MAY 13, 2011
It was with bated breath that birders arrived this
morning at the
boardwalk, hoping that persistent predictions of a large
wave for Friday
would be borne out. And in part they were. Diversity was
high;
numbers were not, especially. The big story of the day, though,
was
the variety of scarce and highly sought-after species. Off
the
boardwalk, bus trips to Cedar Point had a reasonable degree of
success,
while the woods behind the Ottawa NWR visitor's center
continued to
produce.

The undoubted highlight of the day at the Magee
Marsh Boardwalk was a
very cooperative CONNECTICUT WARBLER. It sauntered
around marker 4
multiple times throughout the day, much to the delight
of beginner and
expert alike, drawing gasps every time it flounced into
the air to pick
a bug from the underside of the low-lying foliage.
Sharing the scene
were a duo of MOURNING WARBLERS, which entertained
those waiting for
their larger cousin to appear. WHIP-POOR-WILLS were
again found, this
time at two different roosts, and AMERICAN WOODCOCK
put in an occasional
appearance. The numbers of female warblers was
especially evident,
with female BLACKPOLL and TENNESSEE WARBLERS being
the new arrivals.
The continuing EASTERN SCREECH-OWLS brought a smile
to many a birder,
with a red-phase individual occasionally peeking out
of its duck box
hidey-hole.

Off-boardwalk, the morning Ottawa NWR bus
trips visiting Cedar Point
also found a good variety of warblers, with
another CONNECTICUT being
the rarest, and a singing PRAIRIE perhaps the
most unexpected.
Flycatchers were especially evident, with first of
season OLIVE-SIDED
and YELLOW-BELLIED, and decent numbers of Empidonax,
including
vocalizing ALDER and a few Traill's-type that looked like
WILLOW.
Thrush numbers were also notably up, with at least 8
GRAY-CHEEKED
THRUSHES, and PHILADELPHIA VIREOS (at least three of them)
were well
received. A cooperative AMERICAN BITTERN found while leaving
was a
crowd-pleaser for one of the trips. The afternoon trips didn't
fare
quite so well, but a BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO that had eluded the
morning
groups was a welcome addition.

The woods behind the Ottawa NWR
visitor's center continued their
winning streak. An overshoot
WORM-EATING WARBLER hung around most of
the day, and many a visiting
birder got to add this unexpected bird to
their burgeoning list of
warbler species.

The afternoon Black Swamp Bird Observatory bus trip
was rather slow
activity wise, but a dark female MERLIN at Metzger's
Marsh gave the
outing a little pizzazz, a WILLOW FLYCATCHER decided to
help out by
singing and removing all doubt, and close studies of
TENNESSEE and CAPE
MAY WARBLERS rounded out the trip. Shorebirds at the
Ottawa-Lucas Road
fluctuated wildly, with one visit finding only large
groups of DUNLIN
and a few SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, while later ones
reported LONG-BILLED
DOWITCHER and SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER.

Tomorrow is
International Migratory Bird Day, traditionally the busiest
day on the
boardwalk for birders. Bird-wise the prediction is for a
slower day than
today, with many birds leaving on south winds. But
doubtless the
boardwalk will continue to produce, and many a birder will
have their
fill of warblers while enjoying the company of the myriad of
other
birders also visiting Magee.

ANDREW SPENCER

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