Magee Marsh, Ohio - Day One

A trip to the "Warbler capital of the World" has been on my bucket list for several years now. Magee Marsh, Ohio is up there if not ahead of High Island, Texas or Point Pelee, Ontario as the place to see the American Wood Warblers at close-hand. On its famous board-walk, the birds will sometimes be within touching distance, often dangling above your head as they feed up before crossing to the far side of Lake Erie.
I timed my visit as close as possible to the middle two weeks of May when migration is at its peak. I tried as much as possible to avoid the crowds that gather for the modestly termed "The Biggest Week in American Birding" festival. The board walk can get crowded during this time. My first day at Magee coincided with the final day of the festival.
I arrived on Wednesday 14th May, flying from Norwich via Amsterdam to Detroit. At Detroit I picked up a rental car and drove south to the town of Maumee, Ohio (forty minutes drive from Magee) and stayed there for the duration of my visit. It was a little far from the reserve itself but options for hotels, supermarkets and restaurants were good. On arrival I grabbed a quick bite to eat from the restaurant next door to my hotel before hitting the hay early in preparation for my first day at Magee Marsh.
The next morning I awoke at 4am (still a bit jet lagged) and made the journey to Magee arriving at 7am as the rain began to fall. This was good weather for holding the warblers on this side of Lake Erie. I felt a great sense of anticipation as I gathered my bins, closed the car and headed to the board-walk for the first time. What would be the first warbler species I would see and how many lifers would I take in on just my first day.

West entrance to the Magee Marsh board-walk

Warbler number one was Yellow Warbler, not a lifer, but a fine bird nonetheless. They are in fact the most common breeding warbler at Magee so no real surprise to start with them. But the next two were lifers, American Redstart and Magnolia Warbler. I watched them for a while before moving on. The heavy crowds didn't seem to be present as I expected, however it was raining and it was early. In fact, as the first few hours moved on the rain got heavier and heavier. I was glad I packed water-proofs and had kept my camera gear in the car. Anyway, it didn't stop me birding. The rain had clearly held birds at Magee and in that first morning I came away with the following species;

Yellow Warbler
Protonotary Warbler (L)
Cape May Warbler (L)
Palm Warbler (L)
Blackpoll Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Northern Parula (L)
American Redstart (L)
Wilson's Warbler (L)
Black-throated Blue Warbler (L)
Black-throated Green Warbler (L)
Magnolia Warbler (L)
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler (L)
Black and White Warbler (L)
Ovenbird (L)

L denotes a lifer.

In the afternoon, the rain died off but the wind picked up. The crowds grew a little but not that much so I put my camera gear together and set myself up by the tower near the west entrance. I was joined by a couple of other photographers and we passed a great couple of hours trying to get shots of Protonotary, Blackburnian, Cape May, Wilson's Warbler and American Redstarts that were frequenting the area under the tower. The light was poor but using the external flash (more or less for the first time) helped out.

Female American Redstart

My all time favourite bird - male Blackburnian Warbler

Female Cape May Warbler

Female Cape May Warbler

Female Cape May Warbler

Female Prothonotary Warbler

Female Prothonotary Warbler

Wilson's Warbler

Wilson's Warbler

At 6pm, I called it a day, the light was poor and I was hitting the wall. The next day promised to be dry and sunny, the birds would come out but so too the crowds!