If you are going to the Biggest Week, then I cannot stress enough how important it is to follow @BiggestWeek on Twitter and, if you can, get the tweets sent to your phone while you are at the festival. The tweets had me and my friend, Renee, chasing birds all over the place – with a high percentage of success. There are a number of good birders who have access to post tweets, so the area is pretty much covered.
Note: this post has embedded tweets, please be patient with the loading time.
Thanks to the tweets, our first afternoon at Magee started off with great views of a bird we only barely saw last year.
Gray-cheeked Thrush at the beginning of >Estuary Trail
Not sure where Estuary Trail is? Do not be shy to ask someone. Birding guides are all over the boardwalk; your fellow birders are also friendly and will be happy to help!
After a long day of birding outside of Magee, we came back to another good find. Once we got to the location, the crowd of people directed us where we needed to look.
American Bittern close to the road out in the open along the Magee Causeway (north end)! – Ethan Kistler
I would have never thought I would see a Bittern out in the open like this! He was busy fishing while many birders got great looks.
One of my favorite tweet stories happened on our third day. Renee and I just began the Ottawa wildlife drive and this tweet came in. She saw the tweet first didn’t know what to say about it. I picked up the phone and knew why.
We drove through the rest of the wildlife drive without looking for more birds and made our way to Magee. As we were walking to #13 on the boardwalk, birders assured us that the Owl was still there – and it was.
Long-eared Owl at Magee Marsh!
We did have some unsuccessful attempts at chasing tweets – you can’t get them all!
Black-billed Cuckoo just flew between # 1 and 3 – adrian
I can’t tell you how many times Renee and I chased the Black-billed Cuckoo in hopes of both of us getting a life bird. Unfortunately, this is one that we did not see. They did not show themselves for long, but the chase was fun. In the process, we did get to see one of the American Woodcocks off the boardwalk.
American Woodcock found while looking for Cuckoos
Another tweet came through that had us abandon the Cuckoo search that morning…
Golden-winged warbler showing nicely at north edge of small loop on MM boardwalk (7ish). -Greg Miller
This one was a success! Thank you, Greg – you helped us both get a great life bird!
Golden-winged Warbler at the loop
The loop turned out to be pretty popular for good Warblers. At one point, there were so many birds that people were using Warblers to direct birders to another Warbler.
Prothonotary and Canada at 7A on small loop – adrian
I hope this post convinced you – getting live tweets sent to your phone can really help you stay connected! You will also stay up to date on the latest event happenings.
Book signing: Stokes, Kaufman, Birdchick, Ken Keffer – 1 PM – AT BLACK SWAMP BIRD OBSERVATORY
That happened after the festival was over, but three Kirtland Warblers showed up and were tweeted about on the previous year during the festival, so you never know!
I still have my mind on the Biggest Week in American Birding. It was an unforgettable experience that will be tough to top. I saw 150 species of birds and had twelve – yes TWELVE – life birds. Last week, I wrote a post about some highlights from my trip. This week, I will continue by sharing some photos to show you what can be expected if you decide to attend next year – yes – I am already thinking about next year…
This Clay-colored Sparrow was a life bird!
Birds, birds and more birds
Beautiful birds are everywhere you look!
Cape May Warbler from the boardwalk tower
Baltimore Oriole near the boardwalk parking lot
Blue Gray Gnatcatcher taken from the boardwalk tower
You will see more than just birds
Aside from birds, you can see some cute mammals, rare snakes and many turtles.
This Raccoon was playing peek-a-boo with me
Do not let the crowds scare you away
Crowds will form where there are good birds – the good thing about these crowds is that someone in it will see a good bird so no bird goes unseen. When they spot a bird they will let you know what they are looking at and help you find it. I took some photos with my phone of the crowds, both what I saw…
What’s that? A Golden-winged Warbler?
And some viewpoints from the birds…
A bird’s view from the ground
A bird’s eye view of the boardwalk
There are other great spot to visit
If the crowds are too much for you, there are quiet spots both on and off the boardwalk to visit. You do not have to even stay at Magee Marsh – you can also go to the trails at Maumee Bay State Park, take the auto tour at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, go for a day trip to Oak Openings, watch birds from the Windows On Wildlife at Pearson Metropark, look for waterbirds at Metzger… there are so many great hotspots!
Red-bellied Woodpecker at taken from the “Windows on Wildlife”
Beautiful view from Oak Openings, taken with my phone
Hard-to-see birds will be in someone’s sights
How many times can you say that you’ve seen a Whip-poor-will perched in a tree??
Other birders directed us to this Whip-poor-will
You can test top-of-the-line scopes and binoculars at Optics Alley
I think this photo speaks for itself…
The scope line-up at Optics Alley
Bird by day, hang out by night!
Birds & Blooms hosted a karaoke night. I did not sing, but those who did gave a great show!
Kim Kaufman killed it on the karaoke floor
There are other great events during the day
While we were making our way out of Magee Marsh, we stopped at the visitor center and were surprised by some live birds of prey from Back to the Wild. These birds were injured and cannot be returned to the wild, so they are now used for educational purposes. It was nice to get some photos of more cooperative birds. And further down the road at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, they were banding wild songbirds – they had a Northern Waterthrush when we were there.
This young Peregrine Falcon was flapping around
This Bald Eagle was hit by a train and is now blind in one eye with an injured wing
My favorite little raptor, the American Kestrel
I hope to see a Barn Owl in the wild some time soon
This Barred Owl was keeping an eye on us
The Great Horned Owl was not as angry as he looks
You will make new friends
It was great birding with friends who we met last year – even after seeing them a year ago at 2012’s Biggest Week, we connected like we see each other all the time. We also met many new friends along the way. Everyone, from the bloggers to the guides to visitors on the boardwalk were pleasant to be around and we could not ask to be around a better group of people!
Kim Kaufman’s sand art
Did I mention that there are lots of great birds to be seen?
Magnolia Warbler
American Bittern out in the open on the Magee causeway
One of the greatest surprise sightings during the Biggest Week in American Birding last year was seeing usually-nocturnal birds during the day – with great views too! We did not even have to locate any of these birds ourselves; other birders already had them in their sight and were eager to share with anyone who was interested. All birds photographed below were seen right on the Magee Marsh boardwalk!
On our first day, we had the best views of an Eastern Screech-Owl that you could possibly ask for – and it was a life bird for me! I always thought I would first see one in a nesting box – it was great to see and photograph it perched naturally. We saw this bird every day that we visited the boardwalk.
Eastern Screech-Owl
The same day, we stumbled upon a Nightjar-like bird who was hunkered down in plain sight. We agreed that it was a Common Nighthawk when it finally stretched out a bit and showed us more of its body. A great view of another life bird!
Common Nighthawk
One of the more famous guests of the boardwalk could only be seen from a very specific area, on top of a bench, with one – maybe two – viewers at a time. Others had better views of these Great-horned Owlets, but I will take even this view any day! And dare I say – life bird number three for the nocturnal species, even if it was just the young!
Great-horned Owlets
We heard about the breeding pair of American Woodcocks who would show themselves during the day. Guides had their scopes pointed at the “eye of the woodcock” on her nest at various times throughout the week. This was one bird that we really wanted to see since all of us had only seen them at dusk when the males display. We were not disappointed!
American Woodcock
This one may not have been a life bird, but I’ve never seen a Woodcock like this before!
American Woodcock Close-up
One more nocturnal surprise was a fly-by adult Black-crowned Night-heron that we saw while on a half-day field trip in search of water birds. We also did catch some of these night birds at night. One of the most memorable experiences was having a woodcock land right in front of us after his flight display on the same night that we caught an Eastern Screech-Owl – all on the property of the Maumee Bay Lodge while celebrating Cinco de Mayo with new friends. Birding plus margaritas?? Sure!!
This year, I am proud to announce that I am on the blogging team for The Biggest Week in American Birding. This festival is a ten-day “week” of some of the most amazing spring birding in the country which includes guided tours, keynote speakers, workshops, a great camaraderie of birders and, most of all…
BIRDS
Cape May Warbler
AT
Red-breasted Nuthatch
EYE
American Woodcock
LEVEL
Prothonotary Warbler
The Biggest Week takes place in Northwest Ohio aka “The Warbler Capital of the World.” It is headquartered at Maumee Bay Lodge & Conference Center and also features events and walks at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and the Black Swamp Bird Observatory in Magee Marsh. If you want to see great birds, meet great people and take a break from warbler-neck – this is the place to be! Oh, did I mention that last year they saw THREE Kirtlands Warblers?? I missed them, but am hoping to find them in May!
Yellow Warbler
I will be sharing my experiences from last year, so keep an eye on my updates to see more!
