Ok, first the Magee Marsh Wildlife Area birds seen today.



1.      magee Causeway marsh - Trumpeter Swans, Wood Duck, Mallard,
Blue-winged Teal, N. Shoveler, Ring-necked Duck, Hooded Merganser,
Pied-billed Grebe, D.c. Cormorant, G. Blue Heron, Great Egret, SNOWY EGRET
IN PEAK BREEDING PLUMAGE - great photos' Renee - nice red around the eyes
and on the edge of the upper bill. I have never seen that before. LITTLE
BLUE HERON - snaking through the marsh, Green Herons and American Coots.
Also seen were Turkey Vultures, Bald Eagles, Northern Harriers,
Sharp-shinned Hawk, and Red-tailed Hawks. Killdeer, Yellowlegs and a
Solitary Sandpiper were seen along with Herring Gulls, Caspian Terns and
Forsters Terns.



2.      Magee Boardwalk birds - Sora's - playing with each other - how cool
is that, Great-horned Owl young, Chimney Swifts, Belted Kingfisher,
Red-bellied and Downy Woodpecker along with N. Flicker. Warbling Vireos are
singing and in good numbers now and we still have lots of Blue jays. The
swallows are in good numbers with Purple Martin, Tree, Barn, and N.
Rough-winged Swallows. A Red-breasted Nuthatch, House Wren, Ruby-crowned
Kinglets, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Swainson's and Wood Thrush were seen.
Birders also saw Gray Catbirds, Tenn., Nashville, Yellow, Cape May, B.t.
Blue, Yellow-rumped, B.t. Green, Pine, Palm, Black & White, Prothonotary,
Ovenbird, N. Waterthrush, C. Yellowthroat - causeway marsh, and Wilson's
Warbler. A male Summer Tanager was seen again, along with White-throated,
White-crowned, Song, Chipping, and Lincoln's Sparrow. Finally, people saw N.
Cardinals, R.b. Grosbeaks, and Baltimore Orioles to mention a few.



3.      BANDING STATION AT BSBO - They had an Ovenbird, Myrtle
-Yellow-rumped, Palm, and Yellow Warblers nearby. Also banded were
Red-winged Blackbirds and American Goldfinches to mention a few.



4.      BSBO Window on Wildlife - has a beautiful male Baltimore Oriole
feeding on the orange right-by the window along with PURPLE (RASPBERRY)
FINCHPurple Finches at the seed feeders.



5.      OTTAWA NWR BOARDWALK - had wonderful looks at a Bald Eagle, Turkey
Vultures, a Red-tailed Hawk, Canada Geese and their goslings, American
Goldfinches, House Wrens, beautiful male Red-winged Blackbirds showing off
their red-wing patches to each other along with Common Grackles and Blue
jays. The morning Nature Tots program was a success and the kids used their
newly made bino's to look at the goslings and we all watched several Turkey
Vultures soar above us. The blackbirds were very active and so were the
bright yellow male, American Goldfinches. We had the boardwalk pretty much
to ourselves. Please go visit the newly finished boardwalk behind the Ottawa
National Wildlife Refuges building. It's very relaxing and the birds are
very active and you might just see some great warblers too. Last year a
Golden-winged Warbler was seen there. Yesterday, Laura and I heard several
Yellow-rumped, Yellow, and Nashville Warblers along with a Rose-breasted
Grosbeak. If you want a nice birding and peaceful place away from all the
crowds, then Ottawa's boardwalk and the intersecting trails are the place to
go. I truly love this place and the scenery is second to none.



6.      Toussaint Wildlife Area - Dan and Barb Myers joined me for a
Saturday walk here in the afternoon. We had a wonderful time and the birds
were fantastic. We had the very best look at a male Cape May Warbler -only 6
feet away - in our lives. Dan took some 20 or so photos. We watched it
climb-up the bark of a tree at eye level and scare-up insects. Then, it
would jump-out at them as the insects flew-off the tree trunk. The dark red
check patches and the heavily black-streaked yellow chest was spectacular.
The thick white wing bar was snow white and the multicolored streaked
pattern on the back will stay in my mind forever. Ok, by now you know the
Cape May is and will be forever my favorite warbler in the whole world. We
watched this bird for at least 5 minutes and we had the ENTIRE WILDLIFE AREA
to ourselves. Here is a list of what we saw here today. D.c. Cormorants,
Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Green Herons, Trumpeter Swans (with the
female on the nest) man that was awesome, the female actually reminded me of
a giant American Avocet with her orange stained head and neck with that
white body. Also seen were Canada Geese with lots of goslings, Wood Ducks,
Mallards, Blue-winged Teal, 23 Gadwall, an adult Bald Eagle, a good look at
a migrating Sharp-shinned Hawk and an adult Broad-winged Hawk (Dan & Barbs
first of the year). Then, we saw a huge Sandhill Crane fly right by us. Our
only shorebirds were two Solitary Sandpipers but they were really nice to
see. We also spotted two Herring Gulls and three Forster's Terns. As we
walked along the grassy dikes we discovered Chimney Swifts, Downy
Woodpeckers and Northern Flickers, a great look at an Eastern Kingbird -
first of the year for us, a nice close-up of a Warbling Vireo, Blue-gray
Gnatcatcher and Ruby-crowned Kinglet. We heard a few Blue jays in the
distance and managed to see Tree and N. Rough-winged Swallows, a House Wren
scolding us up-close, several American Robins and a few Gray Catbirds. As
for the warblers we saw several Yellow warblers, 40 plus Yellow-rumped and
Palm warblers. These guys were everywhere. We even had our second YELLOW
PALM WARBLER of the year. Dan, Barb and I also had our first male Common
Yellowthroat of the year and not to mention the male Cape May. Our state
bird, the N. Cardinal didn't disappoint us as well as a male Indigo Bunting,
Chipping, Song, Swamp, White-crowned, and White-throated Sparrows. The
blackbirds were active today as we saw several male Red-winged Blackbirds
displaying and chasing females around. There were lots of fly-over C.
Grackles, a female Brown-headed Cowbird, several American Goldfinches and to
end the list, House Sparrows in the man-made parking lot of course. Hope
your birding day was an enjoyable one too.



Later birding fans,



Christopher J. Knoll

Education Director

Black Swamp Bird Observatory

13551 West State Route 2

Oak Harbor, Ohio 43449

Phone: 419-898-4070

Fax: 419-898-1363



PS Hope your feeling better soon Kim. We really miss you here at BSBO. Its
just not the same place without you. Chris


Visit us at:

www.bsbobird.org

www.ohioyoungbirders.org



We are the proud sponsor of the Ohio Young Birders Club.






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