Back in May, one of the best shorebird spots in NW Ohio was at Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area in Lucas County, where lowering water levels created good mudflats close to the road. I hadn't been there for a while but I checked it out yesterday evening, July 7. Water levels have dropped some more since May, but marsh vegetation has grown up quite a bit, so the mudflats are not so readily visible. It is still good habitat for shorebirds, but the birds are harder to see.

Scanning mainly from the second pulloff beyond the major curve at Metzger, I saw a number of migrant shorebirds, including Greater Yellowlegs (1), Lesser Yellowlegs (9), Least Sandpiper (8), Pectoral Sandpiper (1), and Short-billed Dowitcher (1). These numbers are undoubtedly low; I spotted some of these only when they flew. Even though the viewing conditions are no longer ideal, the area is still worth checking as shorebird migration cranks up.

Other birds of note included all 6 regular species of swallows, a few broods of half-grown Wood Ducks, 45 Great Egrets, 3 Common Terns, at least 35 Forster's Terns, and 2 Black Terns. I saw the Black Terns only by hiking out the dike at the end of the road, as they were foraging far out over the eastern part of the marsh. The presence of numbers of Forster's Terns in midsummer has always intrigued me: even though Common Terns nest locally, on artificial platforms at Ottawa NWR, we often see more Forster's than Commons along the far western stretches of the lake shore in summer. Forster's Terns nest as close to us as eastern Michigan, around Saginaw Bay and Lake St. Clair, and I think it's only a matter of time before they're found nesting in the extensive Lake Erie marshes of NW Ohio.


Kenn Kaufman
Oak Harbor, Ohio



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