Northwest Ohio migrating birds in early October

Wed, Oct 5, 2016: I observed Golden-crowned Kinglet and White-throated Sparrow around our home this morning. These short-distant or temperate climate songbirds have started their fall migration through northwest Ohio.

But in early October, we still have some Neotropical migrants passing through, creating the potential for an odd mix of birds that we don't see during the more well-defined and regularly-scheduled spring migration.

Check this out. 13 years ago today, Sun, Oct 5, 2003, I visited the Magee Marsh boardwalk, and I created this blog post after posting the info to the Toledo naturalists message board.

A cuckoo and a sapsucker on the same day. Red-eyed Vireo and a junco on the same day. Possible in early October. Highly unusual here in the spring.

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my blog post created on FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2003 about birdwatching on Sun, Oct 5, 2003.

Magee boardwalk 5-Oct-2003 - Last Sunday, I birded the boardwalk area at Magee from 7:15 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. It was the kind of day that reminds me why I love birding so much. It was probably my best fall day of birding at Magee, and just a good day no matter the place or season. There was a nice mix of birds that will winter in either North or South America. There were only a handful of other birders, a couple of other vehicles in the parking lot. The weather was chilly at the start, in the 30's, but it warmed nicely to probably around 60 by Noon. The sky was sunny, the winds light. Here's my posting about the day from the Toledo Naturalists message board:

Sunday at Magee, there were good numbers of birds throughout the boardwalk. The most numerous birds were the White-throated Sparrows, Blackpolls, Yellow-rumps, and Kinglets. Several Sapsuckers were present too. Juncos occupied the parking lot.

Early in the morning, before 8:00 a.m., huge streams of Cormorants moved north to south just above the lake surface west of Magee. Later in the morning, thousands of Cormorants rested just offshore of Crane Creek. Maybe not a desirable bird, but I had not seen anything like that before out there, and it was impressive.

I ran into Brian Z. on the boardwalk, and we ended up with a nice mix of birds.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
House Wren
Winter Wren
Gray Catbird
Hermit Thrush
Swainson's Thrush
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo (Brian saw it)
Black-and-White Warbler
Tennessee
Nashville
Northern Parula
Magnolia
Cape May
Black-throated Blue
Yellow-rumped
Black-throated Green
Blackburnian
Chestnut-sided (Brian saw it)
Bay-breasted
Blackpoll
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Scarlet Tanager
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Savannah Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow

Blackpolls and Yellow-rumps were busy gulping down the dogwood berries, as usual. Other warblers I've seen in the past eat the white berries include Bay-breasted, Cape May, and Chestnut-sided. On Sunday, we observed a Black-throated Blue and a Tennessee enjoying the berries.

I believe Brian Z. took pictures of the Tennessee drinking the berry juice. The TN, like the Cape May, didn't eat the whole berry. They pierce the berry and drink the juice, while the others consume the whole thing.

#ohio #bird #nature #blog_jr