05 May 2013

WarblerFEST...OHIO (4 May)


Anyone who has experienced the warbler viewing at Magee Marsh/Ottawa rarely does not return, and days like this one make it easy to understand why. By the end of the day I had totaled 24 species for the day, with the top dogs among them being male Cerulean, male Hooded, Worm-eating, male Golden-winged, a pair of Blue-winged, and lots and lots of Blackburnians who seemed to be completely unaware that there was a perfectly good canopy to feed in overhead, and so hung out low down and photogenically, all day long...

In between all of these warblery treats, I happened to be in the right place at the right time, and managed to get a last minute bus ride to a local Ruff within Ottawa NWR. I was particularly pleased with this one as it was a male in breeding plumage, with a black ruff, chestnut head, and beautifully black-scaled underside, and an almost ruddy turnstone like upperside. In short, one of the best shorebirds I have ever seen.


More Magee Marsh updates, and yet more warbler to come...

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