Ohio-West Virginia Day 5

We finally made it back to Disneyland for Birders–Northwest Ohio in May. Warblerpalooza. And we visited Magee Marsh WMA, Maumee Bay State Park, and Pearson Metropark.

Scarlet Tanager at Magee Marsh WMA – photo by Greg Miller

It was downright cold today with temperatures barely reaching 50 F with a brisk wind. Birds were few, but variety was decent. We tallied 83 species on the day with 12 species of warblers.

Far and away the rarest bird of the day was a light morph Rough-legged Hawk flying over Maumee Bay State Park boardwalk. This bird should be well on its way north to the Arctic to feed on lemmings. What is it still doing here in Ohio? Eating pie at Blackberry Corners? (haha. I couldn’t resist) The red morph Eastern Screech-Owl gets the award for being the cutest as it stuck its face out of a tiny owl box on the boardwalk also at Maumee Bay State Park. And an Orange-crowned Warbler was the best warbler of the day showing off to many near #7 on the Magee Marsh boardwalk.

Our trip total is up to 148 species and the Big Year Tours total is now 366 species. Our participants have done a marvelous job of finding birds and helping immensely by pointing out birds to other team members. It’s been a satisfying trip with a bunch of happy campers. Our warbler total is still 32. While the winds aren’t doing us any favors, I certainly can wish for some surprises tomorrow.

More birding in Northwest Ohio is on the agenda for tomorrow. Now it’s time for some shut eye…