It's been a little while since I've written much on the blog - mostly I've just been posting pics from spring migration. Now, I've got a few really cool things going on that I want to share, but before I get too deep into it, I should talk a bit about this past weekend. My birthday was this past Saturday and Pamela, with our friends Paul and Diana, indulged me in my desire for a birding road trip. The goal of the trip was to see Kirtland's Warbler, which is usually most easily seen in the transitional Jack Pine forests in Michigan. I found out about the Kirtland's Warbler Wildlife Festival in Roscommon, MI and figured a 12hour drive for a life warbler didn't seem too unrealistic, right? Discussing it with Paul and Diana, we decided to break the trip up with a stop in Ohio both and the way there and back and check in at Magee Marsh boardwalk on Lake Erie - it was during the Biggest Week In American Birding after all, and there was bound to be some great birding there. We set out from Boston on Wednesday evening after work, and made it as far as Syracuse, NY where we found a place to lay our heads for the night. Next morning we were up and on the road bright and early, and before you knew it (OK, like 7 hours later) we pulled into the parking lot at Magee Marsh, and the birding was simply amazing! It had rained that morning and I think it had only stopped about an our before we arrived, so the activity was amazing - in under two hours, we racked up 19 species of warblers as well as quite a few other birds. And not only were there a lot of birds, but the looks that you get there are fantastic - warblers that in Massachusetts are usually in the treetops were almost eye-level and I was able to see detail that I've only ever seen in photos before...
Cape May Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Then, of course, there are the warblers that are common here in New England that you are just as happy to see there:
Palm Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
And of course, it is always exciting to see birds that you don't usually run across at home. Each year, there are a few reports of Prothonotary Warblers in MA, and Golden-winged Warblers used to be more common, but seem to be pretty sparse around here these days.
Prothonotary Warbler
Golden-winged Warbler
Again, I want to stress that all of this and many many more were seen within two hours of arriving - it's no wonder that I was able to count license plates from at least 20 states in the parking lot!
We had booked inexpensive accommodations just 10 minutes away from the Black Swamp Bird Observatory and Magee Marsh, so were able to get up and out early again on Friday morning. Everybody who was watching the weather and following migration fronts were predicting that it was going to be a big morning - warm winds blowing out of the south after several nights of a front holding things up. We got to the boardwalk by 6:30am and although there were a few birders around when we arrived, it wasn't nearly as packed as the previous day, but there was a steady stream of birders and photographers flowing in - and the birds were there too. Walking the boardwalk, we continued to have spectacular looks at a lot ofthe birds we had seen the previous day, but it was clear that some species had decided to cross the lake overnight, while a few species that had only a few representatives the day before, had arrived in large numbers - Magnolia Warblers, which I don't believe we saw at all on Thursday were everywhere on Friday morning, and there were American Redstarts at almost every stop.
Magnolia Warbler
American Redstart
After completing our first circuit of the boardwalk, which included spotting things like Bald Eagle, Swainson's and Grey-cheeked Thrushes, Yellow-billed and Black-billed Cuckoo, as well as over 20 species of warblers, (including watching a confiding Prothonotary as it brought nesting material to a cavity, *see below- yes, a cavity, they are a cavity-nesting warbler), we happened to be walking along next to one of the guys from
Tropical Birding who generously donated their time and talent to the
Biggest Week in American Birding festival as guides. His radio crackled something - and he repeated "Kirtland's Warbler confirmed at the beach?" Indeed, it sounded like there was a credible sighting at the east end of the beach, and that the birds was still there and singing. (There had been an unconfirmed report of a Kirtland's the day before, but it was never refound and nobody seemed to be able to say who was the one that reported it) He turned right around and so did we. We made our way to the beach, and there was no doubt that the bird was still there, as there were hundreds of birders (amazingly keeping a comfortable distance) watching the star of the week as he foraged along the scrubby habitat and stopped to sing now and again.
Kirtland's Warbler
We spent some time watching and photographing the bird, then moved out of the way so others could shuffle to the front for their turn at eye-popping looks of their own. Throughout the day, hundreds if not thousands of birders got their best looks ever of this bird - and like ourselves, it was a "lifer" for a lot of them. (Big thanks to Kenn Kauffman who found the bird and got the word out.) And from all the photos and videos I've seen of this bird in the last week (mostly from Facebook), I am betting that this is the single most photographed Kirtland's Warbler in history. Certainly this was the highlight of the trip for me!
We did go back to the boardwalk for another walk-through, before packing it up and getting in the car to head to Greyling, MI. I couldn't imagine that we were going to get any better looks at this bird there, but we had pre-paid the lodging etc, so another 4+ hours in the car and we arrived at our hotel after finding the meeting spot for the festival's 7am field trip.
Sandhill Cranes with chick in MI
The
Kirtland's Warbler Wildlife Festival was a nice little festival that managed to pull in birders from all over that come to get their "life" Kirtland's Warbler. I could be wrong about this, but I almost got the impression that it started as a local little festival more aimed at local residents, with lots of things like face-painting for kids, etc that has grown as word got out about the field trips to see the birds and their habitat. The looks that we had from the 7am field trip were certainly not the same as what we'd had in Ohio (I certainly wouldn't have complained if they were my life looks at this bird though!), but it was nice to get some history of the birds in the area and learning what management practices were being done to protect both the birds and their habitat. The folks that led the field trips - wildlife biologists from the forest service and US Fish and Wildlife, as well as from state wildlife departments, were enthusiastic and informative, and really seemed to be shocked to hear how many people were not local and how far some had travelled. After the field trip, and a little time at the festival, we packed up and headed the 4+ hours back to Ohio. This afternoon we spent some time driving the wildlife drive at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge.
Trumpeter Swan at Ottawa NWR
We were pretty lucky, in that this drive only seems to be open one day of the month, and we happened to be there that day so we got to see some of the refuge that is normally closed off. We managed to tick off a few extra birds for the trip list this afternoon in the form of some of grassland and shorebirds like American Pipits, Lesser Yellowlegs, Short-billed Dowitcher, Black-bellied Dunlin, and a Marbled Godwit that spent the day in a field drawing some pretty big crowds. We wrapped up the day as it started getting darker and found a nice restaurant for dinner to celebrate my birthday and a few days of non-stop traveling and excellent birding.
Blue-winged Teal
The next morning (Sunday) we did one last circuit of the boardwalk, though it was pretty windy which seemed to keep numbers down, then we got in the car and by 8:30am were back on the road for the long 12 hour drive home.
It was a long but (for me at least) a very satisfying weekend of birding. Everybody from the Tropical Birding Guides to the visiting birders at Black Swamp Bird Observatory and Magee Marsh were really nice and helpful (saying a lot for a crowd that size) and the birds really were spectacular - I would highly recommend heading out there if you ever have the chance, and the Biggest Week in American Birding Festival is a really opportune time to do it. With the success of this years festival, I can't imagine that they won't be doing it again. And even if you don't join the festival, I know quite a few birders that have been visiting over the years and always rave about the birding.
Prothonotary Warbler with nesting material at cavity
