If by chance you’re not familiar with Magee Marsh Wildlife Area and its world-famous boardwalk, check out this Dawn Chorus by cardinal. For the optimal birding experience, area experts advise spending at least three days at Magee Marsh in May during the height of the spring migration. I hope to add to cardinal’s DC by sharing my multiple trips this spring, thanks to living less than two hours away and retirement.
But first, why so many birds? The southern shoreline of Lake Erie is a migrant bird trap, where birds face the daunting flight across the lake. The entire western Lake Erie basin has been designated an Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society. Magee Marsh benefits from being located at east side of the mouth of Crane Creek, with its sprawling wetlands. Plus, a string of islands east of Magee Marsh extends north into Lake Erie towards Point Pelee in Ontario, the southernmost point of mainland Canada. These landforms make an hourglass shape, funneling migrating birds to this less challenging place to cross the lake to their Canadian breeding grounds.
April 23, 2022
My first visit this year was on April 23rd, as part of a Detroit Audubon Society field trip. This was the earliest I’ve visited Magee Marsh. I wasn’t quite convinced that a visit so early in the spring migration season would be worthwhile, but I was *so* wrong. To start, there were still some late winter holdovers.
The next group of birds had already migrated in and was stopping only to fuel up before heading further north. I have to pause here and mention the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, located at the entrance road to Magee Marsh. They have accumulated 30 years of banding data. Even better, that data is on their website in a user-friendly format, both here in summary form, and here in detail by bird. Birding Magee Marsh also has helpful information, including this one-page chart of warblers and when they are likely to be seen during the spring migration.
I’m just learning shorebirds, so please correct me on IDs. (Actually, I welcome corrections for all the birds here, not just shorebirds.) In deciding this was a Greater, and not a Lesser, Yellowlegs, I looked at the slightly upturned bill, and bill size compared to the head. I also chose this profile shot, showing how the primary feathers extend slightly beyond the tail.
According to this comment from nookular,
the bird above is a Yellow subspecies of Palm Warbler, based on the yellow wash on the underside. The other subspecies is the Western, also present at Magee Marsh. I saw this one to the right, with limited yellow at the throat and its dirty-white colored belly, a couple weeks later.
The Black-throated Greens move on, but some of the Blue-grays stick around and nest at Magee Marsh. Other birds had already migrated from the south and were also there to stay for the summer.
There has been an active Bale Eagle nest for years by the west entrance to the boardwalk, just off the parking lot. The area is cordoned off, but the nest is easy to observe. A second long-time nest by the east entrance to the boardwalk was destroyed in a severe storm last summer. That pair might have been the pair that built a new nest right in the middle of the boardwalk area, which was also cordoned off. Unfortunately, the nest did not take and the area has been reopened.
My takeaway from the Audubon trip was I need to go even earlier than late April. And maybe during the winter as well to see more of the wintering waterfowl.
May 5, 2022
Twelve days later, there were many more migrants.
Yellow Warblers were everywhere. It was tempting to dismiss sightings as “just another Yellow,” but they were often cooperative photo subjects. Some pairs settled in to nest at the marsh.
I’ve seen Black and Whites several times at Maggie Marsh, but they are very difficult to find and even harder to photograph. Although they are often at eye level when they forage on trunks and lower branches, they blend in well.
This beauty was a lifer for me. On two different days, a White-eyed Vireo came within a few feet of the boardwalk. I had to back up to get within range of my camera lens. Northern Ohio is at the north edge of their breeding range.
This was another lifer. How I came to see the Avocet is a typical story of birding and birders at Magee Marsh. That day, my friend and I kept running into a mother/son birding pair, where the son was obviously teaching his mom. It’s not unusual to bird the boardwalk at the same pace as other people and strike up extended conversations. In fact, that’s how I happened to become good friends with another of my frequent birding pals. Later in the afternoon, we were leaving the boardwalk and mulling whether or not to make one more pass. Coming back in was the mother/son duo. We asked how their day was going and the son told us they had gone to nearby Metzger Marsh. He was from Florida and was all excited about a Rough-legged Hawk. But knowing we were from Michigan, he told us about the Avocet and exactly where to find it, even though they are so common in Florida it was no big deal to him. He knew it was a *huge* deal to us and I’m so grateful he shared his sighting.
May 8, 2022
My next visit was three days later. I wasn’t expecting to see many new birds, but I again underestimated the draw Maggie Marsh has on migrating birds. I’ll start with one of my all-time favorite warblers and my spark bird.
I first saw a Blackburnian in my backyard, literally. Mr. C spotted it in our bird bath fountain, and it took my breath away. I’m fortunate to live in an area (an inner ring suburb of Detroit) with lots of mature oak trees. As this article notes, oaks are “kings of biodiversity.” That one bird got me wondering what else I’d been missing.
This uncropped photo of an Ovenbird is my best ad for birding at Magee Marsh. The opportunities are boundless, but limited in time. It’s a marsh, so even in dryer years, it’s a warm, damp and fertile place. Once the warmer weather hits, the greenery really kicks into gear. In a short while, the undergrowth would have obscured this treasure.
One of the great things about Magee Marsh is the network of nearby parks and wildlife areas.
One example is Metzger Marsh, a short ten minutes away. That was where I saw the Avocet. Another is the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, just to the west, between Metzger and Magee. (The link to the non-profit Friends of ONWR is here.) ONRW has several units, and the one next to Magee offers birding by car. (My younger self used to sniff at such an idea, but my older self very much appreciates the opportunity to rest and recoup.)
May 11, 2022
Another three days saw a huge change in some of the foliage and several new arrivals.
May 14, 2022
Another three days passed and I was back at Magee Marsh with the Detroit Audubon Society’s second field trip. The weather started out sunny, changed to drizzle with a lot of thunder and lightning, then back to sunny, and finally to dodging thunderstorm cells as we headed home. If you’re properly equipped for the rain, light showers can be great birding weather. The rain brings down the insects, and the birds follow. Lighting is not always optimal for photos, but sometimes it’s good to put down the camera and just bask in the birds.
New warblers for me for the year were the Blackpoll and Bay-breasted.
Although I tend to focus on warblers, there are many other songbirds that migrate through Magee Marsh.
Back to the Warblers! These were still sticking around and fueling up.
I’d caught only glimpses of a few American Redstart males. That was another reason to make yet another visit.
May 24, 2022
Ten days later, and a month since my first visit, was a beautiful, sunny day.
Some of the nesting birds were way ahead of others.
Spotting this Screech Owl is another typical Magee Marsh story. My friend and I were strolling the boardwalk, when we overheard someone behind us mention Screech Owl. It was not crowded that day, so we went back to check it out. We politely waited for a break in the conversation and asked about the owl. They gave us detailed information about where it was, although it still took some careful searching to spot the owl. According to this source, Eastern Screech Owls breed in April and incubate the eggs for 26 days. After 8 to 10 weeks, the owlets fledge.
When I visited Magee Marsh in late June, a Northern Flicker had taken over the nest cavity. Based on the nesting timeline, I’m assuming the Screech Owl either was not nesting or was unsuccessful.
As I mentioned, there is a series of preserved wetlands along this area of Lake Erie. One is Howard Marsh. As with Magee and Metzger Marshes, Howard used to be part of the Great Black Swamp. Settlers drained almost all of the Great Black Swamp for agriculture. In 2008, Ohio purchased the 1,000-acre Howard Farm, restored it to wetlands and incorporated it into the Toledo metroparks. My birding pal and I had time that day to stop on the way home, and ended up having an amazing visit.
If the birds I’ve highlighted don’t convince you to make the trip if you can, here’s a list of the of other birds I photographed at Magee Marsh: American Coot, Double-crested Cormorant, Pied-billed Grebe, Wood Duck, Bonaparte’s Gull, Sora, Song Sparrow, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Pine Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, Mourning Warbler, Canada Warbler, American Goldfinch, Blue-headed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Downy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Gray Catbird, Baltimore Oriole, Northern Cardinal, Scarlet Tanager, Cedar Waxwing, Indigo Bunting, Red-tailed Hawk, Veery, Common Nighthawk, Whip-poor-will, Eastern Wood-pewee and various other flycatchers I’m not confident in identifying. I saw all but the Sora over the Month at Magee Marsh. And I haven’t seen nearly all there is to see. Here’s the checklist from Birding Magee Marsh. And here’s the 16-page (!) list from the Ohio DNR.
In researching this Dawn Chorus, I learned that fall migration at Magee Marsh is a thing too, with the same hourglass geography funneling birds south. Guess where I’ll be this fall?
Now it’s your turn. Please share your observations of the spring migration season, or the week, or this morning.