Tricolored Heron continues near Sandusky

As of Sunday, August 31, an adult Tricolored Heron continues in Medusa Marsh, west of Sandusky and southeast of Port Clinton. The bird was first discovered by Jen Brumfield a week ago and has been seen off and on since. This is a rare visitor to northwestern Ohio, not found every year. To locate the bird, go to the junction of Rt. 2 and Rt. 269 South, just on the south side of Sandusky Bay, and turn north toward Bay View. From the overpass over Rt. 2, if you look toward the northeast, you'll see a large open area of shallow water and exposed flats surrounded by marsh and phragmites. To view this area, you have to go north (downhill) about fifty yards to a wide spot where you can park, and then walk back uphill along the road shoulder toward the interchange to get high enough to see over the vegetation.

I was there this afternoon and the Tricolored Heron was out in the middle of the open area. It was not at all obvious and took some scanning to find; and although it would have been identifiable through binoculars, a telescope is very helpful here for getting decent looks. Other birds out on the flats included at least 20 Snowy Egrets, several Caspian Terns and Forster's Terns, one Bonaparte's Gull, two American Golden-Plovers, good numbers of Semipalmated Plovers, Killdeers, and Lesser Yellowlegs, a few dowitchers and "peeps" at great distance, many Blue-winged Teal, and a few Northern Shovelers and Green-winged Teal. A couple of times, Bald Eagles made low passes over the area, causing many of the birds (including the Tricolored Heron) to get up and fly around before landing again.

Best current shorebirding in Ohio

Late August is a great time for shorebirding in northwestern Ohio if you can find areas of good habitat. A lot of shorebirds are using habitat in the state Wildlife Areas and the Ottawa Natl Wildlife Refuge near the lakeshore, but access to the best spots is difficult. Right now the easiest shorebird viewing is a little farther south -- south of Sandusky and east of Fremont -- in areas of flooded farm fields just west of Bellevue, along the Seneca - Sandusky county line.

Here are notes on some specific spots, with notable birds that I observed at these places on Friday, August 22 (I saw a total of 16 shorebird species and well over 1000 individuals). To find these spots, consult any detailed road atlas, such as the DeLorme Atlas for Ohio. All observation should be from the road shoulder, since all of these places are on private property.

Seneca County, pond on the north side of C34 between T79 and T80, a mile south of the county line: the pond is some distance away from the road, so a telescope is essential. Parking is a challenge as well, since the road shoulders are narrow; exercise extreme caution here. The water level is a lot lower from last week but on 8/22 the pond still had 163 Killdeer, 71 Lesser Yellowlegs, 4 Greater Yellowlegs, 4 Pectoral Sandpipers, 2 Short-billed Dowitchers, about 20 Least Sandpipers, and one Baird's Sandpiper.

Seneca County, pond on east side of T80, half a mile south of the county line: again, water level is down, but the pond had a surprising 9 Stilt Sandpipers on August 22. Other birds included 14 Pectoral, one Solitary, 2 Spotted, one Semipalmated, and 28 Least Sandpipers, 41 Killdeer, and 6 Lesser Yellowlegs. One female Yellow-headed Blackbird was with the starlings and Red-wings on the shore.

Sandusky County, flooded area on both sides of the railroad tracks on T292 (Riddle Rd) just north of the county line: The "road closed, high water" signs are still there, but there's no longer any water across the road south of the tracks, and only a narrow strip across the road north of the tracks. Off to the sides, though, there is still a very large flooded area, with hundreds of shorebirds present. On August 22, highlights at this spot included a juvenile Wilson's Phalarope, 2 adult Black-bellied Plovers, and several Semipalmated Plovers. In one section I counted 57 Stilt Sandpipers, a great concentration any time for Ohio. (Only two of those were adults, the rest juveniles.) A couple of quick sample counts indicated that there were well over 300 Lesser Yellowlegs and over 200 Pectoral Sandpipers here, over 200 Least Sandpipers, and at least 150 Semipalmated Sandpipers. The numbers of shorebirds were in stark contrast to their scarcity of the previous Saturday, when repeated passes by a young Peregrine Falcon apparently had moved some things out. This area continues to hold many Pied-billed Grebes and a variety of ducks, including a bedraggled Bufflehead, a species that rarely summers in Ohio.

Sandusky County, flooded area on 205 (Bonham Rd) between 296 and 288, north of US 20: no shorebirds here except a few Killdeers and a Solitary. Still a lot of water. This area still held American Coots, Common Moorhens, and many ducks; it seems like a place where some really odd rarities could show up.

Sandusky County, flooded area on 175 (South Ridge Rd) east of 278, or about 2 miles east-northeast of US 20: Most of the water is gone, but the remaining four patches of water and the surrounding flats were crowded with birds, including a beautiful juvenile Red-necked Phalarope, 5 juvenile Baird's Sandpipers, one adult White-rumped Sandpiper, and 3 adult Black-bellied Plovers. Other birds there were 5 Semipalmated Plovers, 100-plus Killdeer, 4 Spotted Sandpipers, 3 Solitary Sandpipers, 100-plus Lesser Yellowlegs, 50-plus Semipalmated Sandpipers, 100-plus Least Sandpipers, 100-plus Pectoral Sandpipers, 42 Stilt Sandpipers, and 18 Short-billed Dowitchers.

The numbers and variety present right now make this the best current shorebirding in Ohio. It should continue to be good until the water dries up, which may happen soon at a couple of these sites if we don't get more rain. In the meantime, though, I expect there's daily turnover, and some of these spots would be worth checking every day for some exciting studies of migratory shorebirds.

Timing of shorebird migration

Shorebird migration seems to be proceeding at a normal pace in northwestern Ohio, in terms of both numbers and timing. Areas of shorebird habitat have been changing constantly over the last six weeks ... as is also normal. Stopover habitats for shorebirds are changeable by their very nature -- changing by the hour in tidal situations at the coast, changing by the day inland, as low-lying areas flood or dry up. The shorebirds, ever adaptable, are quick to take advantage of new habitat, quick to move on when it loses its appeal. Most migratory shorebirds are such strong fliers that they can keep going for hundreds of miles, at least, until they happen to find a good spot. In an inland region like Ohio, when an area of good habitat appears, shorebirds migrating over will drop in. So these temporary habitats give us a chance to take a sample of what is passing overhead.

I had a chance to sample what was pausing in the back country of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge on Friday, Aug. 8, and today, Monday, Aug. 11, when I tagged along with a team doing research there. (Unfortunately, as reported earlier, the auto tour at Ottawa won't be open this weekend, owing to unforeseen delays in construction, but the main shorebird concentrations right now are away from the auto tour anyway.) These are my very rough numbers from one major impoundment from today, estimated when I wasn't up to my knees in glutinous mud:
Semipalmated Plover 20 (mostly adults)
Killdeer 35
Greater Yellowlegs 14 (mostly adults)
Lesser Yellowlegs 90 (more juveniles than adults)
Solitary Sandpiper 15 (those seen well were adults)
Spotted Sandpiper 10 (adults and juvs)
Semipalmated Sandpiper 120 (roughly equal numbers of adults and juvs)
Least Sandpiper 200 (more juvs than adults)
Pectoral Sandpiper 40 (adults)
Stilt Sandpiper 2 (juvs)
Short-billed Dowitcher 25 (1 adult, the rest juvs)
Wilson's Snipe 4
The mix on Friday 8/8 was similar, but with the addition of one Long-billed Dowitcher and two Dunlin, and larger numbers of Short-billed Dowitchers. Also on Friday, slightly fewer of the Semi and Least Sandpipers were juveniles.

I'm not mentioning these birds to frustrate birders who can't get into closed areas of the refuge, but just to indicate that there are indeed good numbers migrating through. Fortunately, I didn't see anything rare on the refuge, and all of these species could be expected in visits to the Bellevue ponds and other accessible sites.

The timing of dowitcher migration is worthy of special mention. Hundreds of Short-billed Dowitchers were passing through the area a month ago; for example, I counted 86 on one impoundment at Pickerel Creek on July 4, and others had higher counts there. Western Ottawa County had very heavy rains in early July, causing damage to some local crops but creating temporary shorebird habitat, and many dowitchers (all adult Short-billeds of the prairie race, hendersoni) paused in these flooded fields. On July 10 I saw a dozen in a flooded front yard in the town of Rocky Ridge! July is the peak migration season for adult Short-billeds here; by now the great majority of the adults have departed, and numbers of juveniles have not yet reached their peak. Meanwhile, a few adult Long-billed Dowitchers can be expected now, but juveniles aren't likely to show up until September.

Many areas of shorebird habitat near the lakeshore are far more accessible to the birds than to the birders. For good viewing, for the time being, it's probably best to keep checking the flooded fields near Bellevue. One particularly good spot recently has been on TR 292 just north of the Sandusky/Seneca County line; a few days ago, these ponds still had four Black-necked Stilts and three Wilson's Phalaropes.

Mid-August is a great time to be looking at shorebirds. The differences between adults and juveniles are very obvious for many species now, and the juveniles are particularly beautiful in their crisp new plumage. Paying attention to the ages of shorebirds in fall will really pay off in increased understanding of the timing of their migrations. For most species, the adults migrate south before the juveniles, and keeping this in mind will help you to make sense out of what you're seeing.

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.