Lake Erie Travel Diary

May 7
Every spring, millions of migratory songbirds travel through the Mississippi Flyway into eastern Canada. Along the way they meet an obstacle: Lake Erie. Upon seeing this vast expanse of water, many birds look for a place along its southern shore to rest up a bit before the crossing. There’s not much forest left here, so they funnel into the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge complex and adjacent Magee Marsh Wildlife Area east of Toledo, Ohio. In May, thousands of migrating birds, and an equal number of birders, can be found in the forested portion of Magee Marsh. On a good day, you’re likely to see 15-20 species of warblers here.

May 8

This time of year, Magee Marsh boardwalk is about as quiet and peaceful as a shopping mall. But there’s one advantage to birding with the crowd: 685 pairs of eyes are better than one, so no bird escapes notice. They even spot day-roosting Whip-poor-wills and an Eastern Screech Owl. Soon I’m using birders as “scouts:” if a group is peering high into a tree, I pass on by, but if their binoculars are pointed at something near eye level, I stop and set up the camera. In this way I get something like a nice Black-and-White Warbler who, like nuthatches and creepers, probes the bark of trees for insect eggs, larvae, and the like. Both birds and birders seem tolerant of photographers, even those with the newest power-driven cameras that take up to 8 images per second, each with flash of course.

May 9

When south winds come, the now-rested migrants cross Lake Erie, usually at night. Often they first make landfall at Point Pelee, a forested peninsula that juts out into the lake. Thousands of songbirds pass through here, making it one of the most famous birding hot spots in North America. The birders’ daily ritual begins with a shuttle ride to the peninsula tip. If there’s a heavy fallout of migrants, the woods can be “dripping” with birds, but that didn’t happen during my 3 days here. We had to be content with watching Ring-billed, Bonaparte’s, and Herring Gulls, Red-breasted Mergansers, and Common Terns around the beach. The terns would periodically take off and swirl around en masse, then land back at the same spot.

May 10

Everyone hurries to Pelee at dawn, but the best birding comes in late afternoon at the Sanctuary, in the north section of the Park. Most birds in the area pass through here on their way north out of the park. The trip’s only Scarlet Tanager, one of North America’s most beautiful birds, showed up just as it began to rain.

May 11

The big excitement today was Kirtland’s Warbler, one of the rarest of all warblers. It also proved to be the tamest, puttering around near ground, oblivious to humans. I first saw it in an area near the beach, completely surrounded by dozens of birders and photographers, the latter firing away with machine-gun speed. It later turned up where I was trying to photograph a Palm Warbler. I took about a dozen photos. Ironically, the only satisfactory one was taken in natural light because my flash had not re-charged.

Kirtland’s Warbler has evolved itself into a corner, so to speak. It winters solely in the Bahamas, and nests only in a few counties in central Michigan in habitat that must contain jack pine not less than 10 feet tall or greater than 20 feet tall. I wonder what the taxpayers would say if they knew how many millions of their dollars have been spent over the years to maintain the proper habitat for this finicky little bird?

May 12

Warblers are easy to see as they flit about in the trees, and often take no notice of humans, flying down to within 10 feet or less. But they are always in motion – now in the open, a second later in thick vegetation. The most common warbler here is the Yellow Warbler, whose song is rendered as “Sweet, sweet, sweet, I’m so sweet.” But it isn’t sweet. The Yellow is in fact a demon in feathers, who takes special delight in tormenting photographers thinking that they’ll get an easy photo. Somehow the little imp always manages to fly just as you press the shutter button, or is too far away, or too close, or just behind that twig. Many chances come and go before one obliging Yellow Warbler finally strikes an acceptable pose.

May 13

My last stop on the trip is Rondeau Provincial Park, 40 miles east of Pelee. Like Pelee, it extends out into Lake Erie. It has the same bird life, but fewer birders. At the Visitor Centre, sugar-water feeders attract Baltimore Orioles who fight and chase each other just like hummingbirds. To the seed feeders come American Goldfinches, Blue Jays, White-crowned Sparrows, as well as Red-headed and Red-bellied Woodpeckers. But the stars are the handsome male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. They are relatively tame along the trails as well, and seem to move in slow motion compared to the hyperactive warblers.

May 14

Rondeau, the most attractive of the Lake Erie migrant traps, preserves Carolinian forest, rich in basswood and maples. The forest floor is carpeted with violets, trilliums, and Jack-in-the-Pulpit, which reminds me of the Smoky Mountains. Unlike the Smokies, Rondeau is flat, with many pools and sloughs, good habitat for Common Grackles and Prothonotary Warblers, the latter eagerly sought by Canadian birders. The sloughs are fairly open, making it easier to photograph more warblers, including the Black-throated Green Warbler and another favorite, the Northern Parula.

Warblers originated in the American tropics. Almost 50 of the 114 total species in their family, Parulidae, evolved to migrate into the insect-rich forests of North America during the breeding season. Their colors and songs seem to be variations on a theme. Most have a dark and white pattern, with bold colors such as orange or yellow thrown in. Warbler songs are usually a short series of warbles and trills, not very musical, and maddeningly similar when you try to learn them. If you really want to impress the other birders, learn to identify warblers by their songs.

May 17

The two previous days were cold and windy, miserable for birds and birders alike. Today, my last at Rondeau, dawned sunny, and the temperature soared to 59°F, which could be a heat wave for this time of year in Ontario. At any rate, it certainly enlivened the warblers. Although they apparently cross Lake Erie at night, early morning is still poor for birding, much better in late afternoon. One theory is that warblers become more active as the day warms and insect activity increases. My first good bird today was Blackburnian Warbler, whose brilliant orange throat always elicits wows from birders. It spent quite some time working the high limbs of a maple, then fluttered down, almost like a falling leaf, onto an open branch.

The last warbler of the trip is one that, like me, came from far away. The Blackpoll Warbler winters in South America, to northern Brazil and Ecuador. When Blackpolls migrate north, many won’t stop until they reach Alaska or Labrador. Of all warblers, it travels the farthest to breed. It is a thoroughly charming little bird, active and inquisitive.

In the tropics I’ve seen birds more colorful than warblers, but something about them strikes a deeper chord. All who enjoy birds eagerly await the first migrant warbler of spring. Whether as migrants or summer residents, these visitors from the tropics add color and liveliness to the season.

Editor’s note: Also be sure to check out the NatureScapes.net article on Photographing Migrant Warblers by Brian L. Zwiebel.