I will once again be a part of the blogging team for The Biggest Week in American Birding. I had so much fun writing about my experiences last year and hope to gear everyone up for this year’s festival.
So what is all the hype about??
Thousands of birders flock to northwest Ohio to witness the best warbler migration in the United States. This ten day “week” starts on May 6th and features birding events at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory in Magee Marsh, Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and surrounding areas. It is headquartered at Maumee Bay Lodge & Conference Center, which has a great bird habitat in itself.
Cape May Warblers are a given!
Last year, I saw twelve life birds, met many new friends and got the best looks at great birds than I ever have before. If someone sees a good bird, you will know about it and they are happy to point it out. There is also an official twitter account that you can follow and get tweets sent right to your phone so you don’t miss a good sighting.
This Eastern Whip-poor-will gave many people great looks
The American Bittern who was seen by many
Surprises are always a possibility – like this Long-eared Owl that flew into the Marsh! My friend and I found out about this bird from a tweet while we were at Ottawa NWR, we promptly drove to Magee and made our way to its location on the boardwalk.
A surprise Long-eared Owl at Magee
I am looking forward to birding from sunrise until sunset, then ending the days relaxing with friends. I will be there from May 11th through the 15th.
The sunset from at Maumee Bay Lodge
Hope to see you there!