Magee sightings May 21

Hi friends,

Today there were some good birds seen here, and a couple of them were away from the boardwalk. A Kirtland's warbler was spotted at the wildlife beach by two Tropical Birding guides, Iain Campbell and Christian Boix. It was only about 50 yards from the entrance to the beach, and when Mary and I saw it around 2:30 PM, it was sitting motionless in a sumac tree, looking rather tired and even appearing to doze off once. It became more active later according to other accounts and was actively foraging late in the afternoon. A couple of Connecticut warblers were reported at the boardwalk and near the aluminum barn building to the east of the main beach. You would probably do well to follow the beach trail near the east end of the parking lot when searching for this bird. Mary and I missed it at around 4:00 PM, and others hadn't been having any luck either. Other Connecticuts were reported on the north side of the boardwalk across from the observation tower, and a couple further east on the boardwalk. Remember that the Kirtland's found last week only stuck around one day, and I think that this bird may also be a one-day wonder as well given the favorable S-SE winds that brought some of these birds in on Friday. The Kirtland's sometimes follow the north coast of Ohio west into Michigan rather than heading across the lake, so it may show up in places like Ottawa NWR, Metzger Marsh, Maumee Bay SP, etc. (or not. It would be nice to be able to communicate directly with these birds about their travel plans, but these are educated guesses at best).

In addition to some Connecticuts and the Kirtland's arriving on Friday, it seems possible that Saturday will also bring another wave of migrants to the area. If you are able to (and the rain/and or T-storms miss us), I would advise you to come to Magee on Saturday the 22nd. Check the wildlife beach for the Kirtland's, Connecticuts, and even an Orchard oriole. One was spotted by Rick Nirschl while a group of us was observing the Kirtland's, and the immature bird stole a couple eyes that had tired of this rare migrant (imagine that!).