http://www.rarebird.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2062
Topic: Magee Marsh migrants 5/8/07, 5/9/07
Posted: Today at 7:53pm
Highlights from Tuesday:
28 warbler species including Yellow-breasted Chat, 2 Ceruleans (females), Mourning, Hooded, ~ 40 Blackburnian, Golden-winged, Prothonotary.
A very early OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER.
All the vireos except Philadelphia. All 5 Thrushes. Many Great-crested Flycatchers. Both Cuckoos. Scarlet Tanagers, Baltimore and Orchard Orioles. Many Lincoln's and White-crowned Sparrows.
Highlights from Wednesday:
28 warbler species including 2 Golden-winged (male and female), 2 or 3 Kentucky's, 2 Blue-winged, 5 or 6 Mourning, Hooded, Canada, ~ 200 Magnolia, 100 Bay-breasted and 100 Chestnut-sided.
An early YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER.
Still no Philadelphia vireo. All the Thrushes. Least, Willow, Alder, and Great-crested Flycatchers. 6 Black-billed Cuckoos and 2 Yellow-billed. Larger numbers of Scarlet Tanagers, possibly 20-25. Ruby-throated Hummingbird.
Metzger Marsh on Tuesday was filled with shorebirds. 6 Ibis, 120 Golden Plovers, 12 Willets, 2000 Dunlin, Pipits and many Semi-palmated Plovers among others.
Subject: Magee area continues excellent 5/9
From: Kenn Kaufman
Date: Wed, 9 May 2007 14:19:49 -0400
Yesterday (Tuesday 5/8), as I posted earlier, had been the biggest day of
the spring, so far, for variety and numbers of migrants at the northwest
Ohio migrant traps (Magee Marsh, Ottawa Natl Wildlife Refuge, and associated
areas). With south winds continuing last night, the question was whether
today would be slower, with a lot of the birds having moved out. Short
answer: no, today is not slower. The boardwalk at Magee Marsh had just as
much variety as yesterday, and it was my impression that today's numbers of
individuals were slightly higher. At least 27 species of warblers had been
reliably reported by midday. Magnolia Warbler was the most abundant, as it
often is here in big May flights, but Bay-breasted and Chestnut-sided were
also impressively numerous; in five hours (so far!) on the boardwalk and
along the edges I estimated 300 Magnolias, 150 Bay-breasteds, and 120
Chestnut-sideds. Also common but in smaller numbers than the above were
Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, Black-throated Blue, Ovenbird, and
Yellow Warbler, while Black-and-white, American Redstart, Nashville,
Yellow-rumped (mostly females), and Palm Warblers were fairly common.
Blackpoll Warblers and Northern Parulas seemed more numerous than yesterday,
while Cape Mays were relatively scarce. Multiple Mourning and Canada
Warblers were present and visible from the boardwalk, and at least one
Kentucky Warbler was a crowd-pleaser.
Numbers of other migrants here seemed comparable to those of the day before.
All five brown thrushes again were present, with Veery, Swainson's, and
Gray-cheeked all in good numbers. Least Flycatchers were fairly common, I
had at least two Willow Flycatchers, and might have heard one Acadian.
Lincoln's Sparrows were fairly numerous along with the abundant
White-throats in the understory.
Again, my sense that numbers were higher today was only an impression. It
will be interesting to see how today's numbers compare to yesterday's at the
Black Swamp Bird Observatory banding station. I heard from Kim earlier in
the day that they were banding very large numbers of birds again today but I
haven't heard final tallies.
Right now (early afternoon 5/9) there appears to be some thunderstorm
activity to the northwest of us. The winds are supposed to shift to the
west tonight and tomorrow, and then to the northwest Thursday night.
Numbers of birds in the lake shore migrant traps may not be as high by the
weekend but I suspect the weather will hold a lot of them in place, and
variety should be excellent for International Migratory Bird Day this
Saturday.
Kenn Kaufman
Rocky Ridge, Ohio
Subject: Magee area 5/9 update
From: Kenn Kaufman
Date: Wed, 9 May 2007 22:58:18 -0400
Earlier I posted some information about the state of migration at the
boardwalk at Magee Marsh, Lucas Co., n.w. Ohio, for today (Wednesday May 9).
In that post I stated that numbers seemed higher than the previous day, but
that I was waiting to hear results from the Black Swamp Bird Observatory' s
main banding station, located on the Navarre Unit of the Ottawa National
Wildlife Refuge, Ottawa Co., about 5 miles east of Magee Marsh.
Results from the BSBO banding station suggest that numbers were indeed
higher today at Navarre, and I suspect that mirrors what was happening at
Magee. Yesterday, May 8, the station banded over 800 birds, a very large
total for there. Today they banded over 1100, the second-highest single-day
banding total in the Observatory's history! The species composition at
Navarre seems to have been about the same as that at Magee, with 28 species
of warblers. Magnolia Warbler was the most numerous at both places. My
wife Kim spent the entire day just banding Magnolias -- of the 1100-plus
birds banded, 391 were Magnolia Warblers! Kim reported that a very high
percentage of these were second-year males, so the species must have had a
successful breeding season in 2006. Very significant to me was the fact
that the banding station had few recaptures of birds from the previous day,
suggesting that there was a substantial amount of turnover, with a lot of
birds leaving and even more arriving. That was my impression at the
boardwalk at Magee as well, where today there appeared to be more Magnolia,
Bay-breasted, and Chestnut-sided Warblers than the day before, but fewer
Blackburnians and Cape Mays. Those are just impressions, though, and the
banding operation gives a much clearer picture. For details from the
banding station, visit www.bsbobird.org and go to Research Projects :
Passerine Migration Monitoring : 2007 Navarre Marsh Spring Migration.
At the moment there is overcast and scattered light rain over n.w. Ohio so I
doubt that many birds will be migrating tonight, and there shouldn't be as
much turnover between today and tomorrow. Winds are going to shift around
to the north and northeast for the next few days. Numbers of individuals
will probably drop somewhat on the immediate lake front, as birds from this
"wave" disperse or move on, but variety should stay excellent through the
weekend.
Kenn Kaufman
Rocky Ridge, Ohio
Subject: Magee area migration 5/10
From: Kenn Kaufman
Date: Thu, 10 May 2007 15:08:30 -0400
In the area of the boardwalk at Magee Marsh, plus nearby areas of Ottawa
National Wildlife Refuge, the status of the migration today (Thursday May
10) was about as expected: numbers had dropped from yesterday's huge peak,
but there was still excellent variety. I was mostly birding other areas
this morning so I was only at the boardwalk itself for a little over an
hour, but I saw or heard 23 warbler species there and heard solid reports of
five others. There was some turnover evident, with fewer thrushes and
White-throated Sparrows around but more Wilson's Warblers than yesterday;
but otherwise the species composition seemed similar, with very large
numbers of Magnolia and Chestnut-sided Warblers and somewhat fewer
Bay-breasted Warblers, and a good sprinkling of other things. More Eastern
Kingbirds and other flycatchers seemed to have come in, and I saw a number
of Black-billed and Yellow-billed Cuckoos in the general area.
It appears that the winds will be light out of the northeast or north for
the next few days so I don't expect another big influx of migrants soon.
The numbers at the lakeshore migrant traps will probably drop off some more
before the weekend. However, I hope this won't discourage anyone from
coming out! The "leftovers" from this wave should linger, and should make
for excellent variety and wonderful birding for the next several days.
Kenn Kaufman
Rocky Ridge, Ohio
Subject: Magee Marsh Birds today
From: "Warren, Mary"
Date: Thu, 10 May 2007 17:09:07 -0400
Warblers
1. Yellow
2. Yellow-rumped
3. C. Yellowthroat
4. Palm
5. Pine - female only
6. Cape May
7. Hooded
8. Magnolia - 100's
9. Nashville
10. Wilson's
11. B.t. Green
12. B.t. Blue
13. Black & White
14. Ovenbird
15. A. Redstart
16. N. Waterthrush
17. Blackburnian
18. Chestnut-sided - many
19. N. Parula
20. Canada
21. Tenn. - only 1
22. Blackpoll
23. Bay-breasted
24. Prothonotary - only one
25. Blue-winged
26. Golden-winged - only one
27. Brewster's - one ?
28. Lawrence's - one yesterday (confirmed)
29. Mourning - several
30. Y.b. Chat - 1 possibly 2
31. Cerulean - 1 female
32. Orange-crowned - 1 only
33. KIRTLAND'S - seen by Lee at the tower by the bird center up-close in
the a.m.
Lee also saw Broad-winged, Red-tailed, Sharp-shinned Hawks & Turkey
Vultures from the tower.
Vireo's
1. Blue-headed
2. Philadelphia
3. Warbling
Other birds seen today
1. Common Nighthawk - in tree along the road
2. A. Woodcock
3. E. Screech Owl
4. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
5. Sora
6. Least Flycatcher - I'm sure others too ?
7. Balt & Orchard Orioles
8. Brown Thrasher
9. R.b. Grosbeak
10. Red-breasted Nuthatch
11. Veery & Swainson's Thrush
12. Lots of Snowy Egrets
13. Bald Eagles
Subject: Magee/Metzger Up & Back from Akron
From: DUG
Date: Thu, 10 May 2007 16:02:46 -0700
MAY 10, 2007 - Magee Marsh boardwalk & Metzger Marsh mudflats (much appreciated
to those in charge now that the ducks have moved on - unfortunately the fog
moved in!)
NOTE: list includes birds seen up & back from Akron.
TIME: 4:45am-5:15pm TEMP.: 62-59-80 COND.: Soupy fog on the way up - my
knuckles are no longer white (hey - here comes an ambulance - but from which
way?) - warming throughout - beautiful day. VEH.MI.: 253.0 FT.MI.: 1.75 OBS.:
Doug W. Vogus, Jim Vogus.
I. MAMMALS: 7 SPECIES.
1. Woodchuck - 2
2. Eastern Chipmunk - 2
3. Eastern Gray Squirrel - 1
4. Eastern Fox Squirrel - 1
5. Muskrat - 1
6. Eastern Cottontail - 1
7. White-tailed Deer - 1 (?)
II. BIRDS: 105 SPECIES.
(NOTE: ?= bird was seen but not sexed; *= bird was heard calling but not seen)
1. Canada Goose - 135 (67 goslings)
2. Mute Swan - 1 (Sandusky Bay)
3. Wood Duck - 6 (4m,1f,1*)
4. Mallard - 17 (9m,5f,2?,1*)
5. Pied-billed Grebe - 2
6. Double-crested Cormorant - 9
7. Great Blue Heron - 8
8. Great Egret - 19
9. Snowy Egret - 2 (MM causeway)
10. Green Heron - 6
11. Black-crowned Night Heron - 2
12. Turkey Vulture - 24 (most up & back)
13. Bald Eagle - 3 (immature)
14. Red-tailed Hawk - 9 (6 up & back)
15. American Kestrel - 1 (m)
16. Sora - 1
17. American Coot - 1
18. Semipalmated Plover - 10
19. Killdeer - 22
20. Greater Yellowlegs - 1 (Rt. 2 mudflats)
21. Lesser Yellowlegs - 15
22. Solitary Sandpiper - 2
23. Spotted Sandpiper - 3
24. Semipalmated Sandpiper - 76
25. Least Sandpiper - 36
26. Dunlin - 12
27. Bonaparte's Gull - 1
28. Ring-billed Gull - 3
29. Caspian Tern - 1
30. Common Tern - 4
31. Rock Pigeon - 3 (on way back)
32. Mourning Dove - 13
33. Eastern Screech-Owl - 1 (gray-phase)
34. Common Nighthawk - 1
35. Chimney Swift - 7
36. Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1 (?)
37. Downy Woodpecker - 3 (1f,2*)
38. Pileated Woodpecker - 1 (? - on way home along Yellow Creek Rd.)
39. Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1
40. Willow Flycatcher - 2
41. Least Flycatcher - 4
42. Eastern Phoebe - 1
43. Eastern Kingbird - 4
44. Warbling Vireo - 10
45. Philadelphia Vireo - 2
46. Red-eyed Vireo - 2
47. Blue Jay - 18
48. American Crow - 2 (on way home)
49. Horned Lark - 2
50. Purple Martin - 7
51. Tree Swallow - 10
52. Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 1
53. Cliff Swallow - 4 (Rt. 2 at Huron River)
54. Barn Swallow - 23 (most on way home)
55. Carolina Wren - 2
56. House Wren - 6
57. Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 9 (?)
58. Eastern Bluebird - 1 (m - along MM breakwall)
59. Veery - 2
60. Gray-cheeked Thrush - 1
61. Swainson's Thrush - 2
62. Wood Thrush - 1
63. American Robin - 56 (2 nests,1 nest with 2 young)
64. Gray Catbird - 15
65. Brown Thrasher - 2
66. European Starling - 128 (most along highways on way home)
67. Blue-winged Warbler - 1 (m)
68. Golden-winged Warbler - 1 (f)
69. Tennessee Warbler - 8 (7m,1f)
70. Nashville Warbler - 3 (2m,1f)
71. Northern Parula - 3 (m)
72. Yellow Warbler - 27 (21m,4f,2?)
73. Chestnut-sided Warbler - 20 (17m,3f)
74. Magnolia Warbler - 31 (25m,6f)
75. Cape May Warbler - 4 (m)
76. Black-throated Blue Warbler - 7 (6m,1f)
77. Yellow-rumped Warbler - 3 (f)
78. Black-throated Green Warbler - 5 (m)
79. Blackburnian Warbler - 5 (2m,3f)
80. Palm Warbler - 8
81. Bay-breasted Warbler - 9 (7m,2f)
82. Blackpoll Warbler - 3 (m)
83. Black-and-white Warbler - 12 (4m,8f)
84. American Redstart - 9 (6m,2 second-year m,1 f)
85. Ovenbird - 3
86. Northern Waterthrush - 2
87. Common Yellowthroat - 9 (7m,2f)
88. Wilson's Warbler - 5 (m)
89. Canada Warbler - 5 (4m,1f)
90. Chipping Sparrow - 6
91. Song Sparrow - 14
92. Lincoln's Sparrow - 1
93. Swamp Sparrow - 5
94. White-throated Sparrow - 12
95. White-crowned Sparrow - 7
96. Northern Cardinal - 6 (3m,1f,2*)
97. Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 4 (m)
98. Indigo Bunting - 1 (m)
99. Red-winged Blackbird - 93 (82m,11f - most up & back)
100. Eastern Meadowlark - 1
101. Common Grackle - 81 (4 nests - most up & back)
102. Brown-headed Cowbird - 8 (6m,2f)
103. Baltimore Oriole - 11 (9m,2f)
104. American Goldfinch - 4 (3m,1f)
105. House Sparrow - 18
(also reported from MMBW - Mourning, Kentucky)
III. REPTILES: 4 SPECIES.
1. Common Snapping Turtle - 1
2. Midland Painted Turtle - 2
3. Eastern Box Turtle - 1
4. Northern Water Snake - 2
IV. AMPHIBIANS: 1 SPECIE.
1. Bullfrog - 2 (*)
V. FISHES: 1 SPECIE.
1. Common Carp - 1
VI. BUTTERFLIES: 5 SPECIES.
1. Tiger Swallowtail - 3
2. Eastern Black Swallowtail - 1
3. Cabbage White - 5
4. UNID. Sulphur - 2
5. Red Admiral - 1
Douglas W. Vogus - Akron, Ohio.
Subject: Ottawa NWR this weekend
From: Kenn Kaufman
Date: Fri, 11 May 2007 08:03:47 -0400
This is just a note about Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, the main unit of
which lies immediately to the west of the Magee Marsh Wildlife Area / Crane
Creek State Park complex in n.w. Ohio. The whole staff at Ottawa has been
insanely busy recently, preparing for the grand opening of their new
visitors' center this weekend. I don't know if anyone there will find time
to post something official to the listserve, but I wanted to "unofficially"
mention that the auto tour route at Ottawa NWR is supposed to be open this
weekend, from 8 to 5 on Saturday and from 9 to 4 on Sunday. (This info is
from the Ottawa NWR Association, a membership group that helps support the
refuge; Kim and I are members, of course.)
As for birding at Ottawa, remember that it's not just about water birds.
The woods near the beginning of the auto tour can be excellent for migrant
songbirds -- birds are not as concentrated there as they are on the
immediate lake shore but they may stay longer. In between "waves" of
arriving migrants, I've sometimes had more birds there than at the Magee
boardwalk. This week, on the walking trails through those woods at Ottawa,
I've seen a wide variety of warblers, including Kentucky, Hooded, and
Orange-crowned, plus all the brown thrushes and many other migrants.
Kenn Kaufman
Rocky Ridge, Ohio
Subject: Magee Marsh and Nearby, May 10,11 - Species: Total 101, Warblers 21
From: Ruth Richards
Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 06:38:12 -0700
After a quick stop at Benton-Carrol's flooded field
near Magee Marsh, I arrived at the boardwalk about 1pm
and saw 10 warbler species before I got out of my car.
With warblers in virtually every tree and many down
low, I birded till 7pm. I then made a quick stop at
Ottawa NWR, Metzger Marsh and Teachout Road's flooded
field, and the beach at Maumee Bay State Park. The
next morning I reversed the order and arrived at
Magee's boardwalk about 10am. There were twice as
many people and half as many birds on Friday. Only 19
species--1 warbler--were added on Friday. Caps simply
indicate my first sighting this spring. Altogether I
saw:
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
AMERICAN BITTERN - from boardwalk tower platform
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
CATTLE EGRET - Magee entrance road
Green Heron
GLOSSY IBIS - 4 at Metzger
Mute Swan
Canada Goose - one pair had 16 goslings! Maybe
babysitting?
Wood Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
SORA - Magee boardwalk
American Coot
SEMIPALMATED PLOVER
Killdeer - one had 3 downy babies scurrying along
Lesser Yellowlegs
Greater Yellowlegs
RUDDY TURNSTONE
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER
American Woodcock - Magee boardwalk
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Caspian Tern
Forester's Tern
Mourning Dove
EASTERN SCREECH OWL - Magee boardwalk
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood Pewee
Least Flycatcher
Great-crested Flycatcher
EASTERN KINGBIRD
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
Blue Jay
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH - Magee boardwalk
House Wren
Winter Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
Eastern Bluebird
Veery
GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH - Magee boardwalk
Swainson's Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin - Two nests had blind babies, mouths
stretched open to receive food
European Starling
Blue-headed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
NORTHERN PARULA
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler - everywhere...most abundant warbler
Cape May Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Palm Warbler
BAY-BREASTED WARBLER
BLACKPOLL WARBLER
Cerulean Warbler
Black and White Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
MOURNING WARBLER
Wilson's Warbler
CANADA WARBLER
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (2M at home feeder all week too
Song Sparrow
LINCOLN SPARROW
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
Other interesting wildlife: 3 deer, 2 muskrat, 5
rabbits, a snapping turtle with a 14" shell walking
beside Magee boardwalk, and two very young raccoons in
a hole in a tree with their mother.
It was delightful birding weather...a joy to be out
and about!
Subject: Magee area 5/11 and 5/12
From: Kenn Kaufman
Date: Sun, 13 May 2007 03:42:03 -0400
In the area of Magee Marsh, n.w. Ohio, the status of migration on Friday and
Saturday (5/11 and 5/12) was about as predicted, with numbers of songbird
migrants continuing to diminish gradually from the peak last Wednesday, but
with good variety continuing. On Saturday the winds were fairly strong (and
chilly!) out of the north, so in the area of the Magee Marsh boardwalk,
there were very few birds out on the north edge of the woods adjacent to the
parking lot. That outer edge is often excellent birding, but it wasn't
productive under Saturday's conditions. Instead, the birds were
concentrated inside the woods and toward the southern edge, meaning they
were visible mainly from the boardwalk itself. With the throngs of birders
who had come out for Int'l Migratory Bird Day, the boardwalk itself was
extremely crowded! But those who were patient enough to move along the
boardwalk were treated to great views of various warblers foraging low and
close. Magnolia and Chestnut-sided Warblers continued to be very numerous,
with a fair number of Bay-breasted Warblers and a generous sprinkling of
others. Despite unfavorable winds for migration the last couple of days,
numbers of Mourning Warblers seem to be picking up, while most of the
thrushes and White-throated Sparrows seemed to have departed for the moment.
The auto tour route at Ottawa NWR was open Saturday but I didn't get over
there -- spent the whole day between the boardwalk and the BSBO nature
center area. Ottawa is supposed to be open this Sunday also, 9 to 4. I
heard that Black Tern, Sedge Wren, and Yellow-headed Blackbird were all seen
on the refuge on Saturday, while just a little farther west at Metzger
Marsh, up to seven Glossy Ibises continue to be seen.
Weather predictions now call for the winds to shift around to the south
again from Sunday night through Monday night, so there may be another
arrival of migrants on Monday and Tuesday mornings, but I would guess that
it won't be as big as the flight last Tuesday and Wednesday. But of course
the overall variety should remain fairly good from now through the end of
May.
Kenn Kaufman
Rocky Ridge, Ohio
Subject: Fw: [birders] Magee Marsh
From: John Schenk
Date: Sun, 13 May 2007 00:47:54 -0400
----- Original Message -----
From: John Schenk
To: birders AT umich.edu
Cc: OHIO-BIRDS AT LISTSERV.MUOHIO ; EDU AT columbus.rr.com
Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2007 12:43 AM
Subject: [birders] Magee Marsh
I've added a few pictures from Magee Marsh this week.
John
http://www.pbase.com/oly2100/magee_marsh
---
* birders FAQ - http://www.umich.edu/~bbowman/birds/birders_FAQ.html
* photo sharing site - http://www.umich.edu/~bbowman/birds/se_mich/photos.html
- To unsubscribe from birders AT umich.edu send a blank message to
lyris AT listserver.itd.umich.edu with UNSUBSCRIBE BIRDERS as the Subject line. To
resubscribe use SUBSCRIBE BIRDERS Your Name.
Subject: Ottawa drive birds and Oak Openings report from Sat. 5/12 Ben Warner
From:
Date: Sun, 13 May 2007 14:25:28 -0400
I thought I would mention a few other birds that have been left
out of recent posts (as far as I've noticed". The Ottawa drive was
really fun for me this year (last year was a bit slow but it was around
1:00 then), this year we made the drive at just before noon. We enjoyed
seeing the Yellow-headed Blackbirds as well but also had nice views of
a BLACK TERN, flying by that area as well as a couple of COMMON
MOORHEN. Also here and further along the road, my group and I heard
several MARSH WRENS, plus SORA, VIRGINIA RAIL, and a couple of folks
alerted us to an AMERICAN BITTERN on the right side of the road (north)
in a closer stand of reeds and cattail. We got out of the car and it
jumped up and flew a short distance and landed, I watched carefully for
where it landed and luckily it was kindof close and in not too dense
of cover. Still it took a minute to refind the bird in my scope when
I'd look again after giving others a turn looking through. Some of the
people who looked still couldnt see the bird, even tho it was in the
center of my scope and hadn't moved, quite the vanishing act these
birds can pull off. Pretty neat to watch that amazing camoflage and
behavior in action again.
A special moment at Metzger marsh was also getting to observe
FORSTER'S TERNS, CASPIAN TERNS, COMMON TERNS, and a lone BLACK TERN all
standing on a muddy spit of land in one scope-field view. Also fun were
the good sized group (10?) of BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, and the 20+
AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVERS that were there. Friday I spent a lot of time
at Metzger and saw 2 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS and a male WILSON'S
PHALAROPE (couldn't refind saturday), plus the numerous other
shorebirds mentioned in other posts (the most Dunlin I've ever seen).
Oak Openings was later in the day, around 5-6 pm. Birded mostly
along Girdham Road and we found about 3 LARK SPARROWS even though they
weren't singing. In the woods behind the dune area on the same road we
heard the whispering songs of SWAINSON'S THRUSHES, which was pretty
special and added to the northern feel of this special patch of
habitat. In the nearby fields close to the Bikepath there, we had great
views of an extended squabble between 4 RED-HEADED WOODPECKERs, which
was fun to watch. Then we heard the pitti-tuck-tuck of a SUMMER TANAGER
from the edge of this field north of the bike path where it crosses
Girdham. He wasn't far off so we tracked it down and were treated to
stunning views of this extensively red bird in the evening sunlight,
really cool. Also here were BLUE-WINGED WARBLER and from the forest a
singing YELLOW-THROATED VIREO. No Blue Grossbeaks were heard or seen.
Good Birding and happy Mother's Day,
Subject: Magee Marsh and Ottawa Auto Tour, 5/12
From: Chris Spagnoli
Date: Sun, 13 May 2007 13:04:09 -0400
Apologies for the belated post - I sent this yesterday from my hotmail
account, but no matter how many times I try to set it up, the listserv
simply will not accept posts from that account.
As predicted and reported by Kenn Kaufman, numbers remained good and
variety was excellent at Magee and Ottawa yesterday. Highlights for me
were ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER and, at long last, YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD.
At Magee, thrushes and even sparrows were almost nonexistent, but good
numbers of warblers and vireos were around. The warbler list (22
species) from this birder's perspective:
American redstart
Bay-breasted
Blackburnian (3 or more)
Black-and-white
Black-throated blue
Black-throated green
Blackpoll (1)
Canada (2)
Cape May (3 or more)
Chestnut-sided
Common yellowthroat
Magnolia
Mourning (4 or more)
Nashville (1)
Northern parula
Northern waterthrush
ORANGE-CROWNED (1)
Ovenbird (only 1)
Palm (only 1)
Wilson's
Yellow
Yellow-rumped
I was in the company of another birder when I saw a female Oporornis and
at the boardwalk we made the tentative conclusion it was a Connecticut,
but upon review I have decided it was more likely a mourning warbler
based on the wash of yellow on the throat. It seems late for it to be
holding winter plumage, though.
Vireos included many warbling and a few red-eyed; I heard reports of
blue-headed and yellow-throated as well.
Also at the boardwalk was a late winter wren; not much else of note
other than the by-now-usual obliging woodcocks.
After Magee I went over to the Ottawa Auto Tour, which yesterday had the
character of a traffic jam. It was worth it, however, as at least two
adult male YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS were providing quite a show in their
usual location. Beautiful birds, and my number one nemesis laid to
rest!
Good birding.
Chris Spagnoli
Lakewood, Ohio
Subject: people report at Magee, etc.
From: Joe Faulkner
Date: Mon, 14 May 2007 11:27:43 -0400
Fellow Birders,
With all the thorough bird reports from Magee boardwalk and
surrounding areas, I thought I would concentrate on the PEOPLE SITINGS
from the Migratory Bird Day. While the birds were leaving on Friday
and Saturday, the people were arriving, no doubt breaking records at
every site. With thousands on the boardwalk, total gridlock was
achieved several times at several places. Amidst the hoards of
birders, there were some good sightings. At one point I found myself
standing between Dan Sanders and Greg Miller, and felt the pressure to
try for 700 birds this year. Jim McCormac was also sited. Tom Bartlett
was perched in a new location for his Big Sit, having been asked (or
told) by ODNR to move away from the entrance because he was creating a
bottleneck. If you were there, you know that the entire bottle was
clogged, not just the neck. Also talked to Columbus Avid Birder
Doreene Linzell and frequent poster Ben Warner. Later saw Paul
Gardner who kindly posts the rare bird reports to the list. Then
spotted Jen Brumfield, but I'm sure I missed a lot of the northern
species of birders, since I'm a southern ohio boy, myself. Missed
Kenn Kaufman, but know he was around somewhere, and missed Bill Wahn,
but I heard he was seen at Metzger Marsh hiding in the Phragmites
counting birders who visited Metzger.
Generally, about one in ten of the birders were Amish, some from
Indiana, and this year the number of African American birders was up
about four times over past years, which means there were about eight.
It would be nice to see this number go up even more.
The best license plate was Wyoming, and I personally talked to birders
from TWO FOREIGN COUNTRIES, Costa Rica and New Jersey. The
Costa Rica birder said he was glad to be able to see all the birds in
their colorful breeding plumage. The New Jersey birder noted that you
could see all the same birds in New Jersey, but not in the same spot.
Traffic on the auto tour was bumper to bumper, and we suggested that
next year they do three days. Perhaps Friday could be limited to those
with some reference to birding in their Vanity plates. That would
still be quite a lot.
Anyway, despite the crowds, got 120 birds, including 22 warblers, most
of them on Thursday.
Subject: Re: people report at Magee, etc.
From: John Schenk
Date: Mon, 14 May 2007 11:59:48 -0400
On Thursday Mat 10th I spotted on the boardwalk Kenn Kaufman, Jon L. Dunn,
and Donald Stokes.
Subject: Magee highlights
From: jen brumfield
Date: Tue, 15 May 2007 01:25:41 +0000
Hi Folks -
In a rare occasion, uniform-lacking Cleveland Metroparks naturalists hit the
boardwalk of Magee this morning (5/14) to spend an inservice day with
neotropic migrants. There wasn't a boatload of birds, but the diversity was
fulfilling. Highlights included prolonged looks at a male Mourning Warbler,
at least 3 Canada Warblers, two obliging American Woodcocks, two
Philadelphia Vireos, and may favorite, a brief frenzied spazz-attack and
boardwalk bumper-to-bumper block over a not-so-obliging Black-billed Cuckoo.
A nice influx of Wilson's Warblers was evident, but Magnolia and
Chesnut-sided, and Am Redstart reigned on high. A single Yellow-bellied
Flycatcher put in a very brief appearance. An increase in thrushes was
clearly evident, with one Wood, 4 Veeries, and in one spot alone, nearly a
dozen Swainson's Thrushes.
Highlights listed, warblers first (22 species):
Yellow Warbler - abundant
Palm Warbler - 2
Nashville Warbler - 5
Tennessee Warbler - 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 1
Northern Parula - 2
Chestnut-sided Warbler - 25
Magnolia Warbler - 40
Bay-breasted Warbler - 7
Canada Warbler - 4 (1fem)
Wilson's Warbler - 10
Cape May Warbler - 2 (females)
Blackpoll Warbler - 1
Blackburnian Warbler - 4 fem, 1 male
Black-throated Blue Warbler - 8 fem, 2 males
Black-throated Green Warbler - 2 females
Black-and-white Warbler - 10 fem, 2 males
Mourning Warbler - 1 male (at least 2 reported)
American Redstart - 3 im males, 10 fem, 6 males
Ovenbird - 6
Common Yellowthroat - 10
Northern Waterthrush - 1
Red-eyed Vireo - 4
Philadelphia Vireo - 2
Warbling Vireo - abundant
Eastern Kingbird - 2
Willow Flycatcher - 3
Least Flycatcher - 4
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 1
Black-billed Cuckoo - 1
Veery - 4
Swainson's Thrush - 13
Wood Thrush - 1
Hermit Thrush - 2
Lincoln's Sparrow - 4 (2 studied well)
White-throated Sparrow (still most abundant sparrow sp. on trail)
Random:
Eastern Screech-Owl pair
American Woodcock - 2 (far end of easternmost loop)
Cedar Waxwing - 8 (parking lot)
Snowy Egret - 1 (causeway)
Semipalmated Plover - 2 obliging birds in drawn-down 'canal' on far
easternmost loop (nice to see from boardwalk)
cheers
Jen
Subject: Magee area migration 5/13, 5/14
From: Kenn Kaufman
Date: Mon, 14 May 2007 22:04:17 -0400
In the area of Magee Marsh and Ottawa Natl Wildlife Refuge, n.w. Ohio, on
Sunday May 13, the status of migration was about as expected: numbers
continued to drop gradually from the big influx last Tuesday and Wednesday,
but variety continued to be very good, especially for warblers. On Sunday
the east-northeast winds kept most of the birds low and inside the woods,
and the crowds of birders on the Magee boardwalk were treated to eye-level
views. It was great to see so many new birders there, many of them having
their first real warbler encounters, enjoying a situation where they could
see the birds well and get I.D. tips from more experienced birders. Indeed,
I find the helpful atmosphere among the birders on the boardwalk to be
almost as inspiring as the birds.
During the night Sunday night the wind shifted around to the southeast and
then the south, and Monday May 14 brought a moderate number of new birds.
It was actually more turnover than I had expected, given how late in the
evening the wind shifted here. There was a fresh influx of thrushes and
White-throated Sparrows, which had mostly cleared out before Sunday, and
numbers of flycatchers picked up, with more Eastern Wood-Pewees and Least
Flycatchers plus Willow and Acadian. Magnolia Warbler and American Redstart
appeared to be the most numerous warblers on the boardwalk, but numbers of
Canada Warblers definitely increased, and Mourning and Wilson's were around
in numbers. I had the first Hooded Warbler and Philadelphia Vireo that I'd
seen in a few days. Kim was at the main banding station of the Black Swamp
Bird Observatory during the morning, about 5 miles east of Magee, and
reported a fair influx of birds there also, with good numbers of
flycatchers, thrushes, Magnolia Warblers, and others. Four Orange-crowned
Warblers were banded today, a notable number any time and especially this
late, since the Orange-crown tends to be an early migrant.
An interesting feature was an apparent arrival of Ruby-throated
Hummingbirds. Late in the day (after 6 p.m.) I saw or (mostly) heard more
than a dozen Ruby-throats near the boardwalk and adjacent beach, in areas
where I'd only had one earlier in the day. These are daytime migrants, and
I assume these came in on today's south winds, stopping when they hit the
barrier of Lake Erie.
Southwest winds are supposed to continue through tonight and tomorrow,
shifting to west tomorrow night with some possible storms. My best guess is
that there should be a lot of birds arriving overnight tonight, for good
numbers Tuesday morning, and that the shift in the weather may then keep
them around for a couple of days. The long-range forecast is always
uncertain, but currently they're calling for south winds again Friday night,
so this Saturday could be another good migration day.
Kenn Kaufman
Rocky Ridge, Ohio
Subject: "Parulean warbler"
From: Bill Whan
Date: Wed, 16 May 2007 09:58:15 -0400
With so much attention devoted to warblers these days, it might be
worth reminding everyone of a growing miracle. An apparent hybrid
northern parula X cerulean warbler returned this spring to the same
Toledo spot for the fourth consecutive year.
Rick Nirschl discovered this bird on 5/16/04; this year he noticed it
on 4/24. Certainly it deserves the name some give it, "Nirschl's
warbler," and a debt is owed to Rick and Brian Zwiebel and others who
documented this phenomenon. More detail is in Rick's article in the Ohio
Cardinal (Vol 27 #4, pp 164-168) and in pages of the late-lamented
Birding News at
http://www.ohiobirds.org/news.php?News_ID=97
http://www.ohiobirds.org/news.php?News_ID=88
Also interesting is news on a hybrid warbler discovered in New York
last year (New York also had a "parulean" in 2004, by the way). DNA from
this bird was examined in a lab, and you can look at photos of this bird
to tweak out its parentage on your own, as well as peek at the answers
provided by the genetic material, at
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/mystery/ There are some interesting
remarks about DNA testing and about hybrid birds in general. Might be
fun to see if you can figure this bird out before looking at the answer.
I imagine the survival of a hybrid warbler into its fifth year is
pretty unusual. I also wonder if, having survived its perilous first
year, the chance that such a bird might live into subsequent years
increases, once it establishes and follows successful patterns (such as
returning to Toledo every year). Wouldn't an experienced bird, having
formed successful habits, be generally far more likely than others to
survive any given year? Interesting stuff... Oh, yeah--does anyone know
of an example of a hybrid wild bird producing offspring with a third
species??
Bill Whan
Columbus
Subject: Magee area migration 5/15
From: Kenn Kaufman
Date: Tue, 15 May 2007 23:45:20 -0400
As predicted, there were strong winds from the southwest last night and this
morning, and many new migrants were evident this morning (Tuesday May 15) in
the vicinity of the boardwalk at Magee Marsh, n.w. Ohio. The influx was
most obvious to those of us who started off the morning along the north edge
of the woods, on the edge of the parking lot and access road, where the
first sunlight was hitting the trees and where there was more shelter from
the wind. Birders who arrived and immediately took the boardwalk straight
into the woods were generally less impressed with today's numbers. But it
seemed clear to me that at least some species were more abundant than
yesterday.
Conspicuous among the birds moving on the outer edge in the morning were
Blue Jays (50-plus, in flocks moving over), Cedar Waxwing (about 50), and
Indigo Bunting (15). About the same warbler species were present today as
yesterday, but there were distinct changes in relative abundance, with a lot
more Blackpoll Warblers (I saw/heard 10 today, 1 yesterday), Tennessees (8
today, 1 yesterday), Black-throated Blues (18 today, 8 yesterday), and
American Redstarts (40 today, 20 yesterday). Chestnut-sided (15), Magnolia
(20), and Bay-breasted (12) were still common, but less so than they had
been. I had at least 20 Red-eyed Vireos and 3 Philadelphia Vireos, but not
a single Ruby-crowned Kinglet today. Those are just my personal numbers
from four hours on the boardwalk and vicinity, to give a sense of relative
abundance, not any attempt for a complete number. The strong wind made it
hard to detect birds by sight or sound and I probably found fewer than I
would have under calm conditions.
An interesting note on the differences between perceived and actual bird
numbers. Kim was at the main banding site for the Black Swamp Bird
Observatory early in the morning before coming to join me on the boardwalk
in late morning, and she pointed out that on very windy days, the total
catch at the banding station seems to be reduced. Evidently the wind makes
it easier for birds to see and avoid the mist nets. Also, some of the birds
that were evident at the boardwalk today, such as Blue Jays and Cedar
Waxwings, are high fliers that don't wind up in the banders' nets very
often. So, while the banding station totals are more standardized than
counts taken from field observation, they're not immune to being skewed by
outside forces. All the more evidence of the fact that it takes serious
attention and thought to really detect what's going on with bird numbers.
This evening there were strong storms that came through the area after 7
p.m., with near-tornadic conditions in our little burg of Rocky Ridge, and
the wind shifted abruptly to the northwest. It has since shifted back to
the WSW, but I expect consistent northwest winds by morning, with cooler
temperatures. I doubt that many birds left tonight, aside from those that
were blown right off their perches and into the lake! Numbers should still
be decent tomorrow but I plan to go look at water areas to see if any odd
migrant waterbirds might have been put down by the storms.
Kenn Kaufman
Rocky Ridge, Ohio
Subject: Magee Marsh today, Tuesday, May 15
From: Pat McCarthy
Date: Tue, 15 May 2007 21:52:08 -0400
After coming home Sunday night to substitute teach yesterday, I drove back up
to Magee Marsh today.
There were some different birds than I saw over the weekend, but still not the
numbers or variety I've seen up there some years. Between 9:00 and 3:00, I saw
the following birds. Other people reported Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Mourning
Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Blackpoll warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Cape May
Warbler, and Worm-eating Warbler.
1. Canada Goose
2. Double-crested Cormorant
3. Great Blue Heron
4. Great Egret
5. Snowy Egret
6. Bald Eagle
7. Virginia Rail
8. Kildeer
9. Ring-billed Gull
10. Mourning Dove
11. Black-billed Cuckoo
12. Eastern Screech Owl
13. Downy Woodpecker
14. Eastern Wood Pewee
15. Least Flycatcher
16. Eastern Kingbird
17. Warbling Vireo
18. Philadelphia Vireo
19. Tree Swallow
20. Barn Swallow
21. House Wren
22. Swainson's Thrush
23. Hermit Thrush
24. Wood Thrush
25. American Robin
26. Gray Catbird
27. Northern Parula
28. Yellow Warbler
29. Chestnut-sided Warbler
30. Magnolia Warbler
31. Black-throated Blue Warbler
32. Yellow-rumped Warbler
33. Blackburnian Warbler
34. Palm Warbler
35. Bay-breasted Warbler
36. American Redstart
37. Northern Waterthrush
38. Wilson's Warbler
39. Canada Warbler
40. Scarlet Tanager
41. Northern Cardinal
42, Red-winged Blackbird
43. Common Grackle
44. Baltimore Oriole
45. House Sparrow
Subject: Magee Marsh Birds today
From: "Warren, Mary"
Date: Wed, 16 May 2007 12:41:34 -0400
Warblers
1. Kirtland's - 1
2. Hooded - 1
3. Mourning - 2
4. Wilson's
5. Magnolia
6. Canada
7. Chestnut-sided
8. Blackburnian - 1
9. Cape May - 1
10. N. Waterthrush - several
11. American Redstart
12. Yellow
13. C. Yellowthroat
14. B.t. Blue
15. B.t. Green
16. Ovenbird - several
17. Tenn. - several
18. Nashville
19. Black & White
20. N. Parula
21. Bay-breasted
22. Blackpoll
23. Yellow-rumped
Vireo's
1. Warbling
2. Blue-headed
3. Red-eyed
Flycatchers
1. Least
2. Great-crested
3. E. Wood Pewee
4. E. Kingbird
Shorebirds
1. A. Woodcock
2. Killdeer
3. Semipalmated Plover
4. S.b. Dowitcher
5. Dunlin
6. Least Sandpiper
Others
1. Baltimore & Orchard Orioles
2. Scarlet Tanager
3. Sora & Virginia Rail
4. Song, Swamp, W.t., & W.c Sparrows
5. Snowy & Great Egrets
6. Great Blue & Green Herons
7. Mallard & Wood Duck
Subject: Big Day Highlights
From: Aaron Boone
Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 15:42:16 -0400
I participated in a statewide big day yesterday with Paul Rodewald and John
Kuenzli. We had a great time despite significant weather difficulties in
the morning hours. Our total was 168 for the day with some great
highlights:
- All 7 species of vireo
- 30 species of warbler
- RED-NECKED PHALAROPE (Longbrake Wetlands)
- KING RAIL (quick glimpse at Magee Marsh causeway)
- BLACK TERNS (Big Island & Metzger Marsh)
- WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER (1 at Longbrake and 1 at Metzger)
Good birding!
Aaron Boone
Columbus, Ohio
Subject: Ottawa Treasure; Oporonis agilis (5/17) Ben Warner
From: waen2bb2 AT AOL.COM
Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 20:30:23 -0400
Sorry for the late-ish post since we saw the bird around noon today it
was hard to get to a posting location. Anyways, the Boardwalk was ok
today but a tiny bit slow. Remembering Kenn Kaufman, and other folks
like Dan Sander's, advice (thank you very much men) I headed to the
woodlots at Ottawa NWA. The small rectangular lot right infront of the
parking lot (at the older part of ottawa, not near the visitor center)
was the best place, lots and lots of warblers were in there and singing
away on this cool day at around noon. Nice stuff all of it and I'll get
to that later, but when Dr. Dan Mosher and I rounded the southwest
corner of the lot we both heard the unique call of the CONNECTICUT
WARBLER come tumbling from just inside the wooded border. It called
several times at this moment and we were searching searching for the
little rascal. Finally we got so lucky/blessed to see the guy hop up
from the grassy forest floor to take perch in a small tree. We had
amazing looks, this was a state-bird for Dr. Mosher and a much desired
and sought after Life-bird for me. Pretty soon after this he hopped
back into the grasses to dissappear for a bit onto the ground. But a
few more times he came up from the cover to stand on some low grapevine
and then a low brushy tree again about an hour later. He seemed to
prefer that quadrant of the lot, I saw him twice from the inner trail
that goes through the woodlot and thrice from the road that goes along
the southern border. He called a couple more times but not nearly as
long as the first time, had Dr. Mosher and I not been the students of
song that we were, we'd have probably never seen the bird at all. I was
needlessly to say, quite happy.
Another good bird we had in this lot was a Kentucky Warbler
female. Earlier on the Magee Boardwalk we saw a Mourning Warbler so I
guess you could saw we got the eastern Oporonis hatrick! I'll say
something else, This woodlot was stocked full of Blackpoll Warblers
both males and females, and they were singing away all the time we were
there. I've seen a lot of Blackpolls this spring as well as an unusual
amount of Canada Warblers (hard to say but we saw maybe 12 Canada's
today). This little woodlot was way more active than the boardwalk was.
List:
Ottawa:
Connecticut Warbler - 1 male singing and then seen!
Kentucky Warbler - 1 female
Canada Warbler - 4 apprx.
Wilson's Warbler - 2
Blackpolls - 6 maybe more
Blackburnian - 8+ (completely lacking from the boardwalk)
Baybreasted - males and females 10+
Cape-may - 6+
Tennessee - 2 (almost lacking from the boardwalk)
Palm - 2
Black-and-white - 6
Yellow-rumped - 10+ (a surprising amount of these in here)
Yellow - 4+
Common Yellowthroat - 4
N. Parula - 1
Ovenbird - 2
Black-throated Green - 4+
Black-throated Blue - 4+
American Redstart - 8+
Magnolia - numerous
Chestnut-sided - 6
Blue-headed Vireo - 1
Warbling Vireo - several
Swainson's Thrushes
Wood Thrush - heard in the bigger woods further south
Baltimore Orioles
American Woodcock
Great Crested Flycatcher - 2 (very vocal)
Empidonax sp. - 2 (not a least or a yellow-bellied)
etc.
Magee Boardwalk + Crane Creek
Mourning Warbler - 1 (saw mine in the scruffy stuff at the western end
of the parking lot
Canada Warbler - almost numerous
Wilson's Warbler - 6
N. Parula - 2
Tenessee - 1 heard
N. Waterthrush - 1
Black-throated Blue - good numbers about 12
Yellow
Common Yellowthroats
Black-throated Greens
Cape-mays
Am. Redstarts
Black-and-whites
Blackpoll - 2
Yellow-rumped - 2
Bay-breasted - 5
Magnolias
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 1
Hooded Merganser - seen come in and land in a tree (female)
Wood Ducks
Sora
Solitary Sandpiper
Screech Owl
E. Wood-peewee
Hermit Thrush - 1 seemed a bit late eh?
Veery
Glossy Ibis - seen on the loop trail near the visitor center at
Crane-creek
Snowy Egret - same place as the Glossy's (both seen pretty close in)
Metzger Marsh: (no Ibis seen, no black terns, no Plovers except listed
sp)
Sanderling - 1 new for the year, in decent breeding plumage (on small
beach by the main dike)
White-rumped Sandpiper - 1
Semipalmated Sandpiper - 1
Least Sandpipers
Short-billed Dowitcher - 10+
Lesser Yellowlegs
Ruddy Turnstone - 5
Dunlins - you try and count them.
Semipalm. Plover - plenty
Killdeer
Forster's Tern - 4 Juveniles and at least 2 adults
Common Tern - 2 adults
Caspian Tern - 1 adult
Snowy Egrets - 2
Bald Eagle - 1 adult 1 juvenile
etc. ( we saw another Canada Warbler in the trees at the end)
Sorry for the long post and roughly abbreviated names and
numbers, we just had a lot of stuff, I left a lot off as well.
Hopefully nothing too important.
Yeehaw, and Good Birding!
Subject: Migrants everywhere in n.w. Ohio
From: Kenn Kaufman
Date: Fri, 18 May 2007 00:06:50 -0400
Kudos to Ben Warner for finding a Connecticut Warbler in the woods at Ottawa
NWR, and thanks for the thorough and helpful report on what was happening
there and at Magee Marsh. I haven't been to Magee for the last two days,
but based on what I've seen elsewhere, there are migrants all over in the
Western Lake Erie Marsh region. Today (Thursday May 17), for example, I was
at East Harbor State Park, just east of Port Clinton, and in just an hour on
the trails south of the east beach I had 18 warbler species, including Cape
May, Blackpoll, Tennessee, Canada, Ovenbird, and N Parula. Greg Links
checked a woodlot inside Sandusky city limits and had 20 warbler species in
a short visit. Yesterday, the 16th, Kim and I had Tennessee, Magnolia, and
other warblers in small patches of trees near Medusa Marsh, and we found
flocks of warblers (including Yellow-rumped, Palm, and Black-throated Green)
just back in the woods at the Resthaven Wildlife Area, near Castalia. The
main banding station of the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, located about 5
miles east of Magee, has handled hundreds of migrants for the last three
days. As of today, they're up to over 1,000 Magnolia Warblers for the
spring!
We haven't had south winds to bring in new waves since Tuesday, and it
doesn't appear that we'll have any more before next week, but the birds are
here anyway. It may be that the recent heavy rains put them down where they
were, so that any sizeable woodlot within miles of Lake Erie has a good
concentration of birds. The point is that there are a LOT of migrants
around, and you should get out tomorrow and this weekend if you get the
chance -- don't wait for it to look like "perfect" migration weather.
Kenn Kaufman
Rocky Ridge, Ohio
Subject: weather / migration update
From: Kenn Kaufman
Date: Fri, 18 May 2007 17:02:17 -0400
Discussing the state of migration in n.w. Ohio, just last night I wrote that
I didn't expect any south winds to bring in waves of migrants before next
week. Well, around here, the weather predictions change as often as the
weather, which is saying a lot. They're now calling for the winds to switch
around to the southwest tonight (Friday May 18) and stay southwest or
west-southwest through Saturday and Saturday night. So I expect there will
be a lot of turnover -- the birds that have been here for several days may
leave, but I expect there will be new ones coming in as well. Today I was
still finding things like Tennessee Warbler and Veery scattered at small
woodlots well inland, but I would guess that tomorrow the migrants may be
more concentrated close to the lake.
Kenn Kaufman
Rocky Ridge, Ohio
Subject: Magee Marsh Birds today
From: "Warren, Mary"
Date: Sat, 19 May 2007 14:36:58 -0400
Warblers
1. Yellow
2. Wilson's
3. Bay-breasted
4. Blackpoll
5. Yellow-rumped
6. Cape May
7. B.t. Green
8. B.t. Blue
9. N. Waterthrush
10. A. Redstart
11. Chestnut-sided
12. Canada
13. Black & White
14. Mourning
15. Tenn.
16. Hooded
17. Kentucky
18. Prothonotary
19. Blackburnian
20. Nashville
21. C. Yellowthroat
Vireo's
1. Red-eyed
2. Warbling
Flycatchers
1. E. Wood Pewee
2. Acadian
3. Willow
4. Alder
5. E. Kingbird
Thrushes
1. A. Robin
2. Hermit
3. Veery
4. Swainson's
5. Gray-cheeked
6. Wood
Tanagers & Grosbeaks & Orioles
1. Scarlet Tanager
2. Summer Tanager - 1 female
3. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
4. Baltimore Oriole
Sparrows
1. Song
2. Swamp
3. White-throated
4. White-crowned
5. Lincoln's
Shorebirds
1. A. Woodcock
2. Dunlin
3. Solitary Sandpiper
4. White-rumped Sandpiper
5. Semipalmated Sandpiper
6. Killdeer
Others
1. Black-billed Cuckoo
2. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
3. Trumpeter Swans
Attention Birders
1. We want to thank all the people/birders who helped pull garlic
mustard this past week!
Thanks folks for all your hard work and dedication. Anyone
interested in helping next week, see below.
2. We will have 3 more days of pulling Garlic Mustard at the Magee Marsh
boardwalk.
Here are the Dates: Tuesday, May 22nd from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Wed., May 23rd, from 1:00 to
5:00 p.m.
Thurs., May 24th, from 1:00 to
5:00 p.m.
==================
Subject: radar tonight
From: Richard Cressman
Date: Sun, 20 May 2007 23:19:29 -0400
A very interesting radar tonight (11 pm). It shows a concentration
developing along a cold front (shown on the regular weather map) through
southern Ohio and central Indiana where the wind shifts from a southerly
direction to a northerly one.
I think this site shows the current conditions when you access it.
http://lnk.nu/rap.ucar.edu/eja.php
To get conditions for any time tonight go to
http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/radar/
and enter 0300 (for the time I have right now - 11 pm) or later, to see
what is happening then.
You can see the effect by clicking on "Contiguous US" but it is striking
if you check "Regional reflectivity" at the left and ILN in Ohio.
You can set the time in motion be setting the loop duration to the number
of hours you want.
If this front happens to push back north, it should have lots of birds
behind it. however, the prediction is not until Tuesday. I don't know
what the bird psychology is at this time in May, but perhaps they might
gradually push onward.
Rich
Richard Cressman
Columbus OH
rmcress.815-1928_9 AT juno.com
================
