The Biggest Week in American Birding is a festival held for ten days in northwest Ohio. It's a birders dream trip and it features lots of special events, tours, workshops, and a fantastic boardwalk to view the warblers. This key feature in Magee Marsh is where warblers come to take a rest in the trees before crossing Lake Erie on their way up north. There are lots of other birding hotspots you can check out too. Registration for this event starts in February and most of the birding tours are sold out within a few hours. You don't have to book a tour to have a good time. In fact, the boardwalk is free to anyone to attend.
Our friends Randy and Fran came last year and they have been helping all of us make the best use of our time. They are awesome birders and can identify them so easily. If you are new to birding this is a great place to come. There are hundreds of friendly birders along the boardwalk who point out what they are seeing to anyone who asks. It can be a very crowded event but everyone is very nice and courteous. I was so amazed how quiet the boardwalk is with the big crowds and everyone is smiling. It's a very happy event.
Here we are at the entrance. Come follow along and check out what's it's like to be here. On our first day our friends Randy, Fran, Barry, and Jann joined us.
Front - Fran and Jann
Back - Randy, Barry, and John
You will see some pretty amazing scopes, cameras, and binoculars being toted around by the spectators. The sky is the limit as to what you can spend on this hobby, however, it's certainly not necessary. A good pair of binoculars and a curiosity is all you really need. If you have a little cash left over for a camera with a zoom all the better. I use a Canon SX-50 with an incredible zoom and it's very reasonable to purchase (recommended by the Lillian Stokes). My binoculars are Canon Image Stabilizer 10 X 30 which I just love (recommenced by Fran and Randy). It helps steady the bird image.
Zoom Zoom
Fresnel Camera Flash - good grief
It's crowded especially in the morning and on weekends. Everyone is very patient and there is a hush over the crowd which is so surprising. I loved seeing the children out with their parents birding for the day. There were also a lot of Amish families.
When an unusual bird arrives a large crowd quickly develops. You can hear people laughing and getting excited when they discover a new bird. When the bird finally flies off the crowd moans in disappointment. I think it was sometimes more fun to watch the birders than the birds.
The Biggest Week has a twitter account which was so helpful. Bird guides frequently add tweets telling you where an unusual bird is being seen. There are numbers on the boardwalk rail which help you find these areas quickly. Plus the sudden appearance of a large crowd is a great indicator something cool is happening.
Be sure to stop on your way to the boardwalk at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory and pick up free maps of all the best birding places in the area. It takes awhile to understand how everything is laid out.
Think thin
Love those smiles
Observation tower
Look carefully for the American Woodcock
Black-billed Cuckoo (our Bird of the Year!!!)
Look Who Else Is Here
Grey Morph Screech Owl
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Woodcock eggs
Fox Snake
Baltimore Oriole
We stayed in one area for quite awhile watching two Prothonotary Warblers building a nest. What a pretty bird. It was so funny to watch one of them kick the other out of the nest.
Prothenotary Warbler
In the nest...look carefully
Peek a boo Tree Swallow
Past the boardwalk there is a trail along the lake. There are lots of shorebirds in this area.
Common Tern
It was fun to run into some of our Sanibel friends from Ding Darling and Caloosa Bird Club
Davis's - friends at Ding
Randy, John, our friend Iber from Caloosa Bird Club, and Fran
The Big Sit
Have you heard of the movie called the Big Year...well here at the boardwalk there is a birder doing the BIG SIT
Tom Bartlett (who was also our guide on the Jet Express) takes a high seat and identifies birds from a ladder near the boardwalk each year as a fundraiser benefiting youth education programs. He has been doing this for 20 years. At the time we saw him he'd reached 87 birds noted from his perch. What a cool fund raiser.
The Big Sit Bird List
Earlier in this post I showed you the super camouflaged Woodcock and some eggs. Few birders ever see this one due to its ability to hide in its surroundings. We signed up to see it's dramatic mating ritual out at Maume State Park. Our guide was from Wildbirds Unlimited and he told us all about this amazing ritual. Each evening in the spring the male bird performs a dramatic exhibition to show off his skills in hopes of finding a female. It starts around 8:30 pm. The birds were all around the parking lot and as the light dimmed you could hear a buzzing peent sound-almost like a loud frog. We walked over to one nearby and after a few of these buzzing sounds he launched up into the air over 300 feet in a wide circular motion. He then starts to make some twittering wing sounds and dramatically dives back almost to the same spot. After a brief recovery he starts it up all over again. It was such a funny thing to watch. I sure hope he finds somebody to love.
Our guide for the American Wookcock 'show"
If you want to hear the different sounds click on the link below.
This summer several of our friends (Is, France, & Gail) encouraged us to join the Caloosa Bird Club when we returned for the winter season. We took their advice and are so happy we did. Birding is a new hobby for us and there is so much to learn. This club has been meeting since 1958 and has very active members.
Black-crested Night Heron (Six-mile Cypress)
The outings are organized from November - April and you meet each Monday at locations all over southern Florida. One or two members lead the trip and afterwards we have lunch together discussing what was seen Ken Hodges does a great job organizing all the events. About 30-50 people attend and it's like going on a guided bird tour, only its free. John and I would have walked by many of the birds we saw and this club has some very experienced birders who know all the best hot spots.
Green Heron (Green Cay -our club mascot)
Least Bittern (Green Cay)
Gail & France (SRA-5)
Some of the trips involve an overnight stay and one was a full day bus trip to Green Cay (our favorite). Most, however, are within a couple of hours driving distance. Getting up very early in the morning is required I'm not a morning person but I rarely grumble because it's so worth the effort. Well, not too much.
Meadowlark (STA-5)
Here is a list of the trips we've attended:
Tigertail Beach/Marco Island/Collier County
J.N. Ding Darling NWR/Sanibel Island
Pine Island preserve/Pine Island/Lee County
Sarasota Celery Fields and Myakka River
Circle B Bar Preserve, Polk County (overnight)
March Trail (Formerly Oil Pad Road) Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk
Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve
STA-5
Green Cay (bus trip)
Click on the following link for some great information and maps of birding "Hot Spots" provided by the Caloosa Bird Club
Black-necked Stilt & Snowy Egret (STA-5)
Black and White Warbler (Wakodahatchee)
Painted Bunting (Green Cay)
I didn't have my new camera for most of the trips so my pictures are not very plentiful. Birding requires a much better camera with a good zoom. I've loved my Panasonic Lumix but have found it difficult to get a good shot since birds move quickly or are far away.
White-winged Dove (Green Cay)
Even if you are not a birder the natural beauty of the places we visited make the trip worthwhile.
Green Cay
Six Mile Cypress
Circle B Bar Reserve
And, of coarse you can see more things than just birds....
Wild Pigs (Six Mile Slough)
Alligator (J.N. Ding Darling NWR)
So, I guess it really is official...we really are birders. We are looking forward to a few more trips with them this season and will join up as soon as possible next winter. Thanks you Caloosa Bird Club for making us feel so welcome and enriching our love of birds and their habitat.
Six-mile Cypress
"Falling in love with the Earth in one of life's great adventures"
