MAY 7, 2011

After yesterday's flurry of warblers around the
Magee/Ottawa region of Ohio, a healthy batch of birders were fired up
and ready for more for this mother's day weekend (traditionally one of
the best weekends of the spring). While diversity and numbers had
dropped a little since yesterday's heady heights the fact remained this
was still a great day to be birding in the region, with a minimum of 24
WARBLER SPECIES present in the area, and a smattering of other goodies
in the area.

Among the A-listers around included the continuing
TRICOLORED HERON at Metzger Marsh that continued to bring smiles to many
Midwest birders. Drabber sure, but no less interesting, was a
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW that continued to roam East Beach at Magee. Out of
place too was a gaudy RED-HEADED WOODPECKER looking a little lost behind
the Sportsmen's Center at Magee Marsh. Ottawa NWR continued to boast a
HORNED GREBE that satisfied the Auto Tour posses roaming the refuge and
should provide ample temptation for another drove of "Auto-tourers"
tomorrow. Likewise, YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD was also on offer at Ottawa
NWR that should peak the interest of those wandering the refuge again
tomorrow. The general feeling was some of the migrants that had graced
the woods on Friday had set sail for Canada come Saturday, although a
few birds seemed to have dropped in too, like the first few ALDER
FLYCATCHERS of the season at Ottawa NWR, although they are still
outnumbered by the small number of LEAST FLYCATCHERS in these lakeshore
lots. New too was the odd GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH posing prominently off the
Magee boardwalk, typically (for this area)ensuring that every tiny ID
feature could be seen by all from a short distance away. Sadly though,
yesterday's Barn Owl seemed to have disappeared into the Ether, although
one of the regular EASTERN SCREECH-OWLS remained a big hit on the Magee
boardwalk. "Winterers" lingering in the area included the odd RUSTY
BLACKBIRD pacing around off the Magee boardwalk too, and a gathering of
seven BUFFLEHEADS were picked up on a bus trip to Darby NWR.

OK though
I guess what you really want to know is what were the warblers around
today. Magee held the majority as predicted with some sharp BLUE-WINGED,
dowdy ORANGE-CROWNEDS, an even dowdier PINE, tons of PALM WARBLERS (at
one time lining up in their tens on the beach as if to leave), some
beefy BAY-BREASTEDS, a single male WILSON'S, and at least one CANADA
hung around the western end of the boardwalk. However, the one that had
everyone talking was a seductive CERULEAN that lingered for long periods
in front of an appreciative crowd at the western end of the beach at
Magee. Shockingly bright male PROTHONOTARY WARBLERS also provided much
entertainment, posing low over the swamps at Magee, with their bright
yellow reflections staring back at them from the dark waters providing
an ideal avian photo model for the photographers that are rightly drawn
to Magee in their droves. So the warbler situation simply put was less
birds in total, and slightly lower diversity than the day before, but
still remained high enough for many birders to boast more than twenty
species on their day lists. The mix continued to be dominated by "first
wave" warblers like PALM and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS in particular,
although seemed to have also received a small boost of MAGNOLIAS that
will soon be the dominant warbler in the upcoming "second wave".

It
was also a good day for cuckoo fans, with both YELLOW-BILLED and
BLACK-BILLED CUCKOOS both performing spectacularly today, the latter
joining many a life list in the process.

So in short, not the classic
of Friday's wonderful warbler event at Magee and surrounds, although
still a great days birding by any standard. The Biggest Week in American
Birding seems to be living up to its name admirably!

SAM WOODS


______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.

You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]