As predicted, there were strong winds from the southwest last night and this
morning, and many new migrants were evident this morning (Tuesday May 15) in
the vicinity of the boardwalk at Magee Marsh, n.w. Ohio.  The influx was
most obvious to those of us who started off the morning along the north edge
of the woods, on the edge of the parking lot and access road, where the
first sunlight was hitting the trees and where there was more shelter from
the wind.  Birders who arrived and immediately took the boardwalk straight
into the woods were generally less impressed with today's numbers.  But it
seemed clear to me that at least some species were more abundant than
yesterday.

Conspicuous among the birds moving on the outer edge in the morning were
Blue Jays (50-plus, in flocks moving over), Cedar Waxwing (about 50), and
Indigo Bunting (15).  About the same warbler species were present today as
yesterday, but there were distinct changes in relative abundance, with a lot
more Blackpoll Warblers (I saw/heard 10 today, 1 yesterday), Tennessees (8
today, 1 yesterday), Black-throated Blues (18 today, 8 yesterday), and
American Redstarts (40 today, 20 yesterday).  Chestnut-sided (15), Magnolia
(20), and Bay-breasted (12) were still common, but less so than they had
been.  I had at least 20 Red-eyed Vireos and 3 Philadelphia Vireos, but not
a single Ruby-crowned Kinglet today.  Those are just my personal numbers
from four hours on the boardwalk and vicinity, to give a sense of relative
abundance, not any attempt for a complete number.  The strong wind made it
hard to detect birds by sight or sound and I probably found fewer than I
would have under calm conditions.

An interesting note on the differences between perceived and actual bird
numbers.  Kim was at the main banding site for the Black Swamp Bird
Observatory early in the morning before coming to join me on the boardwalk
in late morning, and she pointed out that on very windy days, the total
catch at the banding station seems to be reduced.  Evidently the wind makes
it easier for birds to see and avoid the mist nets.  Also, some of the birds
that were evident at the boardwalk today, such as Blue Jays and Cedar
Waxwings, are high fliers that don't wind up in the banders' nets very
often.  So, while the banding station totals are more standardized than
counts taken from field observation, they're not immune to being skewed by
outside forces.  All the more evidence of the fact that it takes serious
attention and thought to really detect what's going on with bird numbers.

This evening there were strong storms that came through the area after 7
p.m., with near-tornadic conditions in our little burg of Rocky Ridge, and
the wind shifted abruptly to the northwest.  It has since shifted back to
the WSW, but I expect consistent northwest winds by morning, with cooler
temperatures.  I doubt that many birds left tonight, aside from those that
were blown right off their perches and into the lake!  Numbers should still
be decent tomorrow but I plan to go look at water areas to see if any odd
migrant waterbirds might have been put down by the storms.

Kenn Kaufman
Rocky Ridge, Ohio

______________________________________________________________________

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]