The Nerdy Birders recently spent two days at Magee Marsh and other bird and wildlife locations in Ottawa County near Lake Eire. The spring migration of birds was in full swing. Most notably was the Warblers. Early in May Black Swamp Bird Observatory puts on the Biggest Week in Birding festival. The festival includes guided bird walks, trips out onto Lake Erie, musical acts, and even best bird tattoo contest. You can read more about the festival here.
The biggest draw of the festival are the Warblers. On any given day in early May you can see upwards of 20 different species of Warblers on the boardwalk at Magee Marsh. These 4 to 5 inch delicate birds are some of the most incredible birds. They fly thousands of miles from Central and South America but must rest before making their trek across Lake Eire. Their songs are a welcomed relief after a long winter and they are so beautifully colored. To me the best part is how fearless they are of humans. They will fly to a branch right next to you or weave in and out of a crowed of people. In many cases there is no need for binoculars or scopes.
Many of the Warblers we had already spotted at the Providence Metropark which is much closer to home. The Warblers we spotted at Providence included the Palm Warbler, the Yellow Rumped Warbler, the Black-and-white Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Chestnut-Sided Warbler, American Redstart, Black-throated Green Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Kirtland's Warbler, and Common Yellowthroat.
The real highlight of the trip, apart from all the Warblers, was a Screech owl that we managed to spot without knowing. We had been notified via Twitter that an Easter Screech Owl had been spotted near the second loop on the boardwalk. Upon arriving to this area we noticed a large number of individuals looking in one direction. This is in no way unusual on the Magee Boardwalk but then we heard them talking about the Screech Owl. After a couple people pointed us in the right direction we found the cavity he/she was living in. Finding a clear line of sight was nearly impossible. People were climbing on the railing some were kneeling and trying to get it from underneath. Only having my camera I zoomed in the best I could, found the hole in the tree, managed to get the camera focused and snapped a picture. I reviewed the picture and did not see the owl. Deflated we thought we would move on. On the way back to the campground I reviewed my pictures and discovered that the owl was there but the plumage had blended in so well that I could not see it. Below is the picture I manged to get. Below that is one I got the next day when it was sticking it's head out of the cavity in the tree. I must admit this was a much better picture.
The following are some of the other birds we seen during the trip. Our current life list is at 173 if you are keeping score. We hope to be at 200 by our one year birding anniversary. Some of the following birds are not new to our life list they were simply good pictures of beautiful birds.
Mrs. Nerdy Birder
Cape May Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Canada Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Red-eyed Vireo
Tree Swallow
Common Tern
A very bad picture of a Common Gallinule
Blue-winged Teal
Two Pied Billed Grebes doing their mating dance
Pied Billed Grebe
Blackburnian Warbler
House Wren
Redstart
Great Crested Flycatcher
Blackburnian Warbler
Mourning Warbler
Mourning Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Swainson's Thrush
Yellow-throated Vireo
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Common Yellow Throat
Happy Birding!
The biggest draw of the festival are the Warblers. On any given day in early May you can see upwards of 20 different species of Warblers on the boardwalk at Magee Marsh. These 4 to 5 inch delicate birds are some of the most incredible birds. They fly thousands of miles from Central and South America but must rest before making their trek across Lake Eire. Their songs are a welcomed relief after a long winter and they are so beautifully colored. To me the best part is how fearless they are of humans. They will fly to a branch right next to you or weave in and out of a crowed of people. In many cases there is no need for binoculars or scopes.
Many of the Warblers we had already spotted at the Providence Metropark which is much closer to home. The Warblers we spotted at Providence included the Palm Warbler, the Yellow Rumped Warbler, the Black-and-white Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Chestnut-Sided Warbler, American Redstart, Black-throated Green Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Kirtland's Warbler, and Common Yellowthroat.
The real highlight of the trip, apart from all the Warblers, was a Screech owl that we managed to spot without knowing. We had been notified via Twitter that an Easter Screech Owl had been spotted near the second loop on the boardwalk. Upon arriving to this area we noticed a large number of individuals looking in one direction. This is in no way unusual on the Magee Boardwalk but then we heard them talking about the Screech Owl. After a couple people pointed us in the right direction we found the cavity he/she was living in. Finding a clear line of sight was nearly impossible. People were climbing on the railing some were kneeling and trying to get it from underneath. Only having my camera I zoomed in the best I could, found the hole in the tree, managed to get the camera focused and snapped a picture. I reviewed the picture and did not see the owl. Deflated we thought we would move on. On the way back to the campground I reviewed my pictures and discovered that the owl was there but the plumage had blended in so well that I could not see it. Below is the picture I manged to get. Below that is one I got the next day when it was sticking it's head out of the cavity in the tree. I must admit this was a much better picture.
The following are some of the other birds we seen during the trip. Our current life list is at 173 if you are keeping score. We hope to be at 200 by our one year birding anniversary. Some of the following birds are not new to our life list they were simply good pictures of beautiful birds.
Mrs. Nerdy Birder
Blackpoll Warbler
Happy Birding!
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