Nature Note #167: The Biggest Weekday in American Birding
Once in a while it is good to take a break and this past weekend was no exception. Alison and I planned on visiting northwest Ohio for the annual Biggest Week in American Birding festival. The last time we graced the shore of Lake Erie for some of the best birding in the country was in 2013 while Alison had been working in Columbus as a songbird technician. On a whim, she and her fellow techs decided to visit the festival to check out the birds. Her experience was so amazing that she nagged me into driving the eight hours from New Jersey (where I was working as a teacher naturalist at the time) to see the exquisite jewels that flitted from branch and twig.
As we arrived in the darkness of Friday morning to our motel (which I will be calling the Rat's Nest for sake of brevity and because I don't intend to get into a Yelp flame war with the owners). Needless to say, the place was less than we had hoped for. While the continental breakfast at most motels leaves little to be desired, I have never experienced a breakfast line where the waffle maker fails to cook the waffle all the way through. Utter incompetence!
However you, dear reader, didn't come here to read about my ruined breakfast; you came to read about the amazing birds we saw while at a premier spring birding festival. Well, it started as most long-distance birding adventures do, in the car. After that disastrous most breakfast, we first arrived at Maumee Bay Lodge to pick up our registration items so we could attend Noah Strycker's talk that evening. Before entering the lodge, we looked up to watch the scything wings of swallows over our heads. Tree (Tachycineta bicolor) and barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) rocketed past as we admired the meticulously assembled mud nests under the pavilion.
"Cliff Swallows!", I exclaimed as a small midnight blue and chestnut swallow whooshed into one of the mud nests above.
As we watched the chattering birds nestle into their adobe homes, we both knew we had arrived in the Mecca for birders. As we collected our badges, we looked through our swag. I was immediately delighted by the inclusion of a notebook and checklist to list all of our finds that weekend. Without a moment to lose, we departed for Magee Marsh.
The parking lot was packed as the festival's final days were arriving, but a sense of anticipation was palpable as we parked up. Immediately,we noticed small clusters of birders, some with scopes, along certain spots clambering (respectably of course) for a better look at whatever was there. What captured my interest was a bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nest perched in prime position in a large tree near the main lot. An adult bird watched the crowds with little concern and eventually left to go look for something fishier to spy on. We hadn't even arrived at the boardwalk before we were distracted by a crowd of people ogling a common nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) resting on a nearby tree branch.
It was quite a find for any person since its strategy is to use its cryptic feather pattern to imitate a snag or dead tree branch. It calmly rested as many, including myself, snapped photos of this unusual bird.
After documenting the find in our notebooks, we soon found ourselves on the boardwalk. While our wait to see a roosting eastern whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus) ended quicker than I would have liked (a squirrel mistook it for a snag causing the bird to flush out of sight), we instead turned our attention to those jewels of the trees; the warblers.
According to Whatbird.com, the collective nouns used for a group of warblers include a fall, a wrench, a confusion, and my personal favorite, a bouquet.
There were certainly enough colors for a flower vase with the bright yellows of the appropriately named yellow (Setophaga petechia), Nashville (Oreothylypis ruficapilla) and Prothonotary warblers (Protonotaria citrea), while the American redstarts (Setophaga ruticilla) and bay-breasted warblers (S. castanea) showcased the warmer colors in the tangles of branches.
Black was a popular addition with Blackburnians (S. fusca), black-and-whites (Mniotilta varia), magnolias (S. magnolia), and even a lifer Canada (Cardellina canadensis) and Hooded Warbler (S. citrina) adding themselves to the mix as well.
As we toured the boardwalk, snapping photos, sharing identification tips, and enjoying the birds, I reflected on why this place was such a draw for people like Alison and I. The most obvious draw was the birds themselves, but it was more the circumstances than the fact that they were present.
Magee Marsh has the wonderful distinction of not only being ideal migrant habitat for songbirds, waterfowl, and other migratory birds, but also being one of the best places to see migrating warblers during the spring in the United States. Around mid-May, these tiny birds, some measuring only four to five inches long, and having traveled from Central and South America through the lower 48 states, must continue their trek up into Canada. The marsh is what we birders call a "migrant trap", a place where birds are funneled into a rich and diverse series of habitats that allow the birds to gorge themselves on emerging insects before beginning their arduous trek over the almost oceanic Lake Erie.
Since the birds are so famished when they arrived, they tend to pay the birders little mind and are often within feet of your head, face, and optical equipment at all times. No wonder the local birders call it "Warblerstock"!
By having an opportunity to see these birds up close and with so many other people who appreciate good birds and birding opportunities alike, these moments are special and develop into strong, harmonious memories.
We saw so many warblers that I would feel bad inundating people with the photos here. However, I will mention in my second post about the birding on Saturday and Sunday my totals for the weekend, along with some of my other favorite moments.
As we got closer to the end of our first boardwalk tour, we headed back towards the car for lunch. Another group of optically enhanced onlookers caught my eye as we walked along. The first time I walked through Magee Marsh, I was amazed to find a female American woodcock (Scolopax minor) nesting in the parking lot. Granted I was only able to see it after someone very diligently and patiently pointed it out to me, but that is more a testament to the bird's amazing camouflage than my inability to spot an occupied nest no more than ten feet away.
After snapping some photos, we sat in the car munching on PB & Js and snacking on healthy treats. As we sat in the car plotting our next move, we watched as birders come and go. It was nearly 4:30 and in a few hours, we would be listening to Noah Strycker describe his global big year that he completed last year.
"We could go to Ottawa", Alison mentioned as she munched on a handful of Chex Mix.
"That would be a bit of a drive." I replied, popping a hummus slathered carrot into my mouth. "All the way to Canada."
Alison rolled her eyes. "You know what I meant!"
"As long as I get my trumpeters." I looked over the nearby marsh.
When we visited Magee in 2013, I witnessed two trumpeter swans (Cynus buccinator) consummating their relationship as we rolled past. I still have the photos of a proud male celebrating his brief aquatic piggyback while the female looked on demurely. As we left, no swans were getting down in the marsh that afternoon, so we felt it was better try our luck at Ottawa NWR just down the road.
Before we headed over, we stopped at the Magee Marsh Visitor Center to use the bathroom. As I was waiting for Alison to come out of the bathroom, I admired the creativity and skill of the Junior Duck Stamp Competition winners. The winner had painted a pair of ring-necked ducks that bore the purple ribbon of a distinguished young artist. While it was a good piece of fine art, my favorite was of a male hooded merganser with open wings while a lightning storm swirled in the background. It looked like it belonged on the album cover of a birding inspired heavy metal band!
"Maybe the "Pickaxe Shelldrakes" would work", I thought to myself. I didn't tell Alison my idea as she exited the bathroom, but she thought that the picture was pretty cool too.
A short car ride later, we arrived at Ottawa NWR. One of the nice things about most wildlife refuges these days is that they offer two options to explore their properties. Option 1 is a series of hiking or canoe trails (if in a marsh or pond setting) that allow a slower, more deliberate appreciation of the landscape and the wildlife that dwells within it. We, having little time on our hands, opted for option 2, known as the Wildlife Drive.
Except that the drive itself was about to get more complicated than time allowed. In contrast to Montezuma or Parker River NWR which I have blogged about in the past, the Wildlife Drive at Ottawa was less a single one way route around a large section of marsh and ponds and more of a labyrinth of confusing side roads that were marked on the ground, but not on the map. So instead of knowing exactly where we were, we ended up taking one detour after another. Eventually we joined a convoy of crossover SUVs as they slowly and agonizingly ground their way along the gravel roads.
This was an extremely stressful episode in our journey, more so for Alison as I was too busy listing and clicking photos to notice we were lost. We managed to stop for long enough to grab our first of the year sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) and black-crowned night-heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), as well as a sneaky pair of common gallinules (Gallinula geleata).
Happily, several pairs of trumpeter swans also made an appearance with their short bugles echoing over the water while we watched from the car. As we finally excited the refuge however, time was running out.
Alison worried that we might not make it for the start of the talk, but we arrived five minutes beforehand. We rushed into the presentation space and found our seats. Tired from a long day of birding, we slumped into our seats and waited. After a brief salutation from Kim and Kenn Kaufman, Noah Strycker took to the stage. For those of you who are out of the loop, Noah Strycker is a nature writer and self described "bird man" who completed a global big year in 2015 where he visited over 40 countries and saw 6,042 species of birds. He was a fantastic speaker using the right amount of humor and suspense that kept the audience on the edge of their seats, chuckling and clapping loudly as he summarized his amazing year. Towards the end of his presentation, Noah mentioned that his global big year ended up costing him $60,000 to travel around the world in order to see all those birds.
"If you think of it this way", he explained. "A moderately nice SUV costs $60,000. If you had that much money and could choose between the car and traveling the world for a year looking for birds, what would you choose?"
Alison and I looked at each other. It was a compelling argument and we listened as he promoted his birding tour of Ecuador in 2017 entitled "1000 birds or $1000 back" where the goal was to find 1000 species of birds in one calendar month or the client's would get $1000 back. This sounded tempted until we later checked the list price of $14,000 per person which rapidly brought us back down to earth.
We returned late to the Rat's Nest for another lumpy night's sleep. While the accommodations were pretty crappy, we smiled at our fortune to have experienced one of the greatest birding legends in our recent times. He inspired us to appreciate our love towards the birds and fortune of having so many birders to share that love with. We would be sure to share that love on Saturday and Sunday before departing back to New York. As we tossed and turned in discomfort, we dreamed about what we might see the next day during the Biggest Weekend in American Birding. We would know soon enough.
As we arrived in the darkness of Friday morning to our motel (which I will be calling the Rat's Nest for sake of brevity and because I don't intend to get into a Yelp flame war with the owners). Needless to say, the place was less than we had hoped for. While the continental breakfast at most motels leaves little to be desired, I have never experienced a breakfast line where the waffle maker fails to cook the waffle all the way through. Utter incompetence!
However you, dear reader, didn't come here to read about my ruined breakfast; you came to read about the amazing birds we saw while at a premier spring birding festival. Well, it started as most long-distance birding adventures do, in the car. After that disastrous most breakfast, we first arrived at Maumee Bay Lodge to pick up our registration items so we could attend Noah Strycker's talk that evening. Before entering the lodge, we looked up to watch the scything wings of swallows over our heads. Tree (Tachycineta bicolor) and barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) rocketed past as we admired the meticulously assembled mud nests under the pavilion.
"Cliff Swallows!", I exclaimed as a small midnight blue and chestnut swallow whooshed into one of the mud nests above.
As we watched the chattering birds nestle into their adobe homes, we both knew we had arrived in the Mecca for birders. As we collected our badges, we looked through our swag. I was immediately delighted by the inclusion of a notebook and checklist to list all of our finds that weekend. Without a moment to lose, we departed for Magee Marsh.
The parking lot was packed as the festival's final days were arriving, but a sense of anticipation was palpable as we parked up. Immediately,we noticed small clusters of birders, some with scopes, along certain spots clambering (respectably of course) for a better look at whatever was there. What captured my interest was a bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nest perched in prime position in a large tree near the main lot. An adult bird watched the crowds with little concern and eventually left to go look for something fishier to spy on. We hadn't even arrived at the boardwalk before we were distracted by a crowd of people ogling a common nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) resting on a nearby tree branch.
 |
| Common nighthawk |
After documenting the find in our notebooks, we soon found ourselves on the boardwalk. While our wait to see a roosting eastern whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus) ended quicker than I would have liked (a squirrel mistook it for a snag causing the bird to flush out of sight), we instead turned our attention to those jewels of the trees; the warblers.
According to Whatbird.com, the collective nouns used for a group of warblers include a fall, a wrench, a confusion, and my personal favorite, a bouquet.
 |
| Yellow Warbler |
 |
| Magnolia Warbler |
 |
| Bay-breasted Warbler |
 |
| Blackburnian Warbler |
 |
| Hooded Warbler |
 |
| Nashville Warbler |
Magee Marsh has the wonderful distinction of not only being ideal migrant habitat for songbirds, waterfowl, and other migratory birds, but also being one of the best places to see migrating warblers during the spring in the United States. Around mid-May, these tiny birds, some measuring only four to five inches long, and having traveled from Central and South America through the lower 48 states, must continue their trek up into Canada. The marsh is what we birders call a "migrant trap", a place where birds are funneled into a rich and diverse series of habitats that allow the birds to gorge themselves on emerging insects before beginning their arduous trek over the almost oceanic Lake Erie.
Since the birds are so famished when they arrived, they tend to pay the birders little mind and are often within feet of your head, face, and optical equipment at all times. No wonder the local birders call it "Warblerstock"!
By having an opportunity to see these birds up close and with so many other people who appreciate good birds and birding opportunities alike, these moments are special and develop into strong, harmonious memories.
We saw so many warblers that I would feel bad inundating people with the photos here. However, I will mention in my second post about the birding on Saturday and Sunday my totals for the weekend, along with some of my other favorite moments.
As we got closer to the end of our first boardwalk tour, we headed back towards the car for lunch. Another group of optically enhanced onlookers caught my eye as we walked along. The first time I walked through Magee Marsh, I was amazed to find a female American woodcock (Scolopax minor) nesting in the parking lot. Granted I was only able to see it after someone very diligently and patiently pointed it out to me, but that is more a testament to the bird's amazing camouflage than my inability to spot an occupied nest no more than ten feet away.
 |
| American woodcock |
"We could go to Ottawa", Alison mentioned as she munched on a handful of Chex Mix.
"That would be a bit of a drive." I replied, popping a hummus slathered carrot into my mouth. "All the way to Canada."
Alison rolled her eyes. "You know what I meant!"
"As long as I get my trumpeters." I looked over the nearby marsh.
When we visited Magee in 2013, I witnessed two trumpeter swans (Cynus buccinator) consummating their relationship as we rolled past. I still have the photos of a proud male celebrating his brief aquatic piggyback while the female looked on demurely. As we left, no swans were getting down in the marsh that afternoon, so we felt it was better try our luck at Ottawa NWR just down the road.
Before we headed over, we stopped at the Magee Marsh Visitor Center to use the bathroom. As I was waiting for Alison to come out of the bathroom, I admired the creativity and skill of the Junior Duck Stamp Competition winners. The winner had painted a pair of ring-necked ducks that bore the purple ribbon of a distinguished young artist. While it was a good piece of fine art, my favorite was of a male hooded merganser with open wings while a lightning storm swirled in the background. It looked like it belonged on the album cover of a birding inspired heavy metal band!
"Maybe the "Pickaxe Shelldrakes" would work", I thought to myself. I didn't tell Alison my idea as she exited the bathroom, but she thought that the picture was pretty cool too.
A short car ride later, we arrived at Ottawa NWR. One of the nice things about most wildlife refuges these days is that they offer two options to explore their properties. Option 1 is a series of hiking or canoe trails (if in a marsh or pond setting) that allow a slower, more deliberate appreciation of the landscape and the wildlife that dwells within it. We, having little time on our hands, opted for option 2, known as the Wildlife Drive.
Except that the drive itself was about to get more complicated than time allowed. In contrast to Montezuma or Parker River NWR which I have blogged about in the past, the Wildlife Drive at Ottawa was less a single one way route around a large section of marsh and ponds and more of a labyrinth of confusing side roads that were marked on the ground, but not on the map. So instead of knowing exactly where we were, we ended up taking one detour after another. Eventually we joined a convoy of crossover SUVs as they slowly and agonizingly ground their way along the gravel roads.
This was an extremely stressful episode in our journey, more so for Alison as I was too busy listing and clicking photos to notice we were lost. We managed to stop for long enough to grab our first of the year sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) and black-crowned night-heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), as well as a sneaky pair of common gallinules (Gallinula geleata).
 |
| Black-crowned night-heron |
 |
| Common gallinule |
 |
| Sandhill cranes |
 |
| A single trumpeter swan |
 |
| A small faction of trumpeter swans |
"If you think of it this way", he explained. "A moderately nice SUV costs $60,000. If you had that much money and could choose between the car and traveling the world for a year looking for birds, what would you choose?"
Alison and I looked at each other. It was a compelling argument and we listened as he promoted his birding tour of Ecuador in 2017 entitled "1000 birds or $1000 back" where the goal was to find 1000 species of birds in one calendar month or the client's would get $1000 back. This sounded tempted until we later checked the list price of $14,000 per person which rapidly brought us back down to earth.
We returned late to the Rat's Nest for another lumpy night's sleep. While the accommodations were pretty crappy, we smiled at our fortune to have experienced one of the greatest birding legends in our recent times. He inspired us to appreciate our love towards the birds and fortune of having so many birders to share that love with. We would be sure to share that love on Saturday and Sunday before departing back to New York. As we tossed and turned in discomfort, we dreamed about what we might see the next day during the Biggest Weekend in American Birding. We would know soon enough.
Brilliant post
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