than making the overwater jump from Yucatan to Louisiana. In Ohio, of course, these west-of-the-Gulf migrants overlap with Blackpoll and Connecticut Warblers, also late migrants, which come up mostly through Florida from their South American wintering grounds. Here it's not unusual to find Connecticut and Mourning Warblers together, but it would be very rare to find them together in the southernmost states of the U.S.

This period, right at the end of May, is still within the peak migration for Yellow-bellied, Alder, and Willow Flycatchers, and there are still some Leasts and Acadians moving through, making this a great time to study identification of these subtle birds. With any luck, the bird-banding demonstration at BSBO on Saturday (10 to 11:30) will include a few of these Empidonax flycatchers for some close-up study.

Migrants May 29 and next weekend

By now the spring migration is winding down, of course, but there were still good numbers of migrants today on the Magee boardwalk and on the Wildlife Beach area to the east. Wilson's Warbler was the most conspicuous migrant, with Canada and Blackpoll Warblers, American Redstart, and Swainson's Thrush also present in some numbers. For birders with a serious interest in field identification, this is an excellent time of year to study flycatchers, especially the challenging Empidonax flycatchers. I actually saw all five species of eastern Empidonax in a couple of hours today. Alder Flycatcher was the most numerous. It can't be separated visually from Willow Flycatcher, and only a few of today's birds were singing, but the callnotes are also diagnostic: Alder's odd, flat kep note sounds notably different from the sharp fwhit! of Willow Flycatcher. (One way to think of it is that the accent in Alder's callnote is at the beginning, while Willow's is accented at the end.) There were also fair numbers of Yellow-bellied and Willow Flycatchers, a few Leasts, and I was a little surprised to find an Acadian in an area of the Wildlife Beach where the habitat is fairly open. Willow Flycatchers are common breeding birds in the general area of Magee Marsh so they'll be around for the summer.

Winds have been light and variable today but they're supposed to be southerly tonight and Friday. Some of today's birds will probably move out, but I expect that the weekend will still be good for studying flycatchers (and come Sunday, it's always interesting to see how many migrants we can find on June 1st). For anyone who is in the area on Saturday, remember that we'll have a public bird-banding demonstration at the BSBO nature center from 10 to 11:30.

Migration May 26 and 27

By this stage in the migration, the birding is becoming more of a challenge: the trees are fully leafed out, there are more female migrants than males so fewer birds are singing, and the birders are harder to impress than we were back in early April when we were desperate for migrants!

Today, Monday May 26, was actually a very big day for migrants on the lakeshore in northwest Ohio. The main BSBO banding site, at the Navarre Unit of Ottawa Natl Wildlife Refuge, had one of its biggest days of the spring for numbers of birds. But many birders who went to the boardwalk at Magee Marsh reported that it was "slow." I was at the BSBO banding site for a while in late morning and then at the Magee boardwalk in early evening and I was impressed with the numbers of birds in both places. But the birds weren't obvious; it took patience to find them. At this time of late spring it's most effective to move slowly, pause frequently, and watch for things moving quietly in the foliage. I actually thought the birding was excellent at Magee, with two Connecticut Warblers, at least 10 Mourning Warblers, and multiple Canada, Wilson's, Blackpoll, Tennessee, Chestnut-sided, and other warblers, plus Gray-cheeked and Swainson's Thrushes, Philadelphia Vireo, Yellow-bellied and Alder Flycatchers, and Black-billed and Yellow-billed Cuckoos, all during a couple of hours on the boardwalk. (In most places, that would add up to a great day of birding!) But there were periods of a few minutes at a time when I wasn't seeing anything, so I can understand the impression that it was "slow."

The two Connecticut Warblers that I saw were both females, one in the heavy brush just northwest of number 16 on the boardwalk (seen by many during the day), the other hiding in the garlic mustard north of no. 5. I heard that a male was seen also, late in the day, near no. 23. (See our boardwalk map under "birding hotspots" on the BSBO birding pages.) Mourning Warblers and thrushes were generally distributed wherever there's dense low growth, and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers were widespread in the lower middle story inside the woods. During the evening, at least 20 Common Nighthawks came over the woods.

Tonight (Monday night) the wind is still out of the southwest, and I'm guessing that there will be more turnover tonight, but it's hard to say whether Tuesday will be better or slower than today was. Sometime Tuesday, the wind will probably shift to the northeast, and whatever migrants are here will probably wind up staying for a while. Regardless, the Magee boardwalk is one of the best places in the U.S. to look for migrant Connecticut Warblers right now, and the chances should continue to be fairly good for the next few days.

Weekend of May 24-26: migration

For the last several days the winds have been mostly from the north, not really good conditions for migration, but some migrants have been moving anyway. The numbers and diversity have continued to be good in many habitats in northwestern Ohio. (This is gleaned from reports from others, since I was away in Boston for part of the week.)

Mark Shieldcastle, who has many years of experience in studying the migration here, tells me that he expects the third major wave to hit sometime late this weekend. Based on current weather predictions, I would have to agree. The forecast still calls for northeast or north winds through Saturday and Saturday night, the 24th, with winds finally shifting around to the southeast on Sunday morning and then to the south. We could see a good movement of daytime migrants on Sunday, and I expect a really good arrival of birds during Sunday night, so that Monday morning, May 26, could be excellent. (There’s likely to be some rain, but that could make it better – it appears it will be mostly clear to the south of us, so a lot of migrants could be moving north, running into weather near the lakeshore and stopping here.) May 26th is not too late in the season for an excellent variety of migrants to be around, with lots of flycatchers, thrushes, and Red-eyed Vireos expected, and a warbler flight characterized by Canada, Wilson’s, Blackpoll, Mourning, and Connecticut Warblers and lots of American Redstarts.

Migration update 5/18 and predictions for next week

The last couple of migrant waves came in about as predicted, with big-but-not-huge arrivals on May 14 and 17. Essentially all of the late-season migrants have appeared by now, with good numbers of Connecticut, Canada, Mourning, and Wilson’s Warblers, Gray-cheeked Thrush, both cuckoos, and Yellow-bellied, Alder, and Willow Flycatchers. Today, May 18, the birding was excellent in between showers. There were a couple of relatively cooperative Connecticut Warblers at the Magee boardwalk, with one in particular just inside the woods on the south side of the middle parking lot and another near 20B on the boardwalk itself. Mourning Warblers were seen at several spots including near no. 2 and near no. 31 (see our map of the boardwalk under hotspots and directions).

The weather predictions for the next week show a continued (and unusual) predominance of northerly winds. Migrants will continue to move into (and out of) the area, because this late in the season they just have to get north even if it isn’t easy for them, so I expect there will continue to be very good variety of birds in most of the lakeshore spots for the next week. Tiny woodlots on the edge of the lake, like the one at Metzger, may not hold birds very long, especially on windy days; but the larger woods, such as at Ottawa Natl Wildlife Refuge, Magee Marsh, Maumee Bay State Park, and East Harbor State Park, should have good variety of birds throughout the next few days. In these periods between big waves of arrivals, most migrant species are concentrated in mixed flocks, so you might walk for several minutes without finding anything at all before you run across a flock with half a dozen warbler species and others. (Note, however, that the highly sought-after Connecticut Warbler is not as sociable as most warblers in migration, and you might find it quietly walking on the forest floor in an area away from all other warbler flocks.)

Based on long-range weather forecasts, the next really big arrival of migrants COULD be next Monday and Tuesday, May 26 & 27. However, obviously, weather predictions are very uncertain that far ahead, so migrant predictions are more so! It’s possible that the fronts will move faster than predicted, so that the wave could arrive on Saturday or Sunday, May 24 – 25. Even without the wave, if weekends are your best time to get out birding, this coming weekend is probably the best time to look for Connecticut Warbler, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, and Alder Flycatcher, as well as a variety of other species in the migrant traps along the lakeshore.

Kelleys Island migrants; mainland King Rails

Delores Cole reports that good numbers of migrants are being seen on Kelleys Island. Notable warblers there include the "Brewster's" hybrid, Yellow-throated, Orange-crowned, and late-season migrants like Canada, Mourning, and Wilson's Warblers. I suspect that when the wind goes to west-southwest on Friday night, the numbers there should pick up even more. A couple of days ago there was an intriguing report of a large hummingbird there that vaguely suggested the description of a Green-breasted Mango, but the bird has not been seen again and is definitely unconfirmed. Even without such tantalizing possibilities, Kelleys Island is a beautiful spot for birding and always worth a visit.

Back on the Ohio "mainland" there are apparently King Rails at three different spots right now: at Mallard Club Marsh, along the dike north from the west parking lot; at Metzger Marsh, at the curve where the road in turns from north to east-northeast; and at the Magee causeway, to west of the road near the third (northernmost) pullout. As far as I know, the latter have only been heard so far. See our maps and directions page on the website if any of these locations are unfamiliar.

Migration update May 15

A brief update on the migration for Thursday, May 15. The winds shifted back around to the north last night, and most of the birds that were new arrivals on Wednesday seemed to stick around rather than leaving. Numbers near the lakeshore may have dropped somewhat, but numbers and variety were good at some of the spots a mile or two south of the lake (see my post from before IMBD weekend for suggestions about good places to go). For example, Kim Kaufman had several warbler species including Blackpoll and Orange-crowned, plus Scarlet Tanagers, Orchard Orioles, and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, on the Gallagher Trail behind the BSBO nature center today. The winds are supposed to continue northerly through Thurday night and Friday May 16 before shifting around to the west-southwest on Friday evening. Even though the conditions won't be ideal, I expect there will be a good arrival of birds on Saturday, partly because there are still so many birds dammed up to the south of us. It's likely to rain a little on Saturday morning but the diversity of birds ought to be very good in spots near the lakeshore.

Big arrival of migrants 5/14

From Tuesday May 13 to today, Wednesday May 14, there was a huge amount of turnover in the bird population at the Magee Marsh boardwalk and other migrant traps on the lakeshore. It was a striking demonstration of how migratory waves can transform this area literally overnight.

Late Tuesday night, on a tip from Ethan Kistler, I looked at the radar pictures for the area and could see that a lot of birds had taken off just after dark to go directly north across the lake, while others were pouring in from the south. Today at the Magee boardwalk it was obvious that a lot of birds had departed overnight while a lot of different birds had arrived. This was clearly the point where the migration clicked over from the early wave to the main wave of arrivals. As recently as yesterday, Yellow-rumped Warbler (the early migrant) was the most numerous warbler in the area; today American Redstart and Magnolia Warbler were the two most numerous, with good numbers of several other species including Cape May, Black-throated Blue, Tennessee, Yellow, Blackpoll, and Black-and-white Warblers. Late-season migrants were well represented with Mourning, Canada, and a number of Wilson's Warblers. In about 4 hours on the boardwalk, despite a lot of rain, I saw 25 warbler species and heard reports of two others, and the total for just the boardwalk today may reach 30 species.

Other evidence of the main migration wave included a sudden increase in Red-eyed Vireos, numbers of flycatchers including Eastern Wood-Pewees and Great Crested Flycatchers, and great studies of Acadian and Least Flycatchers from the boardwalk. Yellow-billed and Black-billed Cuckoos, Orchard Oriole, and Philadelphia Vireo were among the other interesting migrants. Thrushes were in low numbers but included Swainson's, Gray-cheeked, Veery, and Wood. Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Scarlet Tanagers were conspicuous again today.

At this point (3 p.m.) the rain has picked up again locally. I don't think that many of today's arrivals will leave tonight, so Thursday could also be quite good, but that assessment could change after I look at the latest weather forecast.