Magee Marsh, Metzger Marsh, Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, Spring Bird Migration

Early this month, May 4, 5, and 6, Tom and I made our annual pilgrimage to Lake Erie to see the warblers stopping there before most of them flew across the lake to their nesting grounds in Canada.

We don't get up early like the truly dedicated birders do who are out at the stopping areas shortly after daylight.  Nor do we continue searching for special species till dark.  But we thoroughly enjoy seeing the birds we find as we casually bird.  My favorite activity is finding a "show-off" bird and watching it for ten or fifteen minutes.

We arrived after lunch on May 4 and birded for three hours on the Magee Marsh Boardwalk.  There was not a huge crowd.  We birded from the van in the parking lot until the light rain stopped.

Photograhers had cameras set up near the entrance platform.  A Scarlet Tanager male and female were having a flirting session.  Here is the male, stopped for the moment and a photographer taking advantage of the situation.

This was a great year for seeing Scarlet Tanagers.  Usually we only see them high in the trees.  This year we saw them flitting among lower branches along the fringes of the woods.

On May sixth Tom and I decided to see what birds were at Metzger Marsh. At the turnaround at the lake edge Tom took this photo.

Below are a few other photos from the trip.

Cape May Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Common Terns

Ruddy Ducks