Back in May of this year, 2019, the shorebird migration was very frustrating for birders. There must have been shorebirds somewhere: they didn’t all stay south of the border, and observers in the far north saw plenty of breeders up there. But you wouldn’t have known it by birding in Ohio at the time, as shorebirds other than Dunlin were hardly noticeable.
So we wondered what this trip would bring. Would shorebirds again bypass Ohio? For that matter, with all of the rain early in the year followed by arid conditions for the past few months, would there be any shorebird habitat in the state? Well, there’s no need to prolong the suspense: the answers were no (the shorebirds did not avoid the Buckeye state) and yes (several spots had great habitat).
As usual, 5:30 am found several of us at the Worthington Mall. From there, we first made the long drive to Howard Marsh, newest of the Toledo Metroparks, which had been one of the few places this past spring with any shorebirds at all (mostly Dunlin). Conditions were wonderful, with sunny skies but moderate temperatures and a cool breeze blowing in from the lake. The birding was just as good, as we quickly tallied a Black-necked Stilt (for today, an honorary shorebird), Short-billed Dowitcher, Spotted Sandpiper, and both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs. Besides the shorebirds, there were dozens of Pied-billed Grebes, American Coots with loads of chicks, and even two large families of Common Gallinules. A possible immature Little Blue Heron briefly appeared, but it got away before we could positively identify it. Meanwhile, we also noticed both immature and adult Snowy Egrets.
After thoroughly exploring – and enjoying – Howard Marsh, we transferred to the adjoining Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area. We noticed a birder just a few hundred yards down the access road and quickly found why he was there: a wet area next to the road was alive with shorebirds. We found, among others, Semipalmated Plovers, Semipalmanted and Least Sandpipers, and a single Wilson’s Snipe. But the highlights were two Ohio rarities pointed out by our new friend: a Baird’s Sandpiper popped in and out of view, eventually allowing looks for all of us, and a White-rumped Sandpiper playing hard-to-see by standing stock still most of the time. Oddly, we moved down the road a few hundred yards only to find no birds at all: we have no idea why one spot was filled with birds while another similar one had next to nothing.
We thought that a change of pace was in order, so we hopped over to Magee Marsh Wildlife Area. We quickly suspected that this was not a great move: there was a nearly complete absence of bird life in the marsh on the drive back toward the lakefront. Sure enough, a rapid hike along the entire length of the boardwalk turned up little more than the occasional Gray Catbird, although we did hear several Eastern Wood-Pewees as we walked back to the car.
Enough of that – we were after shorebirds! We headed out on the long drive to Wilderness Road over in Holmes County. This site has several acres of mudflats left over from peat “mining” operations, and the owners have left it alone because it provides habitat for shorebirds. We picked up one or two species in flooded fields on the way, but the big news was at the well-known (to birders) main site. First, we quickly found a Red Knot (previously reported), then a Black-bellied Plover, still in almost complete breeding plumage – a most striking bird! Joining forces with a couple of other birders who happened to be here helped us located the Black-bellied Plover’s look-alike cousin, and American Golden-Plover. In fact, there were two of them: the first in dull winter plumage, but the second retaining quite a bit of its more colorful summer garb. A Black Tern, already in winter plumage, provided a nice change of pace.
We hung around scoping different parts of the area and chatting about birds until we were convinced that there were no more avian species to be found. Our timing was perfect: we were not even to the paved road where we would start our homeward journey when the rain started. Not much of a rain, fortunately, and the drive home was uneventful.
We ended the day with a respectable 59 species – and of those, 18 species of shorebirds, an excellent tally.
Here’s a list of species see, with totals for each species for the day:
| Canada Goose | 35 |
| Trumpeter Swan | 2 |
| Wood Duck | 5 |
| Blue-winged Teal | 30 |
| Mallard | 3 |
| Ruddy Duck | 15 |
| Pied-billed Grebe | 60 |
| Mourning Dove | 12 |
| Common Gallinule | 11 |
| American Coot | 75 |
| Black-necked Stilt | 1 |
| Black-bellied Plover | 1 |
| American Golden-Plover | 2 |
| Semipalmated Plover | 20 |
| Killdeer | 75 |
| Red Knot | 1 |
| Stilt Sandpiper | 3 |
| Baird’s Sandpiper | 1 |
| Least Sandpiper | 5 |
| White-rumped Sandpiper | 1 |
| Pectoral Sandpiper | 11 |
| Semipalmated Sandpiper | 8 |
| Short-billed Dowitcher | 7 |
| Short-billed/Long-billed Dowitcher | 1 |
| Wilson’s Snipe | 1 |
| Spotted Sandpiper | 4 |
| Solitary Sandpiper | 1 |
| Greater Yellowlegs | 3 |
| Lesser Yellowlegs | 10 |
| Ring-billed Gull | 7 |
| Caspian Tern | 6 |
| Black Tern | 2 |
| Common Tern | 3 |
| Double-crested Cormorant | 20 |
| Least Bittern | 1 |
| Great Blue Heron | 6 |
| Great Egret | 10 |
| Snowy Egret | 6 |
| Black-crowned Night-Heron | 3 |
| Northern Harrier | 1 |
| Bald Eagle | 2 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 1 |
| American Kestrel | 1 |
| Eastern Wood-Pewee | 2 |
| Purple Martin | 25 |
| Tree Swallow | 20 |
| Barn Swallow | 40 |
| European Starling | 400 |
| Gray Catbird | 1 |
| American Robin | 1 |
| Cedar Waxwing | 1 |
| American Goldfinch | 5 |
| Chipping Sparrow | 1 |
| Song Sparrow | 4 |
| Red-winged Blackbird | 25 |
| Common Grackle | 1 |
| Indigo Bunting | 1 |
| House Sparrow | |
| Rock Dove |