Hello and welcome to my first Dawn Chorus diary. Please be nice but do feel free to give me feedback and advice on what I can do better/differently and definitely correct any mis-identifications of birds!
This is a field trip report on my visit to Magee Marsh and its surroundings in northwestern Ohio. The first weekend of May features an event billed as The Biggest Week in American Birding sponsored by the Black Swamp Bird Observatory.
However, the spring birding in this area is good for at least 2 months, if not longer.
This is, I think, my sixth time visiting the area during this event although I have never actually registered for it or availed myself to the huge array of planned events they offer. You can choose to spend your time on non-stop birding field trips, lectures, social events, etc. if that’s your goal. Or you can just come into the area and bird alongside many (did I mention MANY?)
birding enthusiasts who come here from around the world. Registration for the Biggest Week event is not required for visiting the Magee Marsh boardwalk, Oak Openings Park, Metzgar Marsh, Ottawa Refuge and many other good birding sites in the area. The Toledo Metroparks have always been good spots and a number of new improvements and parks have been added. The birders who come here have always been helpful and congenial and it is almost comical for a number of Pittsburgh birders to have spontaneous meet-ups and reunions on the Magee boardwalk. My goal this year was to combine birding and biking and to spend time working with my relatively new camera in a place with abundant opportunities for good photos.
First, a little background…
What makes this area so attractive for spring birding?
The Magee Marsh/Northwestern Ohio area forms what is known as a “migratory trap”. Migrating birds coming up the easternmost branch of the Mississippi flyway collect here before they cross Lake Erie to Point Pelee in Canada. They make the crossing at night to avoid predators and so, during the day, the bird numbers increase as birds arrive. If there is a headwind across the lake, the bird numbers increase even further as they wait for favorable conditions.
This graph shows the number of birds observed by radar in 2012 making the nighttime crossing. And yes, that is 17,000 birds per hour on May 20th and 21st!
Springtime is the best because the birds are decked out in fresh mating plumage. This year has been particularly good because the lingering cold weather held back a lot of migrants. Once the weather warmed, they have been coming in a flood.
I traveled to the area on Saturday May 5th – a 4 hour drive from Pittsburgh. I checked in to my hotel in Oregon, OH (an eastern suburb of Toledo) and met up for dinner that evening with some birding friends who gave many good pointers on where the best birding was occurring.
Oak Openings Metropark
I spent all day Sunday at the Oak Openings Metropark mainly because I knew that the Magee Marsh boardwalk would be crazy crowded that day (weekend and second day of the festival). Oak Openings is a new site for me, provided a good number of birds and also has beautiful biking trails that connect to the Wabash-Cannonball rail trail. It was good just to get outdoors on a gorgeous day, enjoy nature and ride my bike for the first time this year. My best bird of the day was a Red-headed Woodpecker. Red Crossbills have been seen in the pine trees there for several days but I did not manage to see any.
Magee Marsh Boardwalk
My next day (Monday) was spent at the Magee Marsh boardwalk which, although crowded in the morning, did not disappoint. The main attraction here is the warblers and I managed to see 16 different species of them in one day – many within the first 2 hours. There is no doubt that this is the “Warbler Capital of the World”. Getting photos of them is definitely a challenge as they are quite hyperactive. Most of the activity is likely due to hunger as they have flown so far and the marsh provides abundant insects to feed the arrivals.
Here are a few good warbler photos that I managed to get:
But warblers are not the only group of birds to be seen here. I have lots of additional photos but do not want to overwhelm this dairy. There are abundant numbers of kinglets, thrushes, orioles and tanagers along with nesting Bald Eagles. Other types of wildlife (both animal and plant) are abundant as well and make for an overall pleasurable nature observation experience. One consistent resident of the marsh is the Blanding’s turtle. This is an endangered species but has reliably been seen over the years. I actually wonder if this old guy is the same individual I have seen for many years.
Howard Marsh
On Tuesday I visited the newest addition (just opened 4/28) to the Toledo Metroparks system, Howard Marsh. This park is being developed on a recently acquired tract that had once been farmland but is now being restored to its natural state. It features 5 miles of walking trails and 6 miles of canoe and kayak trails. Large areas have recently been planted with sapling trees to restore woodlands. This park has enormous potential and is worth monitoring for future visits. It also serves to create a nearly uninterrupted protected marsh coastline extending from Maumee Bay State Park to the Magee Marsh/Black Swamp area.
Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge
Once you have tired of walking but still want to keep birding, the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge features an Auto Tour through its wetlands where you can bird-by-car. All of these photos were taken while sitting in the car so you can see that getting close to the birds is not a problem.
One of the main advantages of spring birding in northwest Ohio is the variety of habitats available in a relatively small area to see a large diversity of birds. In addition to environments for the warblers and other woodland species, there are open lakes for water fowl, mud flats for shorebirds, and open fields for sparrows and the like.
All in all I saw 72 different species of birds (with 1 life bird – a Horned Grebe) and I was not actively trying to see as many birds as possible. Reluctantly, I had to drive back home on Wednesday wishing I could spend more time there.
If you ever get the chance to visit this area in the spring — do so. It is definitely worth visiting and you will not be disappointed.
Please comment below and tell us about any and all of your recent birding experiences.