Ohio Young Birders at Magee Marsh

What makes my time with the Ohio Young Birders so special is enjoying the awed expressions of the students every time they see or learn something new. So when I was asked if I would like to help lead our annual OYBC walk at the famous Magee Marsh I immediately accepted.

It was a chilly, rainy, and downright miserable weather the morning we had our birdwalk but that didn’t seem to damper the spirits of either  the warblers or the OYBC’ers. We began our walk at the east end of the boardwalk and birded the edge of the parking lot before continuing
onto the estuary trail. We were joined on our walk by highly acclaimed birders Steve N. G. Howell and Kenn Kaufman. Both of the adults in our group fascinated the younger birders from their discussions about the migration of Blue Jays to pointing out the fine nuances between the
male and female warblers. We saw vireos and sparrows to a colorful variety of warblers such as the Cape May Warbler and the male Blackburnian Warbler. The young birders spotted the top of a nestling Great Horned Owl’s head at the start of the estuary trail and towards the end of our walk we found a gorgeous Canada Warbler. The flashy male skulking in the shrubs by the water was a lifer for many of the birders. By that time, the lazy drizzle that had been going on all morning turned to a steady downpour and we quickly made our back to the parking lot. We may have been chased back to shelter by the uncooperative weather but we did manage to see 72 species just under three hours!

WEEK REPORT: High Count

Date range: May 11, 2018 – May 13, 2018 ​
Total # of Species: 106

Location(s): ​Magee Marsh (Lucas Co.): Magee Marsh–Boardwalk; Magee Marsh–Causeway; Marshes (Lucas Co.); Ottawa NWR–Visitor Center and Boardwalk; Ottawa NWR–Wildlife Drive (Ottawa Co.)