Here in northwestern Ohio last night (Thursday night, May 21), as predicted,
the wind was out of the southwest until about dawn on Friday and then
abruptly swung around to the northeast. Friday was much cooler than the
couple of preceding days in birding sites along the Lake Erie shore.

In the woods of the Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, there were good numbers of
birds Friday but they were mostly not easy to see. Blackpoll Warblers,
Magnolia Warblers, Red-eyed Vireos, and Swainson's Thrushes were numerous.
Young male American Redstarts (like females, but more orange-tinged and with
spots of black on the face, and singing) seemed to be everywhere. Various
other species were scattered through the woods, including Canada, Wilson's,
Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blue, Black-and-white, and Yellow
Warblers, Scarlet Tanager, Black-billed Cuckoo, and White-crowned Sparrow. I
had all five of the expected species of Empidonax, including an Alder
Flycatcher singing persistently near no. 19 on the boardwalk in the
afternoon and a single Acadian near no. 12. Most surprising was a male
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker near the west end of the boardwalk (around no. 3),
an exceptionally late migrant here, the first one I'd seen since April. You
never know what odd thing is going to turn up at Magee!

The wind is supposed to continue more or less out of the northeast for the
next two nights and days, perhaps veering more to the east at times. It's
hard to predict what this will do to the migration. Numbers of birds seemed
a bit higher at Magee on Friday than on Thursday. It may be that birds
moving gradually north will pause longer at Magee and other lakeshore sites
if there are unfavorable winds at night, so the numbers of migrants here may
build up over the weekend. We have arrived at prime dates for Connecticut
Warbler but so far we haven't had a cooperative and viewable individual for
everyone to enjoy, and we hope that one will turn up this weekend.

A couple of tantalizing birds have been briefly present the last couple of
days. Rick Nirschl had a Kirtland's Warbler singing along the Magee
boardwalk (near no. 14) early Thursday morning; it moved off and as far as I
know it hasn't been found since, but might still be in the general area.
Iain Campbell found a Ruff on Friday morning at Ottawa National Wildlife
Refuge, on Pool 2a (see our map of the refuge walking trails); he was able
to show it to a group, but birders who looked for it at midday and early
afternoon couldn't find it. This is likely the same bird found Tuesday in a
closed area of the refuge, so it may be shifting around, and undoubtedly
some birders will check Pool 2a for it again over the weekend.

For locations on the Magee boardwalk and on Ottawa NWR, see the maps
available through the birding pages of Black Swamp Bird Observatory  -
http://www.bsbo.org/Birding/

The next two Saturdays (May 23 and 30) there will be a free public
bird-banding demonstration starting at 10:00 a.m. at the Black Swamp Bird
Observatory, just north of Route 2 at the entrance to Magee Marsh Wildlife
Area.  This is a great opportunity to learn about research and to see a few
late-season migrants up close.

Kenn Kaufman
Oak Harbor, OH

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