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October 2009

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From:
Kenn Kaufman <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Kenn Kaufman <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 24 Oct 2009 22:26:18 -0400
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This afternoon (Saturday Oct. 24) I made a brief check of Magee Marsh
Wildlife Area, Ottawa / Lucas counties, n.w. Ohio.  At this season, the
northern part of the Wildlife Area (causeway, wildlife beach, boardwalk) is
closed for waterfowl hunting on weekdays plus Saturday mornings, available
for birding only on Saturday afternoon plus all day Sunday.  I spent a
couple of hours at the wildlife (east) beach and at the west end of the
boardwalk.  With the strong southwest winds that prevailed, the birds were
concentrated on the lee side of the trees, i.e. in more sheltered areas of
the beach and along the south edge of the parking lot (north edge of the
woods) at the boardwalk.

The most unusual bird was a juvenile Eastern Wood-Pewee hanging around near
the platform by the west entrance to the boardwalk.  It was doing some
subsong and it was a well-marked, typical individual, so I didn't have to
entertain any thoughts of Western Wood-Pewee.  This is not a record-late
bird -- in fact, I had one at Metzger Marsh on Oct. 31, 2006 -- but it's
still exceptionally late for northern Ohio.  "Birds of the Toledo Area" by
Anderson et al. (2002) lists October 14 as the late date for this region.

Between the east beach and the boardwalk I had about eight Fox Sparrows and
about 40 Rusty Blackbirds, representing the two signature migrant species of
late fall and early spring at Magee.  White-throated Sparrow, Myrtle
(Yellow-rumped) Warbler, both kinglet species, and Dark-eyed Juncos were
numerous at both areas, with lesser numbers of Hermit Thrush, Winter Wren,
White-crowned Sparrow, and Brown Creeper.  One Palm Warbler at the boardwalk
was the only non-Yellow-rumped warbler I could find.

There were very few gulls along the edge of Lake Erie here.  A little
southeast of Magee, however -- where State Route 19 crosses the Toussaint
River, south of SR 2 and north of Oak Harbor -- there were hundreds of
Ring-billed and Bonaparte's gulls today.  I stopped and scanned through them
a couple of times without finding anything unusual, but birds were coming
and going constantly so something else could show up.  (Incidentally, if
you're visiting the area, don't slow down on SR 19 -- there's a pulloff on
the west side just north of the river, with a sign marked "Toussaint Area,"
and this is the safest place to stop and scan the water.)

Kenn Kaufman
Oak Harbor, Ohio

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