The Biggest Week in American Birding!...part one..or so...

 One of the few warblies of the day was this gorgeous Blackburnian Warbler.

For the past two weekends, I've been participating in The Biggest Week in American Birding festival. I drove van loads of happy birders to some of the best areas in northwest Ohio to see some of the best birds! Some folks even managed to get lifers! I was lucky enough to co-lead two beginners and access challenged bird walks at Pearson Metropark in Oregon, Ohio. It's a fantastic park with great treails and a "window on wildlife" as well. Oh, and a playground too...but they wouldn't let me play on it.

This first installment is from Friday May 3rd, a moist and misty day. Of course, I wore shorts and everyone thought I must be a little loopy...and they are right you know. I didn't think about bringing long pants, once the shorts come out, they stay out!

Make sure you come to next years Biggest Week which should be Bigger than ever! I hope to see you there!

A Barn Swallow chillin' on the rocks at Howard marsh.

Yoiks! Those are some long legs. No wonder they them Black-necked Stilts!

This Black-throated Blue Warbly posed nice...for a split second...

...and then he was off to places unknown...

Thousands of Blue Jays were soaring along the shores edge of Lake Erie waiting for the right winds to help them fly across the lake to Canada.

A very shy Cape May Warbly...

Getting the stink eye from that Cape May because I caught him from behind!

Our leader said there was a Common Gallinule swimming across from us...so I took a dozen pics of "across from us." You find him!

Alllllll the way to the right end of the frame, the last frame by the way...

The Dunlin were a little easier to find...there were dozens to pick from!

I picked this Dunlin too...

Not the least of my photos of peeps...this is a Least Sandpiper..ha.... 

Called that because he is the smallest of sandpipers.

Why it's a turtley turtle! A Midland Painted Turtley turtle...

I'm thinking about starting a new spin off blog called "Woodpeckers From Behind"...or not.

This is a Red-headed Woodpecker...and I'll leave that idea alone.

At Pearson's window on wildlife we saw close to a dozen Rose-breasted Grosbeaks!

This solitary sandpiper is called a Solitary Sandpiper...for obvious reasons. Bad breath?

And this sandpiper with spots is called...you guessed it! A Spotted Sandpiper. You kids are catching on!

This wildflower growing in the wild is a wildflower that I do not known the name of.

Woo-hoo! My most favoritest bird song is from this lovely Wood Thrush!

(It's not really made of wood...)

And I'll leave you for today with the appropriately named Yellow-rumped Warbly...from the front though...next time I'll get it right...

Until next time, happy birding!

 

The Longest Twitch...only 30 years to go!

 *Fun Fact(that I just made up!)...

Song Sparrows love to play peek-a-boo!

Try it!

 Hard to believe, but we are up to 33sites visited on the Lake Erie Birding Trail...and I will torment you all with more bad photos of them all...mwahaha! Only 55 more to go.

The latest site visited was Pearson Metropark, part of the Toledo Metropark system. We made it out there at the end of a very long day, birding at Ottawa, Metzger Marsh AND Magee Marsh. We will have to go back and check out more of the trails and their fantastically restored wetlands!

 Great trails wind through the woodlands to a nature center.

 

 This little birdy was a puzzlement. He didn't want anyone to get near.

We finally discovered he was a Swainson's Thrush.

That white wing patch really confused me!

(AND I'm still waiting for someone to send me a 500mm Canon lens...!)

 

 You can tell by the splash pattern that this is an American Robin.

Very distinctive droplets...indeed.

 

 See? I told ya!

They have a very nice "window on wildlife" in the visitors building.

Lots of feeders, a small pond and a waterfall...and lots of chipmunks!

 

 Our best pretend smiles...now where's the nearest restaurant?

 

 No turtle soup, thank you.

 

 The visitors center at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge.

Gorgeous  inside and out with plenty of activities indoors, photo displays and a gift shop.

 Though we've been to Ottawa dozens of times in the past, according to The Doodles, they didn't count towards the Longest Twitch. What the heck, let's go again! There's always good birding here, no matter the time of year. You have over 9,000 acres to wander in, so you're bound to find something intriguing to spy.

We didn't quite cover all 9,000 acres today...maybe 3...or 2...or  not. We did make it around the boardwalk behind the center and past two of the ponds. We'll have to go back soon!
 

 Behind the center is a Purple Martin house...and you'll never guess what we saw on it!

Well, I guess you did...guess...I guess.

 The boardwalk received The Doodles highest bench rating.

 

 Meanwhile...back with the birds...

Oooh...a Pied-billed Grebe(love that name!) and a Common Gallinule.

He'll always be a Common Moorhen in my heart...

 

 I crept up very creepily on this Common Yellowthroat.

I've been told many times how good I am at being creepy.

 A cozy pair of Eastern Kingbirds relaxing in the noonday sun.

 I apparently was disturbing this Tree Swallows nap time.

Sorry.

 There's nothing like a crunchy spider for lunch to make an Eastern Wood-Pewee happy!

 9,000 acres and these two Great Egrets were fighting over a square foot of marsh.

Doh.

 They're so cute when they're small...

Then they turn into Canada Geese and poop on your shoes.

 Brown Thrasher from afar.

Canon 500mm lens! Anyone listening!

I would even settle for a 600mm...or even an 800mm...

 

And this Warbling Vireo says it all...

Wetlands...

 You never know where you'll find wetland habitat.

This is in downtown Columbus, Ohio

 This Saturday, June 22nd 2013, the Ohio Wetland Association will be holding their annual meeting AND jamboree at the historic Homer Page Farm near Milan, Ohio. You know Milan, Ohio! It's the birthplace of Thomas A. Edison. Wow...three plugs in one sentence! I think that's a record for me...

A lot of people don't think about our endangered and disappearing watery habitats very much. They should. Especially birders. There's so many species to be found migrating through these areas and breeding and nesting as well. For decades, wetlands were considered nuisance areas and should be drained for farmland and development. "Let's make something useful out of that marsh!" Not realizing that these marshy areas help filter and clean out water that we so kindly pollute.

Now that we're hitting the summer season and the migrating warblys have passed us by for Canada, this would be a good time to visit your local misty moisty area and take a peek. You'll be surprised by all that's going on around you!

 Hey Doodles! 

Look at those Common Moorhens, oops, Gallinules fighting over who's gonna get the photo taken!

We're just starting to see more dragonflies appearing for summer buggy fun!

These Black Saddlebags are easy to spot as well as dozens of other species.

A good substitute for warblys in the summer!

 

 Oh yeah... Magee Marsh.

Definitely my favorite marsh in May!

You can find warblys and migrants in May, dragonflies and marsh birds in the summer, 

and shorebirds and ducks flying through in the fall.

 Every time I see a Green Heron, they look a little different.

This chubby guy was at Sanibel Island, Florida.

 

 Speaking of Florida...

We saw this Limpkin's butt while on a visit, give me a minute and I'll remember where...or not...

 

 Meadowbrook Marsh is very close to Magee.

The folks in this town realized how important this type of habitat is and restored it. 

Three cheers for them!

 

 You'll also see Midland Painted Turtles among others...and frogs...and snakes...and bugs...and...

 You didn't think I would forget one of my favorite wetland nesting warblys did you?

Oh boy, it's a Prothonotary Warbly thing!

Everyone gets excited when they see on of these bright little birds!

 

 Then there's the National Wildlife Refuge Systems.

These are supported by hunters when they buy their duck stamps.

Have YOU bought a duck stamp? Hmmmm?

This is Ottawa NWR.

 

 So, where do you think Sandhill Cranes nested?

Yep, marsh moisty wetlands.

 This Virginia Rail was not in Virginia...though I think it's name was Virginia...or Bob...

 Sandy Ridge Reservation is a great place to visit with woodland and wetland habitats.

You can spot Bald Eagles, Sandhill Cranes, herons, ducks and shorebirds there.

 Ummm...these Sora are not fighting...they're...ummm...making more Soras. Yeah, that's it.

 

 Look closely and you may be surprised at what you see in a marsh!

Besides Wood Ducks...and yes, this is a real photo and I DO NOT use Photoshop in any of my photos!

 

And now for the token booty shot!

We found this Common Snipe sharing the boardwalk at the Ohio and Erie Canal Reservation with us.

He's so kind to lead the way.

NOW GET OUT THERE AND GET YOUR FEET WET!