This Week and This Weekend

Prothonotary Warbler (E. Brywczynski)

So previously I posted some pictures that I took on Tuesday.  Unfortunately I couldn’t get photos of all the cool birds I saw, but I’m hoping once my dad masters the sending of pictures over the interwebs (you’ll get it yet dad), I’ll have many more colorful birds to share with you all.

Tuesday was a pretty good day.  After dropping Rubber Stamp off at the babysitters, I made my way over to Oak Openings Preserve Metropark.  If you haven’t ever been there, you should make a point to go.  It is a massive metropark that offers a variety of different kinds of habitats, as well as the species to match those varying types of surroundings.  You’re not going to see all of the warblers that you might encounter at Magee Marsh, but there are things at Oak Openings that you’ll have a tough time finding anywhere else.

If you go to where Girdham Road dead ends into Reed Road you are almost guaranteed to see at least two of the Oak Opening’s specialties.  Near that intersection on the west side of Girdham are the breeding grounds for the beautiful Lark Sparrows.  The trails in this area are closed from early May to mid-June to protect the breeding birds from being disturbed.  No worries though.  You can park on Girdham, and simply walk down the road looking for Lark, Chipping, Savannah, Field, and many other species of sparrow.  

In the same area it is not uncommon to see many Red-headed Woodpeckers.  These birds are absolutely stunning.  Even though I’ve seen many of them throughout my life, I am always still amazed at how colorful they are.  Speaking of color, Oak Openings is also a great spot for Blue Grosbeaks.  I haven’t seen many of these.  In fact, I’ve never seen one.  This is the year though!

After birding Oak Openings for a couple of hours I decided to head out to the usual spots.  I hit up Metzgers first.  Lots of good stuff, but nothing new.  I was leaving as my parents were getting there.  When I pulled into Magee my mom called me and said they had a male Wilson’s Warbler at Metzgers.  Of course they did.  The Wilson’s is not on my list, but should be.  I’ve missed it multiple times this year.

Magee was hopping as usual.  I ran into multiple friends on the boardwalk.  We traded notes and tipped each other off to birds that the others had not seen yet.  A big thank you to Don and Pat Baughman for telling me about the Canada Warbler.  One of my favorites.  It was the first warbler species I ever saw.  In addition to the Canada, I added the Prothonotary Warber on the boardwalk.  Wow...I just realized I forgot about the best sighting of the day.  Rewind.  

As I was coming down the causeway at Magee, I noticed an all too familiar sight.  There were cars parked near the entrance to the East Beach.  Lots of cars.  At least 50.  This meant only one thing.  The Kirtland’s Warbler!

If you remember from one of my previous postings, the Kirtland’s is an endangered species.  That’s why it’s a big deal.  The fuss certainly isn’t about the beauty of the bird.  It’s alright, but give me a Black-throated Blue over a Kirtland’s any day.  Some birders are probably shaking their heads at that one.  Anyways, I have seen a Kirtland’s four times now in my life.  Three of the four times they have been on the East Beach at Magee Marsh.  Dad got some pics that I hope to share soon.  

So that was this week.  On to this weekend.  I, my wife, and my Aunt Woody will be competing in the final North Coast Open.  The NCO is a friendly Big Day competition where you try to see as many birds in a 24 hours period as humanly possible.  We are not going to win.  We don’t care to win.  We, like many other competitors, just want to have fun.

Here’s how it will go down.  The NCO starts at 9pm on Friday.  We will get to Oak Openings shortly before that time and try to get those nocturnal species if possible.  After a little bit of sleep we’ll head back to Oak Openings in the morning to get those specialties I mentioned above.  From there, we’ll stop at my parents’ house to pick up our driver for the day...the great Carl Brywczynski.  Magee, Metzgers, and Ottawa will certainly be on the table, but we might head up to Camp Perry or other spots further east.  The day will end at Blackberry Corners Tavern where all the teams will meet for food, awards, the sharing of stories, and hopefully copious amounts of laughter.

I’m really interested to see what a substitute teacher, a pregnant pharmacist, and a happy retiree (Are you thinking what I’m thinking...Dream Team!) can see during the Big Day!  Happy birding.