Water birds of the Biggest Week

Last time I talked about all the warblers we saw at The Biggest Week in American Birding (BWIAB) festival They truly are the highlights but there are many more birds migrating through the area during the festival. Today I’ll focus on the birds closely associated with water. Almost all of the festival locations are on or near the water. The festival headquarters is at Maumee Bay and the biggest draw is at Magee Marsh.

Shorebirds mainly nest in the Arctic tundra of Canada and Alaska so still have a long way to go after their stop in Ohio. They are in pursuit of the open habitat and lots and lots of insects the far north offers.

Black-necked stilt

One of the most striking shorebirds in the US is the black-necked stilt. Stilts take the shorebird characteristic of long legs to an extreme balancing a small body atop theirs giving the impression they might tip over at any time. Stilts also stand out for their coloration. Most of our shorebirds have a combination of sandy and rusty colored backs. The black-necked stilt has a striking black and white pattern. At one of the marshes we visited, there were a handful of stilts, each probing away in the mud and sand. They seem to have a knack for always being at the far side of any body of water. Luckily for me, this one moved in close to allow for some nice photographs. It was probably moving to the “far side” from a different group of birders.

Warblers, Warblers, Everywhere There Are Warblers (part 3 of BWIAB)

Warblers are the headliners of American bird migration. Even though many species of birds migrate through in the spring and fall, it is the warblers that get the press and the glamour shots. This post will focus on the warblers we saw during The Biggest Week in American Birding (BWIAB) festival. A later post will highlight some of the non-warblers that deserve attention too. Be sure to read about my experiences with tours and overall impressions of the festival too. 

There is a lot to talk about here as warblers are one of the largest families of birds that migrate through the eastern US. The festival checklist lists 37 potential warblers for the area. 

Our most frequently seen was the Northern yellow warbler. It is probably seen so often since they breed in the area instead of just passing through. These bright, all yellow birds with a bit of red streaking on the front are always a joy to see.

Yellow warbler high in a tree 

Tours of The Biggest Week

This is part 2 of a planned multi-part series about our trip to Ohio for the Biggest Week in American Birding. Part 1 talked about some general impressions and highlights. Today, I will share our experiences from the guided tours we took. 

We took advantage of a few types of guided tours. For some, you meet the guides at the location. Tours are generally 20 people plus two guides and last a couple of hours. We also took a couple of bus tours where you meet at the festival headquarters and they provide transportation. This is limited to about 10 people plus two guides and last half or the full day. These are typically further away and might include multiple stops. We chose two of each, and a night walk, although as I said in the previous post, we could have been just as happy with less scheduled time.