I've been hearing a lot about the Magee Marsh Wildlife Area recently, and especially about its reputation as an amazing hotspot for migrating birds in May. This preserve is on the southern shore of Lake Erie, and as the high concentrations of birds pass through the area in the spring, so come the birders! There was a huge birding festival at Magee Marsh all last week. Since I'm not a big crowds person, I waited until this past Tuesday morning to go check this place out. And yes, it was pretty great; a bit crowded, but still fun! Long boardwalks wind through marshy forests with lots of low bushes that help bring birds down to eye level. It was cold, cloudy, and windy when I visited, and there weren't insane amounts of birds (it wasn't one of those heavy-bird days at Magee Marsh that I've read about, when birds are practically dripping from the trees). But there were many, many cool creatures to see!
One of the most interesting parts of the visit for me was getting to walk around in an area entirely populated with birders: all these people with their soft voices and reserved movements, pointing their lenses at spots of interest in waves. I walked by one clump of people who were all staring at the base of a tree and passing around the word "Gray-cheeked Thrush," and yes, there it was (a bird I'd never seen before and would've had trouble identifying on my own). A few yards further along the boardwalk, another group was muttering "American Woodcock" and cooing happily whenever a new person managed to see the well-camouflaged bird; it was all super adorable, both the people and the bird:
An adult Bald Eagle perched in a nearby tree got a few points and exclamations, but it was much less of a celebrity than the woodcock:
So yeah, there are definitely some benefits to being around groups of other people looking for birds; I almost certainly wouldn't have noticed this slowly-moving woodcock on my own (it was trying really hard to stay hidden)! Most of the time, though, I did what I prefer to do, which is just wander around quietly on my own and see what creatures I can see.
Gray Catbirds were all over the place in these woods. This catbird was singing directly overhead near the boardwalk's entrance, and I got a clear view of the rusty feathers under its tail:
Gray Catbirds are quite handsome birds, and I'm glad they've returned for the summer:
This Eastern Kingbird was hunting for flying bugs at the edge of a small pond; I'd never noticed how beautiful these birds' wing feathers are, with those white outlines, although this individual's normally white-tipped tail was quite bedraggled:
Is it just me, or are those feet really small?
I love this bird's wide flycatcher beak:
Another Eastern Kingbird was hanging around on the beach. I think flycatchers look really cool:
Hordes of iridescent Tree Swallows were swooping through the air all along the beach, and this one paused to pick at something in the sand:
A flying Great Blue Heron strangely touched the water for a moment on the open lake, as if it thought about landing and then changed its mind; I love this dangling/dancing pose:
A male Baltimore Oriole lit up the overcast woods:
And I was surprised at how bright this American Robin looked; it's no oriole, but it's not too far off:
With so many leaves on the trees now, the smaller songbirds were pretty difficult to see! This Red-eyed Vireo only showed itself briefly:
And this is the best picture I got of a male Blackburnian Warbler who was working his way quickly through the trees:
Male Blackpoll Warblers showed up a few times, hunting for bugs in low branches:
It looks like this guy found something:
I love this warbler's stripey back:
Yellow Warblers were all over the place, males with their fancy striped chests:
And plainer (but still very bright) females:
This female was being chased by a couple of males, but she still managed to do some foraging:
Yellow warblers can look so cute from some angles:
My visit to Magee Marsh didn't yield the most birds I've ever seen, or the most amazing/impressive diversity, but it was still a great trip with lots of awesome creatures! I'm very glad I got to visit this place while I'm still living in the area.
Fall migration brings an ever-changing cast of characters through the trees outside our apartment's windows, and I love it! In the past week, we've had several cool and unusual visitors stop by, many of them warblers that I only rarely get to see. Here are some highlights!
A few American Redstarts (a species of warbler) have appeared to flutter and forage in our trees, including one fancy black-and-orange male (who was too quick for a picture). Mostly, these birds have been females and young males in their more subdued (but still quite pretty) outfits:
A camera-shy Northern Parula (another warbler) has stopped by a couple of times, sporting patches of yellow/green both on its chest and on its back:
And a dainty Black-throated Green Warbler brought some bright color to one of our recent gray days:
(Male Black-throated Green Warblers have black throats in the spring, although I'm not sure where the "green" part of the name comes from.)
My favorite warbler so far, though, has been this lovely Cape May Warbler (a totally new bird for me):
How pretty is this bird? (So pretty.) The subtle brown/gray/yellow patterning on its face makes me think of fall (the leaves are starting to change now!), and its yellow-and-black chest is just too cool:
That's one bright yellow chin!
Along with the warblers, a Red-eyed Vireo has come through as well:
And even though they're not new or fancy, I still can't help admiring our local Black-capped Chickadees. This one had an intense grooming session near our window recently, cleaning its fluffy underarms:
And preening each of its long primary feathers, one at a time:
(You seem to be standing on your wing feathers there, bird. Does that help with the grooming process?)
There's been so much variety already, and there's still a lot of migration to come! I wonder what the next week will bring. :)
Perhaps "caravan" would be a more suitable word, but either way, the stream of south-bound birds passing through our yard just keeps going, and today brought some very cool new visitors.
A juvenile Red-eyed Vireo (its eyes are still brown, so it's not yet an adult) stopped to search the Red Cedar branches for tasty bugs, and we got to look each other over:
And in the vireo's wake was a pretty little Magnolia Warbler:
Magnolia Warblers are strikingly marked with black, white, and yellow in the spring, but even in its more subdued fall outfit this bird was amazingly bright! (This next picture provides a better representation of the bird's colors in real life.)
I never get to see vireos so close up, because they're usually high in trees while I'm far below, and Magnolia Warblers only pass through Southern Connecticut in the spring and fall, so both of these birds were pretty awesome to see. It feels positively luxurious to be home and have such a wide variety of creatures come to me. What a fantastic time of year!
Yesterday I celebrated my return to Connecticut with a trip to the Naugatuck State Forest, and once again, the woods looked completely different from when I was last there ten days before. The ferns are huge and covering the forest floor, some of the vernal pools are all but completely dried up (poor little tadpoles, will they survive in the damp muck until the next rain?), and the insects of all kinds were out and about (including the flying, biting kind, unfortunately).
The spring flowers are just about all gone, and the summer flowers are opening. These Ox-eye Daisies and bright yellow Hawkweeds (either Field or Pale Hawkweed, I'm not sure which), both non-native species, were bringing some cheery color into the open areas:
These flowers were keeping close company with plain but pretty Common Yarrow:
In the woods, Maple-leaf Viburnum shrubs were blooming everywhere:
And in the shade near a stream I found this Yellow Stargrass, which I don't think I've ever seen before:
Here are a couple of butterflies that sat still long enough for me to take their picture, first a cute little skipper of some sort (I'm not sure of the exact species):
And this Red-spotted Purple (I think the name might make more sense if I'd seen the undersides of this creature's wings):
There were quite a few different types of dragonflies and damselflies zooming around, but I've only managed to identify this one -- a Chalk-fronted Corporal:
And on a raspberry leaf, I found this surprisingly pretty Forest Tent Caterpillar (a pest sometimes, but apparently not every year):
I did see some birds as well, including my first Indigo Bunting of the year (so pretty), and a Great Crested Flycatcher (a first for me) -- no pictures of these guys, though. This Wood Thrush did pose for me in the underbrush, however (don't you just love those spots?):
And I watched this Red-eyed Vireo doing some serious acrobatics to get a meal -- it looks like hanging upside-down from a leaf got him or her a nice insect-y mouthful here:
As I was leaving, I found one last treat -- the Wild Strawberries are almost perfectly ripe:
I saw tons of these plants blooming a couple of weeks ago, but this was the only collection of ripening fruit I found today. A lot of the strawberry plants have been shaded out by other plants (mostly Poison Ivy), so I don't know how much of the fruit is actually still there. I'm just hoping I'll be passing by when some of these berries are ripe. (And I'm dreaming up schemes for how I might be able to get some of these seeds into my garden....)
So a great trip overall, despite the increasingly gross weather. (It was in the mid-80s when I was in the woods yesterday, and the weather forecast is calling for high-90s by Thursday.... Yuck!) It's good to be home!
