The October bird count for Magee Marsh Wildlife Area was conducted this morning, 10-13-13 from 8am-1pm by myself and Shane Roberts.

Birds that were seen or heard include:
Trumpeter swan, Canada goose, wood duck, mallard, great egret, great blue heron, American robin, red-winged blackbird, common grackle, brown-headed cowbird, double-crested cormorant, cooper's hawk, bald eagle (4 mature, one immature-two of the mature were harassing a red-tailed hawk!), northern cardinal, cedar waxwing, herring gull, ring-billed gull, swamp sparrow, Caspian tern, song sparrow, pied-billed grebe, northern harrier (female), European starling, mourning dove, downy woodpecker, northern flicker, red-bellied woodpecker, house wren, winter wren, Carolina wren, white throated sparrow, brown creeper, ruby-crowned kinglets (lots of them, everywhere), golden-crowned kinglets, northern cardinal, eastern phoebe, sharp-shinned hawk, SANDHILL CRANES (4 flyovers on boardwalk), gray catbird, Swainson's thrush, hermit thrush, black-capped chickadee, juncos, tree swallow (just a few), blue jay, rusty blackbird, black-throated blue warbler, yellow-rumped warbler and a couple additional warbler species that were not cooperating for a positive ID.

When we started, I told Shane I wanted to see an owl today.  He was shooting for a saw-whet, but I'm not particular...  About halfway through the boardwalk I asked "where's my owl?" and literally a couple seconds after that we flushed a great-horned owl.  Nice timing, eh?

As today is SUNDAY the road is open and visitors can access all of Magee's trails including the beaches & boardwalk.

From now until October 26th, the road will be open Saturdays after the conclusion of the hunt (which ends at 12, visitors may access after hunters have left, so probably about 1-1:30pm) and from sunrise to sunset on Sundays.  The road is OPEN October 27th-November 3rd and Saturday afternoon and Sundays throughout November with the exception of November 23 & 24.  The last day for hunting is December 7.

As tomorrow is Columbus Day, the Bird Center will be closed, however the trails behind the Bird Center remain open.

Get out there and enjoy everything October has to offer!


Aimee Weidner
Seasonal Naturalist
Magee Marsh Wildlife Area
13229 W. State Route 2
Oak Harbor, OH 43449
419-898-0960


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