What a Day for Birding!

The temperature is in the upper 70's, there is a slight breeze, and puffy, white clouds float in the sky - typical of a great day around Lake Erie.

There are only so many birds you can see on the Bass Islands, so we ventured to the "mainland" today. Our first stop was Crane Creek State Park and Magee Marsh. We had our first sightings of Great Egrets, Marsh Wrens, Yellow Warblers and Grey Catbirds. Best of all, Sheila spotted a mature Bald Eagle soaring overhead. We felt very patriotic as someone belted out the first lines of "America, the Beautiful." Feeling accomplished, we had lunch on the beach and then headed out to Metzger Marsh. The marsh was extremely flooded (possibly from the rains last week or because of wildlife management strategies) and we really didn't have luck seeing any new species.

The day only got better though; we saw a juvenile Bald Eagle, Common Yellowthroat, and two Trumpeter Swans at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. Unexpectedly, the swans had rusty colored heads. We learned this was a result of their environment; the swans dip their heads under water to feed and the substrate here is extremely iron-rich. I tried to get a picture using my camera with Sheils's monocular in front of the lens. I'm certainly not the best at photography! Can you find the swan in the picture below?

A trip to the mainland isn't complete without a stop to Toft's for ice cream. We made sure to get there before catching the ferries back to the islands.


Today's tip:

If a bird is hiding from you and you really want to see it, just physically sit down and wait. As soon as you do so, it's sure to fly up so that you have to get up again and chase it.