May 19-21, 2009
The last few days have seen the pendulum of spring migration swing again, 
with some birds flying the coop, others arriving, that gave us that great 
feeling of birds on the move that make a migration Mecca like Magee such a 
trap for birds and birders alike. The flavor of the Black Swamp birding 
walks along the boardwalk has changed markedly over the past days, with the 
feeling that a number of warblers have checked out, and a number of 
flycatchers have checked in to the Magee Marsh “Migration Resort” (i.e. 
Magee Marsh boardwalk). While Tuesday was a good day to be hunting down 
Mourning Warblers, with a number of individuals giving prize winning views, 
by Thursday their numbers had dwindled with few reports at all. Tuesday also 
saw a spritely Hooded Warbler prancing around in the dense brush (loosely in 
company with a male Mourning), to the delight of a number of onlookers on 
the Magee boardwalk.  The same day also saw a male Golden-winged Warbler 
flashing through the trees in the morning along the boardwalk that somehow 
managed to evade most stares after this single choice early morning 
appearance. Lemonheads (Prothonotary Warblers) continue to perform with 
distinction along the boardwalk, two or three pairs continuing to show more 
than a marginal interest in nesting, several holes having been decked out 
with moss in recent days from attendant females.

The gist of the last few days has been a switch to consistent southerly 
winds that brought the heightened hope of the “third” wave of arrivals, 
and although there has been clear turnarounds in the bird mix along the 
boardwalk, numbers generally have been dropping for warblers (with ever 
greater numbers of females in the mix), and rising for flycatchers.  The 
feeling on the ground at Magee is that many of the mass of migrants that had 
been recorded on the radar moving north into the area have simply raced on 
over the top of Magee, and jetted across the lake without stopping. Spring 
migration is not over by any means, just going on higher up.

Cuckoos while not being exactly plentiful have turned up on all three days, 
with several of each being seen or heard over the three days, although 
Yellow-billeds always more visible. The last few days has also seen good 
early morning movements of Cedar Waxwings, big flocks overflying the 
entrance to the boardwalk enjoyed by the early morning trailblazers at Magee 
on Wednesday and Thursday, and their subtle high-pitched trills emanating 
from the cottonwoods regularly during the morning walks.

Our attentions in recent days have been diverted from the colorful fare of 
warbler watching (as many of them have lifted off over the lake), and turned 
to the gritty business of sorting through the far less eye-catching (but no 
less interesting) flycatchers. These have been the main new kids on the 
block over recent days, with at least 8 species seen: Willow Flycatchers 
have now appeared on the scene, with notable numbers having been recorded 
right around the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, the roadsides close to there, 
and also along Veler Road too. Alder Flycatcher has been watched calling in 
the lakeshore woods along the Magee boardwalk that has also held a number of 
Yellow-bellieds and Least Flycatchers, and Eastern Wood-Pewees. On Tuesday 
and Wednesday a hulking Olive-sided Flycatcher was also standing sentry 
along the trail near marker 4.

A little further afield, Metzger Marsh has enjoyed a new run of interest 
from birders in the area. The birding fraternity is now not only on the look 
out for the Black Terns gracefully picking insects from the glassy surface 
of the water, but also for a number of Yellow-headed Blackbirds that have 
sat up in the golden reeds bordering the back of the marsh, and have also 
been watched rummaging around some of the prominent Muskrat mounds out 
there.

All-in-all a quiet few days by “magic” Magee’s standards, but 
absorbing all the same. The “C Word” continues to be the buzzword along 
the boardwalk, although no one has yet got total satisfaction on that one. 
However, a few Connecticuts have popped into the Black Swamp nets over the 
past few days, the indication has been of more than a few more interesting 
things to come before the mid-June curtain call of spring. Our Thursday walk 
was rudely interrupted by a call from the Obs at Black Swamp that caused a 
flash of excitement across the marsh, and a rapid diversion of the morning 
walk saw us watching on as one of the resident banders showed off his latest 
catch: a magnificent Chuck-will's-widow – a banding first for Black Swamp. 
A female Mourning Warbler also netted drew a little less attention than this 
giant goatsucker, but along with the other “net stars” just goes to show 
that things are still happening at the Magee Migration Madhouse even on 
"slow days."

Sam Woods/Tropical Birding (www.tropicalbirding.com)
Black Swamp Bird Observatory Bird Guide in Residence (www.bsbobird.org)
Lost in Birding Blog (www.samwoodsbirding.blogspot.com)

______________________________________________________________________

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]