MAGEE, MAUMEE, 2023 X 3

We did not start the year by saying we need to visit Magee Marsh and Maumee Bay three times this spring but that is what we did.

WEEKEND 1

Leann said that shore birds arrive early spring to NW Ohio and wanted to see the migration. We looked for good weather and booked a night at Maumee Bay.

OK, we had to check out Magee boardwalk and it was hard to tell if there were fewer people or birds.
West Sister Island is closed to visitors to protect the largest wading bird nesting colony on the U.S. Great Lakes. This closure did not stop bootleggers during prohibition from using it as a dumping ground when police chased them. Local legend also has it as the final resting place for Jimmy Hoffa but that guy is buried in a lot of places.
Trumpeter Swan and Bald Eagle. There appear to be more bald eagles every year. Leann actually saw one of the more interesting mating sequences in the animal kingdom when she saw Eagles mating. By the time I saw them they were smoking cigarettes.
This is from the “Big Year” which was a great book and movie.
We eat well on our van trips.

WEEKEND 2

We went back for the last weekend of the “BIG WEEK IN BIRDING”

White Egret in the mud flats
Just a few more people than our earlier visit.
Barn Swallow, you don’t see them sitting still very often
This is a female yellow headed black bird, they are rare in Ohio.
These are all of the people watching the yellow headed black bird.
Nap time, so tired

WEEKEND 3

We are members of the Wadsworth Adventurers meetup group and they posted a trip to Maumee Bay,. What the hell, let’s go.

Another day, another boardwalk
Marsh Wren doing it’s own version of the limbo. He was hanging on to 2 reeds and calling like crazy: LOOK AT ME!!!!!!! Leann added this to her bird life list. Sorry for the picture quality but I was zoomed way in with my phone.
It rained most of Friday night but we had a nice dinner in our shelter. The new chairs and table worked great.
Most of the group went for a kayak trip in Howard Marsh. We have not found a way to carry Kayaks on Blaze.
There was a fox den in the median of the parking lot at Magee. The kits came outside to play
Blanding’s Turtle, which are supposedly rare but we saw a number of them.

We have been coming here for years but the place never gets old since wildlife changes year to year. We will be back next year, four times?

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