Going Coastal

Marblehead Light

This may not be the image that first pops into your mind at the mention of the word Ohio.
Ohio’s a Midwestern state, right?
Farmland boasting fertile fields of both corn and beans, a hint of hill country to the east where the Appalachian plateau rises from the Ohio River Valley, and Columbus situated at its center—including, of course, the sprawling campus of The Ohio State University, where, this time each year, thousands relapse into a case of Buckeye Fever that consumes the region until football season has passed.
A lighthouse is perhaps the last thing you might associate with the state of Ohio.

Lake Erie at Dawn

But, despite its mid-continental existence, the state of Ohio claims over 300 miles of coastline where it meets the southern shore of Lake Erie, the southernmost and shallowest of the 5 Great Lakes. Boasting some of the best birding in the world, especially during migration, sites within this area provide critical marshland and shoreline and are designated an Important Bird Area—globally recognized habitat for bird conservation. Wading, shore and water birds abound here, and in the more wooded areas adjoining it, many songbirds, as well.


In the center of what is termed the Lake Erie Western Basin, sits the quaint village of Lakeside—the site of the 2011 Midwest Birding Symposium—surrounded by many legendary opportunities for great birding.


Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, known as the Warbler Capitol of the World, is probably best known for its famous boardwalk along the lakefront that draws thousands of onlookers each spring as warblers rest and refuel before crossing the Great Lakes to points north. Other sites that are frequent favorites include Black Swamp Bird Observatory, East Harbor State Park, Marblehead Lighthouse State Park, Meadowbrook Marsh, and Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge.


To be unveiled by the Ohio Division of Wildlife at this year’s symposium, is the Lake Erie Birding Trail--84 sites in an expanded area from Toledo to Conneaut, organized into 7 easily-driven loops and offering birders a chance to tally nearly 400 species along its length. As popular as birding has become, the grand opening of this newest of North American birding trails will surely be welcomed by birders beyond the borders of Ohio, for, situated in “The Heart of it All,” Ohio is within a one-day drive of nearly half of the population of North America!

Click on the logo above
to access a copy of the COBP donation form

Feeling a little torn between a desire to travel these trails in the pursuit of the birds and a desire to curb your carbon footprint?
This year at the Midwest Birding Symposium, an experimental and voluntary Carbon Offset Bird Project will be launched giving attendees an opportunity to calculate the impact of their bird-related travel to and during the symposium.
As monetary values are suggested to offset emissions based upon mileage and vehicle type, donations collected in this effort will be used to secure additional wetland habitat adjacent to Meadowbrook Marsh, just east of Lakeside.


No, the beaches of Ohio's lakefront don't smell of salt air.
And you won't find clams or lobster on the menu here.
But the birding is world-class.
The birders, too.


If you're not signed up for the Midwest Birding Symposium, get on board!
And be sure to follow the course of events as these bloggers report from Lakeside, Ohio.

Heather Aubke / Heather of the Hills

Jane Blumenthal / Wrenaissance Reflections

Nancy Castillo / The Zen BirdFeeder

Corey Finger / 10000 Birds

Nina Harfmann / Nature Remains

Ruth Johnson / Nature Knitter Blog

Robert Mortensen / Birding is Fun

Greg Neise / NA Birding

John Riutta / The Well-read Naturalist

Lynne Schoenborn / Hasty Brook

Julie Zickefoose / Julie Zickefoose on Blogspot

The Birding Curve

Prothonotary Warbler in Wet Woods

I recall a brief greeting several years ago in an exchange one spring afternoon beside a boardwalk.
“The prothonotary has returned!” he said.
But as I stepped onto the wooden-planked path looping the lake at our local nature center, the excitement this announcer had hoped to read on my face as he joyfully told me of his discovery was clearly absent.
I didn’t know this bird and, although I might have been able to conjure up a vague image in my mind from browsing the plates of warblers in my field guide, the proclamation of its presence there meant little…to me.

Years later, I would learn this bird while walking one summer afternoon on another wetland boardwalk, deeply shaded and winding between tall swamp cottonwood trees that stood in several inches of water.

Ebony Jewelwing damselfly, male

A ringing call had stolen my attention from the black-winged damselflies that were knitting up the frayed edges of a patch of sunlight--a brief, bright spot in the darkened, wet woods. The song's source had eluded me, though, for quite some time, as I stood peering past the thick, leafy cover where a small bird restlessly flitted, low to the ground, foraging close to the water’s edge.
Eventually, I matched both sound and sight to the boldly yellow-colored warbler in my field guide--the Prothonotary.
An afternoon’s shelter from the strong light and heat of July and my pursuit of ebony jewelwings had given me a life bird, time to stand and watch it work this wetland habitat, time to soak in the rich sound as it spread across the water, golden as the bird from which it flowed.

For the remainder of that summer, I found prothonotary warblers everywhere.
From beside every lake that I canoed,
every quiet river that I kayaked,
every river-rimmed trail that I hiked, I found the song and it followed me--and often, gave a glimpse of the golden bird--until I knew it well and understood the joy of finding its return.

Meadow of Siebenthaler Fen

This summer I walked again on the wetland boardwalk where I’d first found my prothonotary warbler, though this time it was butterflies that were on my mind—Baltimore Checkerspots.
In the sunny meadow, a handful of the uncommon flutterbys skipped, barely stopping to nectar
before whisking past and out of camera range.

Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly

Pleased that I’d timed my visit to find them flying, yet discouraged that in their flying, I saw so very little of them, I wandered slowly back along the boardwalk to the point where it passed into the darkened cottonwood swamp once again.

Cedar Waxwing

A small flock of cedar waxwings crossed the cattail marsh and landed just overhead, lining up shoulder-to-shoulder on the graceful branches of several small willows. Dragonflies paused in the sunshine of the wooden boards, then rose to course above its sedge-filled edges and tall reeds just out of reach of 2 green frogs sitting neck-deep and motionless in the cool water of the fen. Their watchful eye, for this moment, had turned to the northern water snake gliding silently behind them.
Yes, everything about this picture of a still, wooded wetland should suggest a prothonotary warbler. And, if the mangrove forests of coastal Central and South America had sustained him for the winter, the bird I found last year would be back to breed here once more.


Through the darkened woods, across the water that stretched between the cottonwood trees, came the resounding call—clear and bright as the little bird behind it. And, in knowing the bird, hearing his song as I’d heard it before in the very same spot along the trail, my heart made just a little extra beat.
No one felt it but me.
“The prothonotary had returned!”

Prothonotary Warbler, Protonaria citrea

The Prothonotary Warbler, Protonaria citrea, breeds in hardwood swamps and forested lakeshores of the southeastern United States and is named for the scribes (prothonotaries) in the Roman Catholic Church who wore golden, hooded robes. Dubbed the Golden Swamp Warbler by John James Audubon, it is the only eastern warbler to nest in tree cavities, often using the excavated holes of Downy Woodpeckers and building mossy nests in trees near or over standing water.
Adults forage in low foliage for aquatic insects, snails, flies, beetles and spiders.
Because the prothonotary warbler is extremely habitat specific, habitat loss (wooded wetlands in the southeastern US and mangrove swamps of Latin America) may cause this species to decline.

No matter where you might be on the birding curve—whether you’ve learned the prothonotary’s ringing call or have never even heard of such a bird, whether you’ve mastered all the species’ migration routes or are still fumbling to find the focus wheel of your binoculars—the Midwest Birding Symposium has something in it for YOU!
There’s no better way to improve your skills, than to put yourself smack in the middle of a bunch of better birders—experts who are passionate about sharing something they love with another and super-nice folks who fondly remember exactly where they were when someone showed them their first life birds.
It’s not too late to get registered.
You’ll be surprised how much fun birds and birders can be!
I’d love to see you there!

Solace for the Night Owl

Summer solstice is behind us.
And with it, have gone the lengthening days that offer me, each evening, a reprise—several hours more to explore the outdoors. The very trails I walked this morning, with fading light, become wholly unknown. Though the path is familiar, the journey never the same.

I treasure the long days for their evening hours—
their time to watch fireflies light the hedgerows,
their time to capture katydids from within tall stands of grass,
their time to walk the edges of my pond and find the largest bullfrog, neck-deep in moonlit water, watching me,
their time to bring sounds from the nighttime woods and weave them into each night’s dream.

Bullfrog, male in pond

I’m beginning to recognize that, even in this year in which spring seemed to be moving more slowly than usual, we have arrived at this turning point of daylight exactly as we should. The certainty of summer’s onset reminds me that, more than merely being very late, this year, spring was very short.
Can it be that it is already time to give day-lit hours back to the night?

I would wish for yet another encore—
more sweet-scented walks to visit milkweed cloaked in moths,
whose eyes glow golden in my light as I pass by.
Take care, for there is a curtain falling slowly.
The actors in this summer play soon take their final bow.

Moths on Milkweed

...

Need something to look forward to in the coming months?
Looking for a way to celebrate summer’s end?
How about the Midwest Birding Symposium, taking place mid-September in the lovely lakeside community of…Lakeside, Ohio.
This cozy, gated community on the shore of Lake Erie will come alive for 4 fun-filled days of everything bird-related. The Midwest Birding Symposium (MBS) rotates through each of the Midwestern states, remaining for 2 consecutive hostings in its biennial occurrence, before moving on to an adjacent hosting state.
I attended Ohio’s last Symposium in September of 2009. What I can only inadequately describe as a top-notch performance and gathering of avian experts, enthusiasts and environmentally-minded individuals (It’s not just birds. Last year David Sibley introduced his new Guide to Trees) is coming to town again! And having had a wonderful experience last time, I’d be a fool not to get on board while I still can.
There’s a cute little ice cream shop on the corner, an historic hotel with skinny rooms and tall ceilings, rolling lawns and unending sidewalks, a cruise on the lake, programs and performances…and birds.
Sound too good to be true? It pretty much is.
Would you like to meet some of your friends from around the country? Or listen to some helpful hints from birders we all have grown to admire? They’re all here—milling around on the sidewalks, sipping coffee, signing books…finding birds.
You should be, too.
Registration is open! Drop me a line and I’ll look for you!
I can’t wait for September!
It’s solace for this night owl.

Barred Owl

Great Horned Owl

Long-Eared Owl

Owls presented by "Back to the Wild"
MBS 2009