Magee Marsh Boardwalk 5/15--Cape May, Bay-breasted, & Blackburnian Warblers

Cape May Warbler (female)
Photos: Shari Zirlin

 The jewel of NW Ohio, the main reason for going, the destination for 70,000 birders during the week of the festival, is the boardwalk at Magee Marsh, approximately 1 mile of swamp forest dripping with warblers if you catch them at the right time. On Friday afternoon, after we returned from Oak Openings, it was the right time. You didn't really need binoculars, the birds were low in the branches and close to the boardwalk. Before we even entered onto the wooden trail we had a Blackburnian Warbler, and along the way we picked up Bay-breasted Warbler and Cape May Warbler. The last species had us confused as it was so drab--as female Cape Mays are. We also managed another Mourning Warbler and amazingly, it wasn't surrounded by a "bird jam" of frenzied birders and photographers.

Another cool bird for us to see was an Eastern Screech-Owl, very well camouflaged in the opening of a tree. It took a contortionist to see it but I think it was the first screech-owl I've seen since Texas.

Magnolia Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Mourning Warbler

29 species
Canada Goose  2     heard
Killdeer  1
Eastern Screech-Owl  1
Merlin  1
Eastern Wood-Pewee  1
Warbling Vireo  5
Blue Jay  1
Tree Swallow  3
House Wren  3
Swainson's Thrush  2
American Robin  2
Gray Catbird  1
Black-and-white Warbler  1
Mourning Warbler  1
Common Yellowthroat  2     heard
American Redstart  12
Cape May Warbler  2
Northern Parula  1
Magnolia Warbler  2
Bay-breasted Warbler  1
Blackburnian Warbler  1
Yellow Warbler  3
Chestnut-sided Warbler  1
Black-throated Blue Warbler  2
Black-throated Green Warbler  1                                                                                                              Northern Cardinal  1     heard
Red-winged Blackbird  10
Common Grackle  5
Baltimore Oriole  3

Black-throated Green Warbler

Sandusky County 5/16--Alder Flycatcher, Willow Flycatcher, Bobolink

After the blast off of the first day, it wasn't reasonable to expect a large number of new birds. We went on a van trip to "private lands," places that are usually restricted but whose owners had given permission to have them birded during the festival. As it happened, they were all in Sandusky County, south of where we were staying. One them, Harder's Grasslands, we had previously visited two years ago.

It was another damp morning and it was led by the two rookies again. My estimation for the two leaders changed with one going up to much higher levels, while the other fell into the basement. What we thought was a team turned out to be a random matching--the Biggest Week folks apparently don't give a lot of thought to team chemistry when they assign the trips. None of this really mattered aside from my personal prickliness--the sites were good and the value in trips were, as far as I was concerned, just getting us to different places we wouldn't know the what & where of.

Since my sense of Ohio geography is just a little sketchy, I can't say exactly where the first place we birded was, but I did recognize the spot when we passed it a few days later. It was called Christy Farm Nature Preserve and was serving as a Boy Scout camp when we arrived. Not a particularly birdy spot, but we did hear and see our first Willow Flycatcher--"fitz-bew!"

I make the point of the explosive song because essentially, the only way to separate Willow Flycatcher from our next year bird is by voice. We went to our next stop, McClure's Marsh, a relatively large man-made wetlands, and the birding there was better. In a fallow field that looked much like the ones outside Bombay Hook in Delaware we found a Horned Lark, as we also would in DE, and Purple Martins were abundant.

Photos: Shari Zirlin

As we walked around the marsh we were accompanied by the family dog who, when she wasn't rolling in the grass, liked to take a quick dip in the marsh. She also had bowel and stomach issues, so as the walk progressed she went from being the Big Wet Dog, to the Big Wet Tick-infested Dog, to the Big Wet Tick-infested Diarrhea-spewing Dog, and finally to the Big Wet Tick-infested Diarrhea-spewing Belching Dog.  Someone in our group scratched her behind the ear but thought better of it when she heard the name.

I spotted another flycatcher which struck me, for no good reason I can say, as not a Willow and it sang, something to the effect of "ree-bee-a." In any case, not the easily identified "fitz-bew." I had a good look at the Alder Flycatcher in my binoculars and it does look identical to Willow--no wonder they were both considered one species in the recent past.

At our next stop, Arnold Marsh, we were again greeted by the family pet, this time a Helmeted Guinea Fowl named, I believe, Petey. This dopey bird followed us along the entire trail with his owners, occasionally attacking someone's shoe and trying to untie their laces with his mouth. It was funny for the first 5 minutes, bizarre for the next 5 minutes, and just plain annoying after that. We saw and heard a few interesting birds like Black-crowned Night-Heron and Trumpeter Swans, but we didn't find anything new and we certainly couldn't count the Guinea Fowl.

Our last stop was the place Shari & I had gone on a trip two years ago, Harder's Grasslands which is exactly how it sounds--acres and acres of grasslands with the expected grassland birds. The target bird here was Bobolink and after walking out along a mowed path for about a quarter of a mile we found at least 3 of them displaying and singing, looking, as Peterson describes them, as if they were were wearing their dress suits reversed.

It is also perfect habitat for grassland sparrows and after some looking and listening our guides redeemed themselves in my eyes when they were able to put a Henslow's Sparrow in the scope. I got a brief look, let the next guy behind me see it, and after he saw it he accidentally kicked the scope, preventing Shari from getting a view. I rarely see Shari upset by something like that (I'm usually the one in a rage) but this time she was very unhappy.

We had 64 species for the county so I count the excursion a success:

Species     Location

Canada Goose     McClure's Marsh

Trumpeter Swan     Arnold Marsh

Wood Duck     McClure's Marsh

Mallard     McClure's Marsh

Double-crested Cormorant     McClure's Marsh

Great Blue Heron     McClure's Marsh

Great Egret     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Black-crowned Night-Heron     Arnold Marsh

Turkey Vulture     Harder grasslands

Northern Harrier     McClure's Marsh

Bald Eagle     McClure's Marsh

Red-tailed Hawk     Harder grasslands

Killdeer     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Dunlin     McClure's Marsh

Caspian Tern     McClure's Marsh

Mourning Dove     McClure's Marsh

Ruby-throated Hummingbird     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Red-bellied Woodpecker     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Downy Woodpecker     McClure's Marsh

Hairy Woodpecker     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Northern Flicker     Harder grasslands

Eastern Wood-Pewee     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Alder Flycatcher     McClure's Marsh

Willow Flycatcher     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Eastern Phoebe     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Great Crested Flycatcher     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Eastern Kingbird     Arnold Marsh

Red-eyed Vireo     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Blue Jay     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

American Crow     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Horned Lark     McClure's Marsh

Purple Martin     McClure's Marsh

Tree Swallow     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Barn Swallow     McClure's Marsh

White-breasted Nuthatch     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

House Wren     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Marsh Wren     McClure's Marsh

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Wood Thrush     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

American Robin     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Gray Catbird     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Brown Thrasher     McClure's Marsh

Ovenbird     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Common Yellowthroat     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Yellow Warbler     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Blackpoll Warbler     McClure's Marsh

Chipping Sparrow     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Field Sparrow     McClure's Marsh

Savannah Sparrow     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Henslow's Sparrow     Harder grasslands

Song Sparrow     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

White-crowned Sparrow     McClure's Marsh

Scarlet Tanager     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Northern Cardinal     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Indigo Bunting     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Bobolink     Harder grasslands

Red-winged Blackbird     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Eastern Meadowlark     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Common Grackle     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Brown-headed Cowbird     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

Baltimore Oriole     Christy Farm Nature Preserve

House Finch     Arnold Marsh

American Goldfinch     McClure's Marsh

House Sparrow     McClure's Marsh

Ottawa NWR Estuary Trail 5/16--Common Nighthawk, Gray-cheeked Thrush

We weren't done birding. In the late afternoon we took a walk on the estuary trail of Ottawa NWR which abuts the Magee Marsh property. (On a map, Ottawa NWR, Magee Marsh and Metzger Marsh look like interlocking jigsaw puzzle pieces.) We were make a halfhearted attempt to find a Connecticut Warbler that had been reported at the end of the trail. Birders get even crazier about Connecticuts than they do about Mourning Warblers but it isn't a bird I can get excited about--just a gray warbler with an eye ring that walks on the ground. Still, you want to see one if you can.

When we got to the spot there were, of course, 25 birders peering into the brush. And, of course, it had "just been seen" not too long before we got there. We stood around for a little while, someone pointed out a Wilson's Warbler, and I moved on to the lake shore. I wanted to find Ruddy Turnstones as long as we were there.

Shari stayed behind and after about 5 minutes called me back from the shore. She wanted the scope. While everyone was standing around looking for a little bird, a big, Common Nighthawk was sleeping on a branch above their heads.It blended in with the limb nicely, but we managed to get out scope set up so that it could be easily viewed. We had a viewing line going until someone said the COWA was around the bend and everyone rushed to not find it, again.

We went back to the beach and 3 turnstones appeared out of nowhere.

Ruddy Turnstone
Photos: Shari Zirlin

We were walking back to the parking lot when we saw a guide we'd gone on a trip with two years ago. I think he might have vaguely recognized us, but probably not--I'm sure he's been on trip with hundreds of people since then. He was pointing out a thrush to the people he was with and we piggy-backed on the sighting. It was not, as I would have first guessed, another Swainson's Thrush, but instead the more interesting (because less-seen) Gray-cheeked Thrush. A very cold looking bird as opposed to the warmer colors on the other thrushes. We thanked him for the FOY and moved along, picking up another Mourning Warbler on the way back. Three Mourning Warblers in 2 days? For me, that's unheard of.
26 species
Canada Goose  9
Mallard  1
Great Blue Heron  1
Great Egret  4
Killdeer  1
Ruddy Turnstone  3
Ring-billed Gull  16
Herring Gull  1
Common Tern  7
Common Nighthawk  1
Eastern Wood-Pewee  1     heard
Tree Swallow  10
House Wren  1
Gray-cheeked Thrush  1
Swainson's Thrush  1
Gray Catbird  2
Black-and-white Warbler  1
Mourning Warbler  1
Common Yellowthroat  1     heard
Yellow Warbler  5
Blackpoll Warbler  2
Wilson's Warbler  1
Northern Cardinal  2
Red-winged Blackbird  25
Common Grackle  5
Baltimore Oriole  1

Erie County 5/17--Least Flycatcher, Bank Swallow, Northern Waterthrush, Tennessee Warbler, Connecticut Warbler

Our final van trip of the vacation (and the last day we had to get up at 4:30 in the morning) was to the "Wilds of Erie County." Erie County seemed pretty far away to me when we hit it going west on our way to Toledo, but the places we were going were in the western part of the county, so it was only about an hour's drive to the first destination, Pipe Creek Wildlife Area.

This tour was run by a pro and, as it happens, he was also in charge of scheduling all the other trips for the festival. So he got to pick the place he wanted to go. I was happy to finally be birding with someone who knew how to lead a trip, but despite that, I was getting weary of being with a lot of other birders for the 3rd day in a row. It didn't help that two of the birders were "youth birders," two kids, 12 & 9, I think, who were birding fanatics already. I'm all for the next generation of birders, in theory, but in practice, I don't like being with kids, especially kids who talk talk talk talk. They were with their grandmother, who took a real interest in the birds in their hobby, and their mother, who could read a book while walking. I thought she should be grateful that her kids were doing something more intellectually stimulating than playing video games in the basement and maybe she was.

At Pipe Creek, on the shores of Lake Erie, we got Bank Swallows, a good look at a Least Flycatcher, and very fleeting glimpse of a Northern Waterthrush. The kids, with their young and (I admit it) more knowledgeable ears, were  hearing all kinds of stuff I wasn't. Of course, maybe if they had piped down a little, I would have had a better shot.

There were a surprising number of ducks in the impoundments--odd to see wigeons and Ruddy Ducks this time of year. We found a couple of Cedar Waxwings, which have been oddly sparse this year.

After a few hours at Pipe Creek we drove a short distance to our 2nd destination, Sheldon Marsh, which sounded to me like a television producer from the 60's. This was a park fashioned from someone's estate (there are quite a few of these former estates turned over to the public in Ohio) and it had a great trail running through woodlands. Here we got much better looks at Red-headed Woodpecker and Scarlet Tanager.

Photos: Shari Zirlin

We also picked up two difficult warblers--Tennessee Warbler (difficult for me because it is so bland in both looks and song) and Connecticut Warbler (difficult because it is a skulker). I saw the TEWA, I only heard the COWA, but at least it has a very loud, distinctive song, unlike some of the buzzy whispers many of the warblers have. (I don't know why they call them warblers, most of them hardly warble at all). Shari did see the COWA for a split second before it dove down into the underbrush once it knew it was being watched. 

POP QUIZ: Can you name the other "state" warblers without looking at a list? Warning: Virginia's Warbler doesn't count, it's a "lady warbler." 

72 species on my new Erie County, Ohio life list:

Species               First Sighting

Canada Goose     Pipe Creek

Mute Swan     Pipe Creek

Gadwall     Pipe Creek

American Wigeon     Pipe Creek

Mallard     Pipe Creek

Blue-winged Teal     Pipe Creek

Ruddy Duck     Pipe Creek

Double-crested Cormorant     Pipe Creek

Great Blue Heron     Pipe Creek

Great Egret     Pipe Creek

Turkey Vulture     Pipe Creek

Cooper's Hawk     Pipe Creek

Bald Eagle     Pipe Creek

American Coot     Pipe Creek

Spotted Sandpiper     Pipe Creek

Solitary Sandpiper     Pipe Creek

Ring-billed Gull     Pipe Creek

Herring Gull     Pipe Creek

Caspian Tern     Pipe Creek

Common Tern     Pipe Creek

Red-headed Woodpecker     Sheldon Marsh

Red-bellied Woodpecker     Pipe Creek

Downy Woodpecker     Pipe Creek

Eastern Wood-Pewee     Pipe Creek

Alder Flycatcher     Pipe Creek

Least Flycatcher     Pipe Creek

Eastern Phoebe     Pipe Creek

Great Crested Flycatcher     Sheldon Marsh

Eastern Kingbird     Pipe Creek

White-eyed Vireo     Sheldon Marsh

Warbling Vireo     Pipe Creek

Red-eyed Vireo     Pipe Creek

Blue Jay     Pipe Creek

American Crow     Sheldon Marsh

Northern Rough-winged Swallow     Pipe Creek

Tree Swallow     Pipe Creek

Bank Swallow     Pipe Creek

Barn Swallow     Pipe Creek

Tufted Titmouse     Sheldon Marsh

White-breasted Nuthatch     Sheldon Marsh

House Wren     Pipe Creek

Swainson's Thrush     Sheldon Marsh

American Robin     Pipe Creek

Gray Catbird     Pipe Creek

Northern Mockingbird     Pipe Creek

Cedar Waxwing     Pipe Creek

Northern Waterthrush     Pipe Creek

Black-and-white Warbler     Sheldon Marsh

Tennessee Warbler     Sheldon Marsh

Nashville Warbler     Sheldon Marsh

Connecticut Warbler     Sheldon Marsh

Common Yellowthroat     Pipe Creek

American Redstart     Pipe Creek

Northern Parula     Sheldon Marsh

Magnolia Warbler     Sheldon Marsh

Bay-breasted Warbler     Pipe Creek

Yellow Warbler     Pipe Creek

Chestnut-sided Warbler     Sheldon Marsh

Blackpoll Warbler     Pipe Creek

Yellow-rumped Warbler     Sheldon Marsh

Wilson's Warbler     Pipe Creek

Song Sparrow     Pipe Creek

Scarlet Tanager     Sheldon Marsh

Northern Cardinal     Pipe Creek

Rose-breasted Grosbeak     Sheldon Marsh

Indigo Bunting     Pipe Creek

Red-winged Blackbird     Pipe Creek

Common Grackle     Sheldon Marsh

Brown-headed Cowbird     Sheldon Marsh

Baltimore Oriole     Pipe Creek

House Finch     Sheldon Marsh

American Goldfinch     Pipe Creek

Ottawa NWR Auto Tour 5/17--Common Gallinule, Sandhill Crane

Sunday afternoon, after our return from Erie County, we decided to do the Auto Tour trail at Ottawa NWR and make another halfhearted attempt at finding a rarity--this time a Yellow-headed Blackbird that had been reported there. I have to admit that I don't much like the auto route at Ottawa. For one, it covers two counties, so that makes it complicated on eBird. For another, there aren't a lot of good stopping points. A third disadvantage is that it isn't a loop--rather it dumps you a couple of miles away from from where you started. And fourth, if you do find some good birds, you probably aren't allowed to walk there. Brig it isn't.

So we drove around, stopping in the places where the blackbird had been reported and of course not finding it. It wasn't until we were in Lucas County (you start in Ottawa) that we saw anything worth recording, so that was a simplification. Some Canadian birders had what they suspected was a Black-crowned Night-Heron in their scope and wanted confirmation. We confirmed. There was also a Willow Flycatcher calling back of us (Ottawa County, I suspect) and one of their group went off to photograph it.

We drove off and still hadn't found much of anything when I saw a raptor sitting in a distant tree. I suspected eagle, but couldn't get much in the way of field marks on the bird. Our Canadian friends pulled up and just then the bird flew to the ground, giving a better look and angle and we all saw that it was a Bald Eagle.

Just then one of the women in their group cried out "Crane!" Now, usually, when I'm with birders I don't know and someone says "Crane," I immediately correct them: "You mean heron, or egret." But I'm glad I held my tongue because just then I heard a Sandhill Crane and then, with a little help, we were able to put it in our scope. And we were able to do so just as a friend from NJ pulled up. We had met him and his wife in the parking lot at Magee where we compared notes, but this was the first time in Ohio we had a chance to see birds together.

We continued our drive, happy to have another FOY. Toward the end of the drive we saw some coots and separate from but near to them, a Common Gallinule, very close to the road. Too close for its comfort because as soon as I stuck my hand out the window to point it out to Shari, it flushed. She did see it though.

There had been a Pied-billed Grebe somewhere along the way that I missed, so when we saw this one, sitting on a nest, I was happy with the much better view than I would have had previously.

Photo: Shari Zirlin

25 species
Canada Goose  50
Trumpeter Swan  2
Mallard  1
Pied-billed Grebe  1
Great Blue Heron  2
Great Egret  6
Black-crowned Night-Heron  1
Bald Eagle  1
Common Gallinule  1
American Coot  9
Sandhill Crane  1
Spotted Sandpiper  2
Herring Gull  2
Caspian Tern  2
Common Tern  4
Willow Flycatcher  1
Eastern Kingbird  1
Tree Swallow  5
Marsh Wren  2
Gray Catbird  1
Common Yellowthroat  1     heard
Yellow Warbler  6
Northern Cardinal  1
Red-winged Blackbird  30
Common Grackle  1

Metzger Marsh 5/18--Eurasian Collared-Dove-like bird

The most perplexing bird we found on the trip came just as we made the turn onto Bono Road, heading toward the causeway for Metzger Marsh. There is a little pull off I remembered from two years ago where we could scan a fallow field for pipits. There were no pipits that I could find (Killdeer, yes). Two women were also birding the small grove at the pull off and looking through a field guide. I wasn't paying much attention, until Shari called me over. They had showed her the bird they'd found quietly roosting in a small tree. I took one look at it, said "Eurasian Collared-Dove" and then remembered that one had been reported in the area. It was a very pale bird and I didn't think it had much of a collar, though it did have one when I viewed it from the back. I thought that was pretty cool. These doves seem to be getting everywhere.

But when I went to list it on eBird, under rarities, the list gave me an alternative I'd never considered: African Collared-Dove. I looked up the African Collared-Dove and found that they're con-specific with the Ringed Turtle Dove, both of which are kept as pets, though there are feral populations in some southern states. Someone speculated in their eBird report that this might be a hybrid. There were also two birds reported. It kept getting more complicated. Looking at the bird we saw I found that it had a red eye which is a field for African. In fact, the more I looked at our pictures, the more it looked like African. But the collar was still not convincing. I'm not hooked into the Ohio birding lists, so I don't know if this bird has been discussed or dismissed. For the nonce, it stays on the list. We each took pictures, I can't remember who's is who's.

The marsh itself was very productive:
34 species
Canada Goose  50
Trumpeter Swan  2
American Wigeon  5
Mallard  10
Common Loon  7    
Double-crested Cormorant  2
American White Pelican  1
Great Blue Heron  3
Great Egret  5
American Coot  5
Black-bellied Plover  8
Killdeer  2
Dunlin  2
Least Sandpiper  1
Short-billed Dowitcher  3
Ring-billed Gull  15
Herring Gull  10
Caspian Tern  5
Common Tern  10
Eurasian Collared-Dove  1    
Least Flycatcher  1
Eastern Kingbird  1
Tree Swallow  5
Barn Swallow  10
Wood Thrush  1     heard
Gray Catbird  1
Common Yellowthroat  5
American Redstart  2
Yellow Warbler  5
Northern Cardinal  2
Red-winged Blackbird  50
Common Grackle  10
Brown-headed Cowbird  5
Baltimore Oriole  2

Maumee Bay SP Boardwalk 5/20-- Virginia Rail

Cute!
Photo: Shari Zirlin

We had dinner with our friends Jimmy & Susan at the lodge at Maumee Bay SP on the 19th. Just before we met they had walked on the boardwalk through the nearby marsh and had found a Virginia Rail. We went back the next afternoon to refind it. No pictures of this bird, we found it and its chick, but we could only hear them despite them seeming so close that you felt you could reach out into the reeds and touch them.

However, along the way, we came across the 2nd Eastern Screech-Owl of the trip; the first had also been on the boardwalk trail, but farther along, a couple of days earlier. This bird, which we must have passed on the way to the first one, was a red morph. I'd never seen a red morph before, but then, this was probably only the 3rd screech-owl I've ever actually seen.

Two quality birds on a small list:

11 species
Mallard  2
Virginia Rail  2     heard both juvenile & adult
Eastern Screech-Owl  1     red morph
Eastern Phoebe  1
Gray-cheeked Thrush  1
Wood Thrush  1     Heard
Common Yellowthroat  1     
Yellow Warbler  1     Heard
Red-winged Blackbird  15
Common Grackle  5
House Sparrow  1