Last evening, Thursday, from about 7:15PM to about 9:45PM, my wife Denise and I were fortunate enough to be part of a benefit cruise to and around the waters along the shoreline of West Sister Island National Wildlife Refuge. The event was sponsored by the Friends Of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. The cruise was on The Jet Express departing from the Port Clinton Dock. The weather was perfect! On our way out to the West Sister Island area, visibility was so clear, that with binoculars, on the Lake Erie horizon, we could amazingly see the numerous wind turbines located twenty miles or so to the north, along the shoreline of neighboring Ontario. Travel time was entertaining with a presentation by Teddy Roosevelt (Gib Young), about the origin of The National Wildlife Refuge System. After viewing the probable thousands of birds coming, and going, and roosting, on the island, we watched a beautiful and colorful sunset with The West Sister Lighthouse in the foreground. Bird species seen were Double-crested Cormorants, Great Blue Herons, Herring Gulls, Ring-billed Gulls, Black-crowned Night-Herons, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, and a pair of Mallards. Tom Bartlett and Dave Sherman enlightened us to the history of West Sister Island, providing numerous interesting facts about the island, such as it being covered with fifteen foot high poison ivy, stinging nettles, the hackberry tree thickets, and obviously, the numbers of birds that call this their summer home. A fun fact we learned was that the sometimes despised Double-crested Cormorants, are actually doing a good deed, eating the invasive Round Goby fishes that are now in the Lake Erie waters. The return to port in the dark was absolutely breathtaking. The moon and all the stars in the sky were crystal clear and spectacular. Yesterday was also my wife Denise's birthday. What a way to celebrate it.


Bob Lane / Mahoning County

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