MAY 11, 2011 It is all too easy to focus your attentions on the warbler magnet of Magee Marsh at the expense of other great Ohio birding venues, and today this would have cost you dearly. Of the 25 WARBLER species roaming the lots today, two of the A-listers were roaming the woodlot behind Ottawa NWR, where both GOLDEN-WINGED AND BLUE-WINGED WARBLERS had the Magee Marsh crowd jealously eyeing the posts form Ottawa as they were absent from the famous boardwalk today that held all the other species in the area, bar them. The feeling today was that although there had been some shift in birds overnight (maggies on the up, "butter buts" dropping), overall diversity and numbers were similar making for quite another enjoyable days birding in this exciting birding region. Other notable warblers at Mageee included a dowdy PINE WARBLER at the western end of the popular parking lot, and BLACKPOLLS were once again visible and frequently available to all, as were all several TENNESSEES hanging around at the "business" end of the boardwalk (the west end). Once again BLACK-THROATED BLUE-WARBLERS were conspicuous and readily on hand to add to people's list and consisted of mostly striking males, with a few females in the mix too. A healthy handful of CAPE MAYS were also on hand to boost life lists wherever needed, with a mix too of cinnamon-patched males and subdued females too. Another trend was a rise in CANADA WARBLERS roaming up and down the boardwalk, having received an overnight bump, and a spike too was evident in AMERICAN REDSTARTS fanning their distinctive tail patterns at Magee, with an interesting mix of young males, "Halloween" adult males, and females among them. Shocking citrus PROTHONOTARY WARBLERS continued to survey cavities along the Magee boardwalk and keep photographers busy with their infinitely photogenic antics. Good numbers of NASHVILLES persisted at Magee too, and were clearly continuing to enjoy a bumper year for the species in the region, although one of the other first wavers that have dominated earlier in the week seem to be on the fall, with distinctly fewer PALM WARBLERS than just a few days back hinting at a change in the air and a move towards the second wave species to come very soon. Another latecomer to the warbler party, the WILSON'S WARBLER was still limited in its appearances due to the few numbers in the Magee woods, and will surely be booming later in the season yet. Warblers dealt with what else was happening in the Magee/Ottawa region today? Vireos seemed sparse relative to the day before with a few BLUE-HEADED, a lone RED-EYED, and a distinct absence of Phillys and Yellow-throated (that had been so readily available just the day before) although significantly more WARBLING VIREOS in the Magee lot. Thrushes continue to be scarce and still have not appeared in anything like the numbers that can come in this month of peak migration. A few VEERY, SWAINSON'S and just the odd GRAY-CHEEKED around today, although thin on the ground generally and so thrushes are sure to be more visible in the coming pulses and waves in this fast-evolving migration season. WHIP-POOR-WHILL once again made us wait until the afternoon for them to become visible to the Magee masses. A fortuitous "mustard-picker" kicking up one from the obscured edge of the swamp well off the boardwalk, and flushing it up into a near tree for all to see just off the well-trodden walkway. A boost in flycatcher numbers today did not also render a boost in variety with LEAST FLYCATCHERS being virtually the only one involved in this clear increase. A few more RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS were also around today, amusing many with their high-speed, high jinx. Comments have been made about the strange wintery species that are lingering at this time of the migration that included some ducks on the Ottawa bus trips (that are part of this vibrant festival), including a lonesome CANVASBACK, and several REDHEAD. (That were mixed in with new arrivals that usually herald the oncoming spring like ALDER FLYCATCHER, SCARLET TANAGER, and even a single BLACK TERN). Among the other lingerers from the cool months of winter included a pair of RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, several DARK-EYED JUNCOS, and a party of PINE SISKINS along the famous boardwalk on the shores of Erie. Last, but by no means least, the rare TRICOLORED HERON continued to show off at Metzger Marsh and boost many a local list and satisfy the many visiting birders too. I cannot finish this post without mentioning the well-publicized forecast from the "birds and weather gurus from Black Swamp Bird Observatory" whose detailed studies of the bigger picture of the gust and wind maps entwined with their intimate knowledge of the bird migration patterns in the region have led them to a confident prediction of good bird movements coming this way tomorrow and even more so on Friday 13th. This latter day may be famously unlucky for some but we hope might just be very lucky indeed for this A-list North American birding region... SAM WOODS ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. 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