Ohio & Michigan: Magee Marsh & Kirtland’s Warbler

We will visit a number of hotspots during the course of our trip, several of which will be well worth more than one visit. The most famous of these is undoubtedly the 1-mile boardwalk at Magee Marsh WA which traverses though eastern deciduous woods. Here, along with similar woods at Ottawa NWR, Maumee Bay SP and Metzger Marsh WA it is possible to find up to 25 species of warblers, 5 vireos, 5 thrushes, various flycatchers, and orioles in a day. Imagine spectacled Blue-headed Vireos, brilliantly colorful Cape May, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Bay-breasted and Blackburian Warblers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Scarlet Tanagers all at close range!

If we are lucky the adjacent cattails marshes may yield the secretive King Rail along with singing Lincoln’s Sparrows. In recent years the endangered Kirtland’s Warbler has made a rare appearance in this hotspot, and we hope to be just as lucky. On one evening there will be an optional dusk outing to watch American Woodcock display near to the Black Swamp Bird Observatory.

Rural Ohio is dotted with antiquated barns and white silos bordering endless fields. We will search the ephemeral pools within plowed fields for Savannah Sparrow, Horned Larks, Yellow-headed Blackbird and Black-bellied Plover.

Ottawa NWR consists of 4,755 acres of extensive woods, shrub lands, coastal wetlands, grasslands and open fields that has been designated as a critical migratory bird resting area. In the more open areas American Kestrels, Eastern Bluebirds, Blue Grosbeak, Orchard Oriole, Purple Martins can be seen flying over grasslands as Pheasants wonder through the corn stubble. There is an extensive system of foot-trail loops on the dikes surrounding several marsh impoundments. We will scour the mudflats for Dunlin, Pectoral Sandpiper, both yellowlegs, and lingering waterfowl. We should encounter nesting Trumpeter Swans and possibly a Black Tern in full breeding plumage quartering over the marsh.

West of Toledo lies Oak Openings Preserve, a unique swathe of oak woodlands and savannas, remnant prairies and sand barren habitat, that holds an impressive diversity of birds. Our targets will be the breeding birds, including Hooded, Blue-winged, Prairie and Pine Warbler, Lark Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow, Bobolink, Summer Tanager, Blue Grosbeak and Red-headed Woodpecker.

We head north of Detroit into central Michigan stopping along the way for Cerulean Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler and Henslow’s Sparrow. We will join an early morning forest service tour of the Jack Pine WA where Kirtland’s Warbler breed. Along with hopefully good views of this endangered species, we will look for Clay-colored Sparrow, Upland Sandpiper and Brewer’s Blackbird. Another wonderful migrant trap is Tawas Point State Park where we explore various areas of the park for songbirds, any there is always the chance of a rarity showing up. Our final stop is at Nayanquing Point SWA along the edge of Saginaw Bay gives us an opportunity at rails, bitterns, shorebirds, terns and Sedge Wren, before having to return to Detroit.