The Biggest Week In American Birding -- a massive event centered on Magee
Marsh and Ottawa Nat'l Wildlife Refuge in n.w. Ohio -- is nearing its
halfway mark. Any kind of full report will have to wait until sometime
after the event ends on May 16, and sometime after the organizers begin to
recover from extreme sleep deprivation! But anyone who's curious and who
hasn't had a chance to participate can get a glimpse via comments from Mike
Bergin, who runs 10,000 Birds, one of the world's most popular bird blogs:
http://10000birds.com/biggest-week-is-huge.htm or just by going to the
website itself: http://biggestweekinamericanbirding.com/
With newspaper, radio, and TV coverage, lots of positive blogging, lots of
facebook updates, etc., etc., the Biggest Week is shining a very positive
light on Ohio birding. It has also gained the attention of the local
non-birding community like no other event ever has, and now local
policy-makers and businesspeople are much more aware of the positive value
of protecting habitat for migratory birds.
One particular point from this last weekend seemed especially noteworthy.
Prior to the event, a few long-time Ohio birders expressed concern about the
fact that we were attracting even more birders to some sites that had
already seemed crowded. And indeed, our measures do indicate that more
birders are coming here this spring and staying longer. For example, counts
of visitors are way up from previous years at the visitors' center at Ottawa
NWR and at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory. But I also looked at another
measure, the parking lot at the Magee Marsh boardwalk. On the second
Saturday in May (International Migratory Bird Day), for at least the last
three years, there had been times when that parking lot was completely
filled (I estimate that it holds 700-800 vehicles). This year, I don't
think the parking lot was more than 70 percent filled on Saturday, and no
more than 80 percent filled on Sunday, when the weather was nicer. The
Magee boardwalk itself held lots and lots of happy birders at any given
moment on the weekend, but it was never completely jam-packed to the point
where you couldn't move.
So what's the story, if there are more birders in the area but the boardwalk
is less crowded? I believe that the strategy of the Biggest Week In
American Birding is working as intended. The BWIAB is taking field trips
off to a variety of other areas that are great for birding but not as
famous, from Mallard Club Marsh to Kelleys Island. Black Swamp Bird
Observatory has handed out literally thousands of free maps of birding
sites, ranging from Oak Openings in the west to East Harbor State Park and
Sheldons Marsh in the east. In the past, visiting birders would go to the
boardwalk and stay there because they didn't know where else to go. Now
more birders are coming to the area and staying longer (to the delight of
local hotel and restaurant owners) but they are exploring more widely,
checking out more of the great birding that northwest Ohio has to offer.
Last Friday, May 7th, Ann Oliver wrote a very perceptive post on Ohio-birds
about the economic impact of birding and its value for bird conservation. I
urge you to go back and read that post again, and think about how the
Biggest Week In American Birding is adding up to a win-win situation for
Ohio birds and birders. And think about coming to join us -- there are
still a lot of things happening between now and next Monday!
Kenn Kaufman
Oak Harbor, Ohio
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