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Dawn Chorus -- Spring migration at Magee Marsh [1]
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Date: 2025-06-15
I’m very fortunate to live in southeast Michigan, where I can take multiple day trips during spring migration to Magee Marsh Wildlife Area in Ohio. I’ve written about this area many times, so won’t repeat all the background here. I’ll just say it’s mecca for warbler lovers like me. I visited the marsh six times this spring, from April 19th through May 24th. That many visits over that length of time was a real luxury. Warblers migrate at different times, so I had the chance to see lots of species. What follows is mostly a photo diary, in the sequence of my visits.
For anyone not familiar with Magee Marsh, here are some links.
Birding Magee Marsh site has lots of information, including great tips on photographing warblers. The timing of spring migration from the Black Swamp Bird Observatory is here. The link to the volunteer organization Friends of Magee Marsh is here. Magee Marsh is just one of many places to bird along the Lake Erie coastline. Some top birding locations are posted here, courtesy of the Biggest Week in American Birding. This link is to a 1:45 minute BirdNote interview with Kenn Kaufman, who lives in the area and is an expert birder and photographer.
April 19
My first spring visit this year was with a Detroit Bird Alliance field trip. The visit started out in light rain that turned steady with thunder and lightning. The skies eventually cleared up. It was a bit early for many warblers, as expected. Not too many birders braved the rain, which is why I think the star of the day was foraging within several feet of the boardwalk.
American Woodcock. This is the only time I’ve seen one out in the open. It was doing it’s butt-pump walk as it probed with its feet and bill. I hope someone has video to post (with music preferably) of their unusual walk.
Getting that long and sensitive bill way down in the leaf litter.
I don’t always see Rusty Blackbirds every year, so it was nice to get this FOY.
Although Magee Marsh was relatively quiet that day, we heard that nearby Metzger Marsh had some good birds. Here are two prizes.
Prairie Warbler at Metzger Marsh.
Showing a bit more of the red on his back. Bigger.
This Louisiana Waterthrush had quite the buzz going, as Ohio is close to the northern edge of their range. Many birders came hoping to catch a glimpse and check off another lifer. It gave lots of good looks and, even though it would fly away, would return to the same area.
April 28
More warblers started moving through, although migration definitely got off to a slow start.
Nashville Warbler with a meal.
Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers showed up in good numbers, which they usually do. They are one of the more common warblers, along with Yellow Warblers. The latter nest at Magee while Myrtles move on.
Palm Warblers are early migrants as well.
The dramatic Black-throated Green Warblers are prized sightings. I’m particularly fond of them because they were the first warbler species I photographed, years ago at Magee Marsh.
This Northern Waterthrush was much more lurky than the Louisiana Waterthrush we saw at Metzger. I was lucky to catch this shot of it briefly out in the open and close to the boardwalk.
Wetlands in this area always have insects, which support a healthy population of swallows in addition to the migrating songbirds. Some of the earliest arrivals are Purple Martins. The Magee Marsh nature center has condos set up for them.
I don’t know what this conversation was about, but it ended amicably.
May 7
May weather was fickle, and stayed on the cold side for most of the month. There were still some dazzlers foraging close to the boardwalk.
Black-throated Blue Warbler on the edge of the parking lot, next to the boardwalk entrance.
I always look forward to seeing Northern Parulas. Usually there is one that decides to preen out in the open, close to eyelevel, as this one did.
Prothonotary Warblers nest at Magee and are not at all shy around the spectators. Two years in a row, a pair has nested in the wooden supports holding the boardwalk railing.
One of the few cavity nesting warblers, this pair chose a log next to the boardwalk.
I heard a really unusual sound just overhead while on the boardwalk. Turned out to be a Green Heron pair that were vocalizing. At this link from All About Birds, the first audio of the song is the closest to what they sounded like. More about them later.
Green Heron almost too close for my telephoto lens.
May 10
This was my second Detroit Bird Alliance field trip of the season to Magee Marsh. I refuse to be disappointed when I’m out birding. The main point is just to be out in nature. But there are goosebump days and other days are less so. The second week of May is usually peak migration at Magee. Even with the experienced DBA field guides, warbler sightings were few and far between. Same for other migrating songbirds. It was still a great day.
Black and White Warbler. Note the undertail markings and compare with the Blackpoll coming up in a bit.
Just so readers don’t think birding at Magee is always easy and doesn’t involve some work, can you find the warbler in this next photo?
That blurry form in the center of the photo is a Kirtland’s Warbler. The deep underbrush meant I had to use manual focus on a fidgety bird. Didn’t do so well but I was still thrilled with the sighting.
This is very typical of many shots (at max zoom too) when the birds stay in the canopy. There’s a Cape May Warbler in the center of the photo. It was the only good-enough-for-ID photo I got of a Cape May at Magee this year.
Cropped so you can see it was really there.
May 17
I organized a small Kossack meet up on May 17th and wrote a story here. A few highlights:
By mid-May, more female warblers are starting to migrate through. Here, a female Bay-breasted Warbler.
Prothonotary Warblers nest at Magee and are quite bold around all the birders.
My spark bird — Blackburnian Warbler, posing here next to the parking lot.
The Canada Warbler in the title photo was also from May 17th. I’d been hearing them all day but had only gotten glimpses and crappy photos, despite some excellent pointers from peregrine kate. I decided to be patient and waited where a male had been reported to be consistently singing just off the boardwalk. I’m so thankful he decided to pop up and pose.
Canada Warbler.
Patience and perseverance paid off a second time that day and I snagged a lifer Connecticut Warbler. I saw on an online forum that it had been reported early in the morning, so I headed to that area first. It had been heard and seen by the west entrance to the boardwalk, between the parking lot and the beach. That area is dense brush with lots of poison ivy off the trails. I ended up getting good audio but no eyeballs on the bird. After lunch, I tried again as the bird had been heard and seen all morning in the same area. Again, I heard the bird singing tantalizingly close and coming closer. I braved the poison ivy and parked my butt on the sandy ground. Success! I could only get hazy shots as I was using manual focus through lots of twigs and leaves. But still more than good enough for ID.
Lifer Connecticut Warbler at Magee Marsh.
One area of the boardwalk is known for Eastern Screech Owls roosting during the day. No way I would have spotted this one on my own. It’s facing left and I had to wait for the breeze to move some branches to catch even this small glimpse. Zooming might help.
This female Tree Swallow perched just off the boardwalk at eyelevel.
I stopped at Metzger Marsh on my way home.
Blackpoll Warbler. Distinguishable from the Black & White by its black cap and ...
… lack of black chevrons on the undertail.
Chestnut-sided Warblers are small, even for a warbler. They remind me of Kinglets in how they teleport from place to place.
Quite the dazzler — male Indigo Bunting.
Warbling Vireos are the most common vireo in this area. Click the zoom to see all the insects on the branches. No wonder the birds fuel up in the shoreline wetlands.
May 24
My last visit of the season started further west in the Toledo area. Birding friends and I chased and dipped on a King Rail, but successfully twitched a Red-necked Phalarope. Fellow Kossack and friend biotchr was at Magee and let us know it was very birdy, especially for so late in the season.
More females coming late in the season. Here, a Magnolia Warbler.
Female American Redstart.
My first ever female Canada Warbler.
Not a female, but too handsome not to highlight — male Bay-breasted Warbler.
Sometimes, there is no need to search for a bird. They come right to the boardwalk and carry on with foraging, often raiding spiderwebs.
Female or immature male Magnolia Warbler.
I’ll end with a short sequence. Green Herons nest at Magee. One spot across a canal seems always good for nesting activity. This year, a pair flew over the boardwalk and canal and landed where they are building a nest. They first worked together to place a twig, and then got down to making baby herons.
Twig has been properly placed. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Zoom
Ah yup. Zoom
Over in a flash, but the human observers were cheering. Zoom
Time for a few minutes of contemplation, then off to find more nest material. Zoom
That’s it for 2025 spring migration at Magee Marsh. The floor is now open for your birdie reports.
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