A Miami University Natural Areas Sponsored Field Trip.

NATURAL HISTORY AND MIGRATORY BIRDS OF LAKE ERIE

(May 4, 5, 6, 2007)

Co-directors:  Jim Reid, Field Manager, Miami University Natural Areas; Dave Osborne (Doc), ornithologist, retired.

Cost: $155.00

Participants: (Limited to eight)

Dave Osborne

Tip Ziegler

Janet Ziegler

Neil Richmond

Ernie Wengler

Carolyn Wengler

Bill Wilson

Jim Reid

ITINERARY

DAY 1.

Grand Lake Ste. Marys and Mercer Wildlife Area.

Our first birding warm-up was straight north to Grand Lake Saint Marys built as a water supply for the Miami-Lake Erie Canal in the mid 1800s.  It is currently intensely managed for waterfowl.  Species detected have included Cattle Egrets, Black-crowned Night Herons, Mute and Tundra Swans, both eagles, Brant and the elusive Canada Goose.

Lake La Su An Wildlife Area .

We continued northward to Pioneer stopping for lunch prior to birding Lake La Su An near the Michigan state line.  This 2,000 acre site includes riparian, lakes, ponds and oak hickory ridges as well as upland fields.  All of the eastern warblers have been recorded here except Swainson’s Warbler.

Oak Openings.

This is one of the most productive birding sites in Ohio ranking number 3 in our trip last year.  Just under 4,000 acres, the habitats include oak forest, fields and sandy blow-outs.  We saw Lark Sparrows & Red-headed woodpeckers  We then traveled towards Toledo for dinner, tallying up and lodging at Comfort Inn E, Oregon., Ohio. Dinner at Oriental Garden Chinese Restaurant.

DAY 2.

The extensive mudflats at Magee Marsh and the Metzger Marsh Wildlife complex, now managed for waterfowl, once attracted tens of thousands of shorebirds; but that is in the past.  The parking lot is known to be a migrant trap in the Spring. Stops along the roads, and walking the dikes have yielded Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Ruddy Turnstones, and a variety of rails and terns. 

Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge.

The 4,683 acres boasts of nine miles of trails (mostly on dikes).  Cattails are now being taken over by invasive phragmites, resulting in diminished species diversity and severe reduction in nesting Sedge Wrens.  It still deserves a stop for Cattle and other Egrets, Bald Eagles and Northern Harriers.

Crane Creek.

Crane Creek was our top site and is known as one of the top birding sites in the country.  It has a birding tower, a bird center to check on the recent listings and the popular boardwalk where birders from all over come each year to renew relationships with their feathered friends.  It is not unusual to score close to 100 species here in a single day.

Reservations at Best Western Lodge in Port Clinton, Ohio. Dinner at Travelers Bar and Grill.

DAY 3.

Big Island/Killdeer Plains Wildlife Areas.

This 8250 acre area complex has cropland, meadows, marshes, 225 ponds, and is known for its bird diversity, including Rough-legged Hawks, waterfowl (i.e. White-fronted Geese), snipe, woodcock, pheasants, bobolinks and harriers.