Ohio-West Virginia Day 6

Birders on the Magee Marsh boardwalk – photo by Greg Miller

This is trip #4 of 11 Big Year Tours for Wildside Nature Tours. We birded in West Virginia and Ohio looking for spring migrants. This tour is especially good for Eastern Wood Warblers. There are 38 species of warblers possible on this itinerary, but not all are likely. So far, we have seen 32 of the 38 possible species of warblers. This is an excellent number given the wind and weather conditions. It’s been cold and the winds have been out of the north save for a single day earlier this week. (winds out of the south are coveted by birders here)

Today we visited the Magee Marsh boardwalk, Magee Marsh Estuary Trail, the Boss Unit of Ottawa NWR, Oak Openings Metropark, and the inland pond at Maumee Bay State Park.

Highlights today included an Orange-crowned Warbler before the small square on the boardwalk, a Yellow-breasted Chat near the same location as last year on the East Entrance extension on the boardwalk, Lark Sparrows at Reed & Girdham in Oak Openings, a Hairy Woodpecker at the Buehner Center at Oak Openings, and a Bonaparte’s Gull at the inland pond at Maumee Bay State Park.

And it was great to see the boardwalk start to fill with people as birders began arriving for The Biggest Week in American Birding festival.

Our day’s total is 92 species and our Ohio-West Virginia tour total after day 6 is 156. The Big Year Tours total is now 368.