For the last three nights (Tuesday through Thursday) the winds were
southerly, and the last three days (Wednesday through Friday, May 23 - 25)
saw excellent numbers and substantial turnover of late-season migrants in
the area of Magee Marsh, n.w. Ohio.   Today, Friday 5/25, there were good
numbers of migrants at all the spots in this immediate area:  the Magee
Marsh boardwalk, the woodlots at Ottawa NWR main unit, the Black Swamp Bird
Observatory banding station (on the Navarre Unit of Ottawa NWR, about five
miles east of Magee), and the woodlot at Metzger Marsh, to the west of
Magee.  The makeup of the flight was about as expected for late May: lots of
Empidonax flycatchers of all five species, with Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
especially numerous today; both cuckoos in good numbers, especially
Yellow-billed; very large numbers of Swainson's Thrushes but also a decent
number of Gray-cheeked Thrushes today; many Blackpoll Warblers and American
Redstarts, but also fair numbers of Canada and Mourning Warblers and a fair
scattering of at least 15 other warbler species.  This evening we saw at
least one Connecticut Warbler, possibly two, in the area of the tower at the
west end of the Magee boardwalk, and I heard that one was seen earlier in
the woodlot at Metzger.

 The mudflats at Metzger Marsh continue to see rapid turnover in the birds
present.  I was there today just before a heavy rain hit in the early
afternoon, and went back an hour later after the rain ceased, and even in
that time there was turnover, with two Black-bellied Plovers and an American
Golden-Plover before the rain, many Forster's Terns and a lone Bonaparte's
Gull after the rain.  There are still impressive numbers of Ruddy
Turnstones.  Two American Pipits here seemed to be getting a bit late.

With the weather conditions tonight, I would expect that not many of the
current migrants would leave, and numbers and variety should be excellent
for the weekend.

Kenn Kaufman
Rocky Ridge, Ohio

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