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The Daily Bucket -- Erie Marsh Preserve [1]
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Date: 2022-09-05
Like the two other Lake Erie wetlands I’m familiar with, (Magee Marsh in Ohio and Pointe Mouillee in
Blue arrow points to Erie Marsh Preserve, which is just north of the Ohio border, on the north side of Maumee Bay. Zoom.
Michigan), Erie Marsh’s recent history started as a hunting club. But instead of being sold to the state like Magee Marsh and Pointe Moo, the club wisely sold the land to The Nature Conservancy. According to two workers there, the deal included a long term lease back to the club for the fall hunting season. So like Pointe Moo, it is open only to licensed hunters from September 1st through December 31st every year. My birding pal and I unwisely waited until August 30th to check it out. Our tardiness is teaching us a lesson in patience as we wait out the months until the first of the year. The fun will really start with the spring migration. Here’s the eBird link. We’re already trying to decide how to split our time between Erie Marsh and Maggie Marsh.
This link for The Nature Conservancy includes a short video tour of the Preserve. This link explains TNC’s multi-phase, multi-year restoration project of 946 acres. My sense is that the Preserve is in good hands.
Never having been to the Preserve, we didn’t know exactly where to go. So we missed the mudflats along Maumee Bay. But we were by no means disappointed.
The drama began at the entrance road, where the big waders were present in numbers. With arthritis making long hikes difficult these days, I really appreciated the opportunity to do some birding from the car.
Great Egret dwarfing a young Snowy Egret. Although I’ve seen them before, I never realized the Snowy was so small. Zoomed.
A young Great Blue Heron. The pants-hiked-up look is a new one for me.
We twice flushed this Green Heron. Luckily it landed the first time where we could still see it.
This juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron was most cooperative, showing off its hunting techniques right next to the road. Let’s just say it got the job done on the second try. Zoomed.
This young Snowy Egret had me fooled at first with its green legs into thinking it was a juvenile Little Blue Heron. This photo shows how the legs are actually black in front and green in back. The yellow lores and feet also mark it as a Snowy. It was stirring up potential meals with its feet. Zoomed.
The Preserve includes a series of dikes to help control water levels. That’s where we headed. Instead of the coarse gravel paths of Pointe Mouillee, these were dirt with ground cover, so much more forgiving to walk on.
This group of Caspian Terns, (mostly adults with a couple juveniles), let us get fairly close. They seemed to have a system where one or two at a time would fly out to hunt, and circle back in. Zoomed.
This adult came back with a small fish. It landed and called, perhaps to its chick who was out on its own foray. I was hoping to see a parent-to-chick feeding, but the adult ended up downing the fish itself. Zoomed.
An Osprey graced us with a flyover. Zoomed.
A Northern Harrier flew across a meadow in the distance. Her hunt seemed to be successful as she made a quick dive and did not come back up. Zoomed.
One of three Northern Leopard Frogs we came across on the trail. They were not particularly shy and let us get fairly close. Zoomed.
There were many of these large fish thrashing about in the shallow water. I have no idea what they might be and welcome any suggestions. Zoomed.
We didn’t stay as long as we wanted because other duties called. But on the way out, I noticed movement just to the left of this Great Egret.
Zooming and cropping revealed a dapper Solitary Sandpiper with a neon eye ring. Zoomed.
Please share what’s up in nature in your area.
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