Mother's Day at Magee - May 11, 2003 (My May 13, 2003 posting from the Toledo Naturalists Association message board)

I've not been to Pelee in the spring, because I've heard about their crowds, and it seemed too much of a hassle when Magee is only 35 minutes away. Besides, this past Sunday at Magee would be tough to beat.

I wasn't planning on going to Magee on Sunday, but my parents stopped up in the afternoon, and they wanted to go birding there. Anyone who was at Magee on Sunday knows what I'm talking about. It was probably my best day at Magee in four springs. Brian Z. said it was one of his best days there for photographing birds. Kent said it felt like the "old" days. Others made similar comments. The warblers were low, close, and numerous.

The strong southwest winds and the cold afternoon temps I guess are the reasons why the birds were so low? It was interesting to see birds spending so much time on the ground that normally don't, such as the Scarlet Tanager, Red-eyed Vireo, and Nashville, Blue-winged, Canada, and Cerulean Warblers.

At least 28 species of warblers were present on Sunday. I missed seeing the Yellow-throated and the CT. Multiple Mournings were found, and with little vegetation growing on the ground right now, the looks of all of the ground birds were excellent.

The best bird for me was the Cerulean Warbler, on the ground three feet from the boardwalk. By late Sunday afternoon and evening, there were no crowds at Magee.

What about Pelee versus Magee in late August or early September?

Sat 21-Feb-2004 - On Monday of this week, the snow depth in the front yard was still 2-3 inches. We've had snowcover since Jan 4. By Thu the temps were around 50. On Fri, it was 40-50 and it rained, wiping out the remaining snow. It got windy and colder overnight, and about a half an inch of snow fell early this morning.

The Northern Flicker was on the suet this morning. He's been an off-and-on visitor the past several weeks. The Red-bellied Woodpecker also visits at regular intervals. I haven't seen the Hairy Woodpecker since early Jan or maybe in Dec. A male-female pair of N. Cardinals, maybe the same, usual pair, continue to visit often. But it's the Cooper's Hawk that's provided some excitement in the backyard over the past week. I first saw a Cooper's in the area of our house last Nov or Dec. Deb saw the bird once or twice in the yard a few weeks ago. But I saw it in our backyard three times within a week.

My posting to the Toledo birding message board on Thursday, Feb 12: For Christmas, we cut a Fraser Fir from a tree farm. In mid-January, instead of tossing the tree to the curb, I put the tree in our West Toledo backyard near the feeders, giving birds another spot to hangout in. For one bird, it wasn't good enough cover.

I looked outside this afternoon, and an immature Cooper's Hawk stood on the ground near the Christmas tree. The hawk then hopped up onto the bird bath, which was a few feet from the Fraser Fir. Then the hawk jumped into the Christams tree, disappeared, and finally came out the other side, landing on the ground with nothing in its talons.

The old Christmas Tree is still in good shape and provides thick cover, but it's soft. Some of the pine branches were moving, indicating small birds were hiding inside it. I couldn't see the birds.

The hawk jumped up on the bird bath and dove into the Christams tree again. This time when it came out the other side and landed on the ground, it had a House Sparrow in its talons.

The hawk stood on the ground for about minute, snuffing the life out the sparrow. After the hawk flew to a nearby oak tree, several House Sparrows bolted from the old Christmas Tree.

Through binoculars, I watched the hawk for a few minutes pluck feather after feather from the sparrow. The hawk then flew further away.

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On Tue of this week, I saw the Cooper's lifting up from the back of the yard by the fencing. Then on Thursday, I saw the Cooper's perched in the small bush/stree in the middle of the backyard. A squirrel was also in the bush above the Cooper's, appearing to be giving the hawk the business. The Cooper's didn't have anything in his talons. He just sat there for a few minutes then flew away.

Magee boardwalk 5-Oct-2003 - Last Sunday, I birded the boardwalk area at Magee from 7:15 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. It was the kind of day that reminds me why I love birding so much. It was probably my best fall day of birding at Magee, and just a good day no matter the place or season. There was a nice mix of birds that will winter in either North or South America. There were only a handful of other birders, a couple of other vehicles in the parking lot. The weather was chilly at the start, in the 30's, but it warmed nicely to probably around 60 by Noon. The sky was sunny, the winds light. Here's my posting about the day from the Toledo Naturalists message board:

Sunday at Magee, there were good numbers of birds throughout the boardwalk. The most numerous birds were the White-throated Sparrows, Blackpolls, Yellow-rumps, and Kinglets. Several Sapsuckers were present too. Juncos occupied the parking lot.

Early in the morning, before 8:00 a.m., huge streams of Cormorants moved north to south just above the lake surface west of Magee. Later in the morning, thousands of Cormorants rested just offshore of Crane Creek. Maybe not a desirable bird, but I had not seen anything like that before out there, and it was impressive.

I ran into Brian Z. on the boardwalk, and we ended up with a nice mix of birds.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
House Wren
Winter Wren
Gray Catbird
Hermit Thrush
Swainson's Thrush
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo (Brian saw it)
Black-and-White Warbler
Tennessee
Nashville
Northern Parula
Magnolia
Cape May
Black-throated Blue
Yellow-rumped
Black-throated Green
Blackburnian
Chestnut-sided (Brian saw it)
Bay-breasted
Blackpoll
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Scarlet Tanager
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Savannah Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow

Blackpolls and Yellow-rumps were busy gulping down the dogwood berries, as usual. Other warblers I've seen in the past eat the white berries include Bay-breasted, Cape May, and Chestnut-sided. On Sunday, we observed a Black-throated Blue and a Tennessee enjoying the berries.

I believe Brian Z. took pictures of the Tennessee drinking the berry juice. The TN, like the Cape May, didn't eat the whole berry. They pierce the berry and drink the juice, while the others consume the whole thing.

Magee Marsh beach cleanup - The Friends of Magee Marsh will have their spring beach cleanup on Saturday, April 12, starting at 10:00 A.M. Pot luck will follow roughly around 1:00 P.M. We will also pick up wood from the water under the new platform near the west entrance. I'll need my chest waders for that. We may also be removing downed limbs from the boardwalk. The fall beach cleanup is scheduled for Saturday, September 20 at 10:00 A.M.

Backyard update 2-May-2003 - Yesterday afternoon, evening, and now today, there have been at least five White-crowned Sparrows, a dozen White-throated Sparrows, one Lincoln's Sparrow, and one Chipping Sparrow in the backyard, eating the millet. This morning, the area around our house was full of White-throated Sparrow song, as several of them were stomping on each other with Old Sam Peabody. All day today, there has been at least one or two White-crowned Sparrows singing. In the afternoon now, there is only occasional White-throated Sparrow song, but the White-crowned song has been almost non-stop since early this morning.

Also this morning, there was a Palm Warbler pecking around on the ground. He was first seen in the driveway along with a few White-throated Sparrows and one White-crowned Sparrow. These birds in the driveway looked to be getting some grit. At one point the Palm did show up under the feeders, but I couldn't tell if he was eating the millet.

A Common Grackle visited the sunflower feeder. The usual male and female N. Cardinal pair have been around. Downey and Red-bellied Woodpeckers have been on the suet. Also on the suet feeder was a Blue Jay. Twice, I saw him cling to the side of the feeder get suet.

At this very second, there are at least three White-crowned Sparrows singing at almost the same time.

Good birds in Rossford 1-May-2003 - Birds observed at Rossford Island View Park yesterday morning:

Yellow-breasted Chat
Ovenbird
Yellow Warbler 3
Northern Waterthrush
Nashville Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler 5
Common Yellowthroat Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler 5
White-throated Sparrow 200+
Lincoln's Sparrow 5
White-crowned Sparrow 3
Swamp Sparrow
Indigo Bunting 2
Great Crested Flycatcher
Empid. Flycatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 20
Blue-headed Vireo 2
Catbird 7
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 8
Wood Thrush
Baltimore Oriole 4
Red-tailed Hawk
resident Cooper's Hawk
Turkey Vulture

Since Rossford was good, I visited Metzger around Noon. Additional warblers seen there were the Palm, Black-throated Green, Wilson's, and Magnolia. Other birds present: White-eyed and Warbling Vireos and a Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

I was only about half-way through birding the parking lot at Metzger when the sheriff pulled up to me with flashing lights. I thought maybe he found a Kirtland's, but actually he was there telling people to "evacuate", because of a fire in the marsh. As I was leaving, I saw the flames, but it didn't look too bad. Three fire trucks and other emergency vehicles were standing by near the boat ramp. The fire at Magee Marsh, east of the causeway, a couple of weeks ago was much larger and much more impressive and dramatic, but that was a controlled burn, so no big deal.

Sparrow invasion 29-Apr-2003 - On Tuesday evening, we had a sparrow invasion in our backyard. I'm still putting down millet about every day. At 7:30 P.M. Tuesday, I looked out at the backyard, and I noticed a bunch of sparrows. I got the binos out, and I twice counted 17 White-throated Sparrows, and 3 Chipping Sparrows. They were all on the ground eating the millet. Earlier in the afternoon, a Northern Flicker was on the ground.

By 7:45 P.M. there were no sparrows in the backyard. The WTSPs retired for the evening I guess, because they were not scared off. As the afternoon wore on, the House Sparrow numbers decreased and the White-throated Sparrow numbers increased. At 7:30, there were only a few House Sparrows among the throng of WTSPs. There was good, consistent WTSP song all afternoon.

Good warblers at Magee 29-Apr-2003 - I arrived at Magee at 7:00 A.M. The weather was clear skies, northeast winds about 10mph, with temps in the upper 40's. I saw a nice sunrise on the way out to Magee, and the early sun over the marsh looked nice. Along the causeway, I saw five Snowy Egrets, a Black-crowned Night Heron, Greater Yellowlegs, Blue-winged Teal, Gadwalls, Chipping Sparrows singing, and I heard a Sora call. Further out in the marsh west of the causeway and near the north end, there were several shorebirds of different sizes.

On the boardwalk between 7:15 and 8:45 A.M., I observed: Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Black-and-white Warbler, male Cardinal mate-feeding a female, Yellow-rumps, Warbling Vireo, 2 female Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Hairy Woodpecker, heard a Sora, Wood Duck, Swamp Sparrow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, heard a Northern Waterthrush sing several times, Yellow Warbler, Northern Shoveler, female Hooded Merg, and a Pine Warbler was singing a lot, so I tracked it down and saw it. Bird numbers were low, but it was cold. Birds were found in sunny areas out of the wind.

I then went to the tower for my final hawk watch duty of the spring. I wore gloves. It was chilly, but almost no clouds, so being in the sun helped. My only recorded migrating raptor was a Northern Harrier. The temp at 9:00 A.M. was 9 degrees Celsius. At 11 it was 10, but was 13 or 14 by Noon.

After tower duty, I went back to the boardwalk, and things were better with the warmer temps. Within an hour, I saw three "good" warblers: an Orange-crowned, a Yellow throated, and a female Prairie. I heard the Pine Warbler again near the Prairie. The Yellow-throated Warbler was by the sign at the west entrance, hanging in trees with no foliage. At least adozen different warbler species were present on Tuesday at Magee. Also new in my afternoon session on the boardwalk was a Brown Creeper, a Hermit Thrush that had white speckles on its head and back, Palm Warbler, Winter Wren, Nashville Warbler, Ruddy Ducks offshore.

At home 28-Apr-2003 - In the morning, there was a one White-throated Sparrow and one Chipping Sparrow.

Metzger 28-Apr-2003 - After watching raptors at Maumee Bay, I stopped at Metzger to check on the passerines. I didn't bird the boardwalk at Magee. I birded Metzger around Noon for about 90 minutes, and it was hopping. At Metzger, I conservatively counted 85 Yellow-rumps, 15 Palms, 5 Nashvilles, and 5 Black-throated Greens. At Metzger, I also saw a Blue-winged and a Blackburnian Warbler, Eastern Kingbird, Red-headed Woodpecker, 2 White-crowned Sparrows, a White-eyed Vireo, White-throated Sparrow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Cooper's Hawk, Chipping Sparrow, Hermit Thrush, and Yellow Warbler.

I went back to Metzger in the evening with D and C. The Blackburnian was not relocated, but we saw the Black-and-white, and we had real nice, close looks at the Blue-winged Warbler. All of what was seen at Noon was still around in the evening minus the Red-headed Woodpecker and the White-crowned Sparrows. The numbers of birds were a bit lower, but there was still a lot of action. There was also action by the bugs. I think they were mosquitoes, but I'm not sure, because they looked bigger than a normal mosquito. Whatever they were, they were biting. There were other clouds of bugs wafting around the place. That's the thing about Metzger is it's reallly buggy, which is good for the birds. I noticed the dandelions are in bloom in the fields around here.

Maumee Bay sledding hill 28-Apr-2003 - It was warm Sunday night with southwest winds, which meant a good night for passerine migration. Monday was warm and windy with more southwest winds. Instead of heading to the boardwalk at Magee, I wanted to see what raptors were moving from the sledding hill. I birded the hill from 9:15 - 11:15. Within the first 15 minutes of my arrival, about 50 Blue Jays passed by. I needed to be on the hill a couple hours earlier to get a good count of jays. It's still a little early for the peak of their migration. Blackbirds were also moving west along the shoreline, along with Goldfinches. There were also some songbirds, but I'm not good enough to identify them when they are flying or by their flight call. I did see some Yellow-rumps fly by. Around the hill, Field Sparrows and Eastern Meadowlarks were singing. Raptor-wise, I observed 15 Sharpies, 3 Cooper's, 1 Bald Eagle, 6 Broadwings, 3 Northern Harriers, 3 Red-tails.

At home 27-Apr-2003 - I saw and heard a White-throated Sparrow along with a Chipping Sparrow in the backyard.

A little slow at Magee 26-Apr-2003 - I arrived at the boardwalk just before Noon. The weather was sunny, temps in the 50's, with northwest winds at 15 mph. I observed: Sharp-shinned Hawk, Yellow-rumps, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, White-throated Sparrow, a Junco, Screech Owl perched in a familiar spot, Palm Warbler, 2 White-eyed Vireos, heard a Catbird.

After Magee, I went to Ottawa where they had an open house auto tour. It took about 45 minutes to complete the drive. I saw Bufflehead, 3 Bald Eagles, Eastern Meadowlarks, Brown Thrasher, Blue-winged Teal, Gadwalls, Coots, Pied-billed Grebe.

Last Junco of the spring at home 26-Apr-2003 - My last backyard Junco sighting of the spring occurred on Saturday morning April 26.

Magee Worm-eating Warbler 25-Apr-2003 Observed at Magee: Field Sparrow, Yellow Warbler, 30+ Yellow Rumps, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, White-throated Sparrow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Louisiana Waterthrush, Blue-winged Teal, Hermit Thrush, Winter Wren, White-eyed Vireo, Palm Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, and Purple Martin.

The LA Waterthrush sang briefly, but was singing more when I passed it again later. I also saw the bird along the water's edge, and I could see the same big tail movement like in the bird at Metzger. This tail bobbing difference between the waterthrushes has always been a key field mark for me, even though it's only mentioned in detail in two books that I've seen: Peterson's Warblers, Warblers of Ontario. Some field guides don't even mention that the waterthrushes even bob their tails. If a field guide does mention the tail bobbing, it does not go into detail about the noticable differences between the two birds. The fields guides focus on the differences in the eye stripes and the color of the flanks and legs. These field marks are fine when the bird is in the hand when banding, but are tough to see when the bird is 30 feet away, walking in water, behind limbs, and in lowlight. One decent field mark to go by, if it can be seen, is the throat. LA's have a clean or white throat, while Northerns have stripes or spots on their throats. But this throat field mark is not a 100% accurate. I did see the pink legs on both LA's on this day, but that leg color field mark is also not 100% accurate. Song and tail bobbing are the two best field id marks for the birder. One other item about the LA Waterthrush. While walking along the boardwalk that was near water, we flushed an LA Waterthrush. When it flew it let out a loud, sharp call note. The Kauffamn guide mentions this. I didn't know what bird it was we flushed, but Vic indentified as an LA Waterthrush.

The best warbler of the day and a life-bird for me, was the Worm-eating Warbler. It was located between markers 28 and 32 on the boardwalk. I saw it multiple times on
Friday. I probably watched him for at least 45 minutes in total. I showed it to Vic, and he videotaped it. I took D. out in the evening, so she could see it. Every time I wanted to relocate the bird, I would slowly walk along the boardwalk and listen for the sound of someone crunching down hard on a potato chip.

The Worm-eater has an interesting foraging technique, and he was fun to watch. He crunched, pinched, and pried open old, shriveled up leaves that were still attached to downed limbs, searching for bugs and worms. He also would poke under the loose bark on small dead limbs. Sometimes he would rip the bark off the limb. I also saw the Worm-eater rip off a leave, step on it with one foot, and pinch the leaf with his bill, then throw the leaf away. The Worm-eater was right next to the boardwalk and was about one to three feet off the ground. Close-focus was required at times. The bird was not afraid of people. The Worm-eater had a long bill, pink legs, olive green back, buffy throat.

In the evening, I took D out to see the Worm-eater, which was easily located. We also flushed a Common Snipe, got nice looks at Green Heron, and watched a Brown Thrasher forage through the leaf litter.

Savannah Sparrows 25-Apr-2003 - After Metzger, I stopped at the Adam Grimm field where I saw and heard two Savannah Sparrows, probably on territory, since Savannahs nest there. Grasshopper Sparrows should be in there soon too. Also in the field were Eastern Meadowlarks. Chipping Sparrows and Horned Larks were also along this road, which I think is Stagne Rd. I get Stagne and Krauss Rd confused. They intersect, so it doesn't matter. I got word from Greg Links that a Vesper Sparrow can be heard along Krauss and the woodlot that's opposite from the field in Ottawa.

Metzger 25-Apr-2003 - I started at 9:00 A.M. Skies were sunny, and temps were in the 40's. Along the road near the corner of the parking lot, I saw a Louisiana Waterthrush. It sang several times. I watched him for 10-15 minutes. When he slowed down and walked away from me, I could see the slower, exaggerated, side-to-side, and up-and-down tail bobbing motion of the Louisiana, which is different from the quicker, choppier, shorter, straight up-and-down tail bobbing motion of the Northern Waterthrush. Also at Metzger: Ruby-crowned Kinglet, White-throated Sparrow, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Hermit Thrush. In the water near the rock wall was ~230 Ruddy Ducks, 25 Scaup, and 4 Gadwalls.

At home 25-Apr-2003 - In the morning, there was one Junco and one White-throated Sparrow in the backyard. In the evening, there was a Chipping Sparrow.

In the neighborhood - For the first time this spring, I have noticed crows in our hood today. A male Goldfinch spent some time today on the sunflower hopper feeder. Shortly after 6:00 P.M. this evening, I saw a Junco in the backyard. The most Juncos I saw at one time today was one. I bet I don't see anymore Juncos in the yard after this weekend, at least not until October. The Juncos leave when the trees are just budding out and return when the leaves have changed from being green.

Birding Stuff - nearby birding trip tips - I walked the boardwalk at Magee last Saturday afternoon with a guy I've seen on the tower in the past. He told me that he and a birding group always go to Hocking Hills on the last weekend of April. They bird the Shawnee Logan area. They walk/drive along Clear Creek Valley Road. He also told me that Swainson's Warblers can be seen at the New River Bridge area in West Virginia.

binoculars - Vic said there's a cheaper knockoff of the Cannon stabalizer binos. They are made by Newcon?? He saw them at Eagle Optics or at B&H Video. Anyway, these Newcons are 15 x 60 and have the stabalizer. They cost $650 new. Vic's Cannons were refurbs, which costed $650.

warbler peaks - Some peak times for spring warblers in Ohio: Yellow-rumps: May 5th, Magnolias: May 15th, Redstarts: May 25th. Probably coincides with the three main waves of passerines in May.

cormorant fall migration - Vic may start up a fall Cormorant migration project at Big Island Wildlife Area. Cormorant migration: Aug 20 - Oct 20, peak Oct 5. Most fly by BIWA between 8-10, with peak between 8:15 - 9:15 A.M. Where at BIWA? One mile due west of Rt 95 and 203. Gravel parking lot with mound. Need a north-wind day. Flight direction is typically northeast to southwest. They migrate in a 'V' formation. He said it would be nice to have an additional person counting about four miles to the west of this location.

whimbrel spring movement - May 22 - 25, after 4:00 P.M., sledding hill at Maumee Bay St. Park.

Rossford Island View Park - I birded Rossford this morning from 8:30 to 10:00. There were no Juncos. I did observe: 3 House Wrens, 10 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 30+ White-throated Sparrows, Brown Thrasher, 2 Hermit Thrush, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and as I was walking out of the park, an Ovenbird Warbler sang.

At home this morning: 1 Junco and 1 White-throated Sparrow.