28 May 2009

Reflections on Migration: High Island (Texas) vs. Magee Marsh (Ohio)…



So while volunteering this spring at both of these places a frequent question other similar-minded “migration junkies” have asked me is which is better? The diplomatic answer, (and it just so happens the genuinely true one for me personally), is that they are both excellent venues for immersing yourself in the spectacle and thrills and spills of spring migration, but they are also very different. So they complement each other well, and as they peak at different times it is perfectly feasible to bird them both in the one spring and pick up all the A-list migrants in the process. High Island is good for the rush of migrants dropping in off the Gulf en-masse, and that exhilarating feeling of birds on the go, happening right there beside you, and Magee of course is the “Warbler Capital of the World”, where you can get the most inviting looks of “treetoppers” hanging out down at eye-level. In short do them both once, then do them again the next year, which is exactly what I hope to do next spring. I am hooked on High Island and mad about Magee, what more can I say?!


The photos were both taken at the "Warbler Capital"; Northern Parula and Wilson's Warbler

1 comment:

Larry said...

Really enjoyed your postings from your time in Ohio and texas. Some really great stuff there.