- May 14, 2008 WTVG : Bird migration boosts local economy (text and video)
- May 12, 2008 WTOL : EcoTrack 11: Magee Marsh a mecca for birds -- and birdwatchers (text and video)
- Friends of Magee Marsh
- Black Swamp Bird Observatory
- Toledo Naturalists message board / RareBird.org
- Recent postings to the Ohio Birds e-mail listserv
- Ohio Ornithological Society
- Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge - next door to Magee Marsh.
- Best Bets for Birding Crane Creek-Magee Marsh - a blog by Kenn Kaufman, an area resident and well-known field guide author
- Christopher Taylor Nature Photography - Crane Creek / Magee Marsh Ohio Collection - May 2008
- Crane Creek State Park Land Transferred to Magee Marsh Wildlife Area - Magee Marsh and Crane Creek are used interchangeably, but in reality, Crane Creek was the beach and Magee Marsh is the boardwalk and marsh areas. The beach and boardwalk shared the same parking lot, but now the beach formerly known as Crane Creek is part of Magee Marsh.
WTVG Story
Birds bring birdwatchers and they bring money. Cars were on hand displaying plates from Maryland, Oregon, Michigan, Pennsylvania and more [Alaska]. That kind of spending is feathering the nest of local business owners.
Giff Beaton drove all the way from Atlanta, despite high gas prices. "Our hotel is in Oregon (Ohio). We are staying here for a week. We are buying gas and eating all our meals here." Jay Bousliman is the owner of the Garden Restaurant. He says, "It's a significant boost to our bottom line. But more than that, we enjoy the bond we form with these folks." Lance Woodworth pilots the Jet Express ferry service.
"We took 170 people across [Lake Erie to Point Pelee, Canada], birdwatchers. I took one step up from novice to intermediate birdwatcher myself." Bill Yuhasz owns the Kokomo Bay restaurant. He told us, "We had a group of birders staying at a local motel and they've been in our restaurant five times. So this really has a big impact."
More than 10,000 people turned out Saturday for International Migratory Bird Day. How much money do they spend? The last economic study of birders here was ten years ago. Even then, they spent several million dollars.Every spring, I meet people from all over the U.S. who stay anywhere from one week to six weeks in northwest Ohio to birdwatch. The first three weeks of May are the peak time for bird numbers, variety, and visitors.
WTOL Story
It's not just about seeing nature for Kaufman. The BSBO is about infecting people with a passion for wildlife.
"We've been doing all this research, we have all this knowledge about migration, about this rich resource, now we want to take it to the kids. We want to share it with them, inspire them, the next generation, to protect all of these valuable resources that we have," she says.May 2008 Photos
The marsh at Magee Marsh that most birders drive by as they make their way to the tiny woodlot that holds the songbirds as described in the above photo.
Sometimes the birding on the boardwalk is shoulder to shoulder.
More room to maneuver on the outside edge in the parking lot.
Bird Photos
May 13, 2008 Ohio birds e-mail listserv posting :
http://www.kiwifoto.com/galleries/ohio2008.html
I wish I could have spent more time there but there's always next spring!!
Cheers,
Christopher TaylorMarina del Rey, CA
www.kiwifoto.com
http://www.kiwifoto.com/
http://www.kiwifoto.com/blog/ - BLOG
Taylor's May 12, 2008 blog posting :
Here are some of Taylor's photos of birds you can see now at Magee Marsh and sometimes in the trees and bushes in your own yard during the month of May. The mature oak trees in and around our West Toledo home held 11 species of warblers on Tuesday morning of this week, May 13.
Magnolia Warbler (my favorite warbler)
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Hooded Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Ovenbird Warbler
Female Prothonotary Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
American Redstart Warbler
Birds Seen
My wife and I birded the Magee Marsh boardwalk in the rain late Wednesday afternoon and evening on May 14, and we observed 24 species of warblers. We missed a few other warbler species that were present.
The warblers are the main attraction at Magee Marsh during the month of May, but plenty of other songbird groups are present too, such as vireos, flycatchers, thrushes, sparrows, orioles, tanagers, finches, cuckoos, and more.
May 14 may have been the best day at Magee Marsh thus far in the month of May. The birds move through in waves and their movements depend upon the weather.
Spring Songbird Migration Summary
The songbirds migrate at night. So a warm night with southwest winds can produce excellent birding the next day. A few days of northerly winds will slow the migration, but birding is still fair to good at Magee Marsh.
Tonight's (May 16) forecast : Partly cloudy in the evening...then mostly cloudy with a chance of showers after midnight. Lows around 50. Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.
If the rain is delayed tonight, Saturday, May 17 could be one of the better days for bird activity at Magee Marsh.
Kenn Kaufman reports on his blog :
Late Tuesday night, on a tip from Ethan Kistler, I looked at the radar pictures for the area and could see that a lot of birds had taken off just after dark to go directly north across the lake, while others were pouring in from the south. Today at the Magee boardwalk it was obvious that a lot of birds had departed overnight while a lot of different birds had arrived. This was clearly the point where the migration clicked over from the early wave to the main wave of arrivals.
The winds are supposed to continue northerly through Thurday night and Friday May 16 before shifting around to the west-southwest on Friday evening. Even though the conditions won't be ideal, I expect there will be a good arrival of birds on Saturday, partly because there are still so many birds dammed up to the south of us. It's likely to rain a little on Saturday morning but the diversity of birds ought to be very good in spots near the lakeshore.
May 14, 2008 posting to the Ohio birds listserv about birds observed on Wednesday, May 14.
Boardwalk Birds
Warblers
1. Blue-winged
2. Golden-winged
3. Lawrence's hybrid
4. Tennessee
5. Orange-crowned
6. Nashville
7. N. Parula
8. Yellow
9. Chestnut-sided
10. Magnolia
11. Cape May
12. B.t. Blue
13. Yellow-rumped
14. B.t. Green
15. Blackburnian
16. Western Palm
17. Bay-breasted
18. Blackpoll
19. Black & White
20. A. Redstart
21. Ovenbird
22. N. Waterthrush
23. Kentucky
24. Mourning
25. C. Yellowthroat
26. Hooded - f
27. Wilson's
28. Canada
29. Y.b. Chat
Vireo's
1. White-eyed
2. Blue-eyed
3. Warbling
4. Red-eyed
5. Warbling
6. Philadelphia
Flycatchers
1. E. Wood Pewee
2. Acadian Fly
3. Least Fly
4. Eastern Phoebe
5. Great-crested Fly
6. E. Kingbird
Thrushes
1. A. Robin
2. Veery
3. Gray-cheeked
4. Swainson's
5. Wood
Sparrows
1. Song
2. Swamp
3. White-throated
4. White-crowned
5. Field
Other birds seen on boardwalk
1. B.b. & Y.b. Cuckoo's
2. Scarlet Tanager - f
3. R.b. Grosbeaks & N. Cardinal
4. Balt. & Orchard Oriole
5. Indigo Bunting
6. A. Goldfinch
7. R.c. Kinglet
8. House & Marsh Wren
9. B.g. Gnatcatcher
10. G. Catbird
11. Cedar Waxwings
12. Downy & Hairy Woodpecker
13. N. Flicker
14. Chimney Swift
15. R.t. Hummingbird
16. Sora & Virginia Rail
17. B.c. Chickadee
18. Blue jay & A. Crow
19. Rwbb, C. Grackle, B.h. Cowbird, & E. Starling
Beach & edges
1. Ruddy Turnstone
2. Spotted Sandpiper
3. Killdeer
4. Tree, Barn, Cliff, Bank Swallows, & Purple Martins
5. Common & Forster's Terns
6. R.b. Gulls
7. Bald Eagle
8. M. Dove
9. Chipping & House Sparrow
Causeway
1. Great Blue Heron
2. Great Egret
3. C. Moorhen
4. A. Coot
5. P.b. Grebe
6. Trumpeter Swan
7. R.b. Gull
8. D.c. Cormorant
9. Mallard
10. Wood Duck
11. Blue-winged Teal
12. C. Geese with young
13. Swamp & Song Sparrow
S.M.B.C. & Trails
1. White-crowned Sparrows - at feeders
2. Orchard Oriole - singing near parking lot
3. Barn, Tree, and Purple Martins
