2017 You Drive / We Lead

Back by popular demand! New last year, these trips allow you to drive yourself to the location where you'll meet an expert leader for a three hour birding experience. These trips are affordable, fun, and allow you to travel with as much of your birding gear as you like, and listen to Kid Rock, Barry Manilow, and The Carpenters if you want...all in the comfort of your own vehicle!  We'll post a carpooling board at festival headquarters in the lobby of Maumee Bay State Park Lodge for those interested in riding together. 

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GUIDED BIRDING WALK  // EAST HARBOR STATE PARK
Activity Level: EASY
Date: May 7, 10, 13
Time: 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Meeting Location: East Harbor State Park
1169 N Buck Road
Lakeside Marblehead, OH 43440 
Fee: $15.00
Registration required
Limited to 25 people
NO TRANSPORTATION PROVIDED
Click HERE for a map of the meeting location  

East Harbor is among the hidden jewels of lakefront birding hotspots. Its varied habitats include sandy beaches, sheltered bays, open waters of Lake Erie, marshes, shrubland, and swamp forest. Many rarities have been found, including Western Tanager and Magnificent Frigatebird. Songbird fallouts can be spectacular, with nearly every regularly occurring warbler appearing annually, and often in good numbers. The beach attracts a diversity of gulls and terns, including Great Black-backed Gull, Caspian and Forster's terns. 
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GUIDED BIRDING WALK // PEARSON METROPARK 
Activity Level: EASY
Date: May 5, 8, 11, 14
Time: 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Meeting Location: Pearson Metropark
761 Lallendorf Rd.
Oregon, OH 43616
Fee: $15.00
Registration required
Limited to 25 people 
NO TRANSPORTATION PROVIDED
Click HERE for a map of the meeting location   

This park is a remnant patch of the formerly vast Great Black Swamp. About three miles of trails bisect the woodlands, and birding can be quite good during spring and fall migration. Typical forest-breeding species can be found in summer, including both cuckoos. A well-stocked feeding station at the nature center attracts lots of birds in the winter and is always worth a look. A recent 300-acre wetland restoration on the park's north side should become increasingly attractive to waterfowl and other wetland-dependent species.
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GUIDED BIRDING WALK // SHELDON MARSH STATE NATURE PRESERVE
Activity Level: EASY
Date: May 6, 9, 12
Time: 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Fee: $15.00
Meeting Location: Sheldon Marsh SNP
2710 Cleveland Road
Sandusky OH 44870
Registration required
Limited to 25 people 
NO TRANSPORTATION PROVIDED
Click HERE for a map of the meeting location 

This 465-acre nature preserve is one of Lake Erie’s “hidden” jewels. Sheldon Marsh can rival just about any spot on the lakefront for numbers and diversity of birds. Spring and fall migration can bring scores of songbirds, including the possibility of all 37 species of warblers that occur annually in Ohio.