Mindy et al.
Glad to hear of your interest in joining the great natural spectacle of
spring migration along the western basin of Lake Erie. Some great advice has
been already put out there and no where else in Ohio and maybe the east is
the migration picture of land birds better understood. Kim has eloquently
laid out the "Biggest week in American birding" and what it offers to bird
enthusiast. The dates of that event aren't by accident. It is a culmination
of over 30 years of migration monitoring, the last 20 daily research that
has identified timing and abundance of the feathered passage through the
Black Swamp Bird Observatory work. Visit the website and some of it's pages
to get a better picture to predict for yourself.
http://www.bsbo.org/birding/migration.htm
http://www.bsbo.org/passerine/migration_timetable.htm
http://www.bsbo.org/passerine/fall_passerine_migration_monitoring.htm
Each will help you, but each year is different and you need to watch the
weather to predict major movements. The second wave (May 7-13) is the wave
of diversity and its second pulse (May 15-20) is generally the largest
volume. While averages have their value they can be misleading on any given
year as there is a confidence level surrounding that average. If you have to
choose now pick the 15-16 as it will be between good and great. May 1-2 can
be a total bust on some years as that second wave has not arrived and the
first wave can often be weak in diversity.
So check out the information on the Black Swamp Bird Observatory website for
data backed suggestions and for up to the day info later. And join in the
Greatest Week in American Birding for the many educational opportunities as
well as great birding.
Mark Shieldcastle
Research Director, Black Swamp Bird Observatory
Oak Harbor
On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 11:15 AM, Bruce M. Bowman <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
> Mindy-
>
> My analysis of 14 years' worth of spring migration data for Magee Marsh
> Wildlife Area indicates that to maximize both warbler count and total
> species count, the optimal time to bird there is May 10-11. May 17
> stands out as a date nearly as good. See
>
> http://www.umich.edu/~bbowman/birds/se_mich/mi_bird.html#stats
>
> But, really, you shouldn't expect there to be any great difference
> between the weekends of May 1-2, May 8-9, and May 15-16. Between the
> May 1-2 weekend and the May 15-16 weekend, though, I would choose the May
> 15-16 because you will see more warbler species then--19 average per day
> vs. 14 average per day. See the table below.
>
> Total no. No. of
> of species warbler species
>
> May 1 63 14
> May 2 60 14
> Average 1-2 62 14
>
> May 8 60 15
> May 9 67 17
> Average 8-9 64 16
>
> May 15 60 19
> May 16 62 19
> Average 15-16 61 19
>
> The above results are based on 111 spring migration birding trips to
> Magee Marsh.
>
> Bruce Bowman
> Ann Arbor, Michigan
>
> Date sent: Wed, 13 Jan 2010 07:58:54 -0500
> Send reply to: "Billingham, Mindy F." <
> [log in to unmask]>
> From: "Billingham, Mindy F." <
> [log in to unmask]>
> Subject: [Ohio-birds] Magee Marsh in May
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
> > Hello-
> >
> >
> >
> > I am hoping to head up to Magee Marsh in May for the big spring
> > migration. I had heard that the weekend of the 8th is the best but I
> > won't be able to make it then. I am trying to decide between the weekend
> > before and the weekend after. Does anyone have recommendations as to
> which
> > one is better? Is one better then the other?
> >
> >
> >
> > Thanks in advance!
> >
> > Mindy
> >
> >
> > ______________________________________________________________________
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> ______________________________________________________________________
>
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>
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______________________________________________________________________
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Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.
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