Tom and I spent three days at Lake Erie birding in some of the parks along the coast. Howard MetroPark has been open since last year. It is part of the Toledo MetroPark system. The park personal are in the process of turning the Howard farm back to its natural marshy state. Already, the birds have found it.
Tom and I have seen Horned Larks in the past but we have never seen one as close as this one. For a while it perched on a big rock and sang its beautiful song.
Later, it, or another one, sat on the gravel beside the van as we ate our lunch. We looked at it and it looked at us.
We got really good looks at its tiny "horns".
Another bird we rarely see up close is this Caspian Tern. Usually we see them flying.
We saw lots of Trumpeter Swans. Trumpeter Swans are one of the successful Conservation projects in this area. For many years there were none in the area.
Tom is good at spotting Snowy Egrets. If you click on it, you can see the red between its bill and eye which only appears in breeding season.
This Great Egret has the distinctive green patch between its eye and bill. The patch and fluffy feathers tell us it is in breeding plumage. This one has wet "fluffy' feathers so they are stringy, not fluffy.
The bird I was elated to see was this Yellow-headed Blackbird. They nest in the area but they are not often seen. The last one I saw was years ago at Cheyenne Bottoms in Kansas. Tom had to take this picture through the front window so it is not as clear as it might be. The situation was beyond Tom's control.
Our next stop was Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge.
One of the most noticeable birds was the Eastern Kingbird. Tom took some photos that showed the entire bird better but this one shows the identifying white band across its tail best.
We drove the Ottawa dike drive on Thursday and again on Friday. On both days we saw many Eastern Kingbirds and also large numbers of Trumpeter Swans and Great Egrets. We heard Yellow Warblers all along the drive and toward the end of the drive we came across this one in its nest.
The boardwalk at Magee Marsh is the place to see a big variety of warblers. Sometimes the warblers are close to the railing. Other times they are further away.
Sometimes they are high in the trees.
Below are portraits of some that were close enough to see without binoculars.
Bay-breasted Warbler (male)
Chestnut-sided Warbler (male)
Magnolia Warbler (male)
At all three locations , we saw families of Canada Geese.
