 Brought to you by Kowa Optics Report by Morning Flight Counter Jerald Reb: Spring 2024 marked the first official year of The Biggest Week in American Birding’s (BWIAB) Morning Flight migration count project at Metzeger Marsh. Running for a ten-day period during the festival week, the inaugural year of this project is an exciting first step towards what will become an annual monitoring project. The count was conducted from the Metzger Marsh Dike Path, roughly 100 yards southeast of the main parking lot. This site was chosen due to its unique geography and ease of accessibility. A large woodlot at the northeastern corner of Metzger Marsh is ideal for migrating songbirds to drop into or lift out of before attempting to cross the expansive marsh or Lake Erie itself. This area also angles further north into Lake Erie than most of the surrounding shoreline, making it an attractive first point of land for any birds returning from the lake.
The count protocol requires that the counter begin 15 minutes before sunrise and continue for a minimum of three hours following sunrise. However, additional monitoring is encouraged on days with large concentrations of birds. The count is extended in 15-minute increments, allowing the counter to determine in real-time whether or not the volume of the flight warrants additional monitoring. The count was suspended on days of heavy, steady precipitation or days with nearby thunderstorms. Trektellen was used as our primary method of data collection this year, following the example of other long-term morning flight monitoring projects in Cape May, Maryland, and beyond. This program allows us to easily and precisely enter all data pertaining to the count, including species numbers and directionality, weather data, and hours counted, as well as allowing us to live-stream data to the general public and festival attendees. A total of 33.5 observation hours were logged during the course of the festival. A key feature of the Metzger Marsh is that birds actively migrating in any direction are counted and considered a part of the official tally. This stands in opposition to other migration count sites, such as Cape May, where geographic features cause the flight to be primarily oriented in one direction. Being situated on a major east-to-west lakefront, birds at Metzger Marsh can move in any direction, depending on the prevailing winds. Weather conditions were not entirely in our favor this year, with prevailing northerly winds, fog, and rain putting a damper on active migration during much of the count week. Despite these challenges, several days of good conditions allowed the overnight movement necessary for a large morning flight, particularly a warm front that arrived on the morning of May 5th. As with any other part of the BWIAB, the birds may be the main focus, but outreach is just as important. A total of 211 people visited the count site this year and were able to experience the magic of migration firsthand. With additional advertising, a general growing awareness and interest in morning flights, and (fingers crossed) better weather conditions, we hope to drive these numbers even higher in 2025! While songbirds were the primary focus of this project, other species were also counted when applicable, though these were not added to the annual total for the sake of consistency in the future. A total of 6128 individuals of 62 passerine and similar species were counted over the ten-day period.
Top Five Species: Blue Jay A familiar backyard resident in Ohio, Blue Jays form massive swirling flocks along the Erie Lakefront during peak migration windows, providing a spectacular sight and a fun challenge for a migration counter! This year, we tallied 4126 total Blue Jays. They were recorded on six days, with a peak of 3572 occurring on May 5th. Red-winged Blackbird Another common Ohio resident, Red-winged Blackbirds, tend to move in relatively small, bouncy flocks along the lakeshore, many of them departing across the lake towards Michigan. A total of 661 Red-winged Blackbirds were counted this spring. They were recorded on nine days, with a peak count of 311 on May 5th. American Pipit American Pipit was an unexpected addition to the top 5 this year but a very welcome one! Watching large flocks of these bouncy grassland birds arrive through lakefront fog was a highlight of this spring. A total of 339 American Pipits was counted this year. They were recorded on three days, with a peak count of 257 on May 5th. Baltimore Oriole Always a favorite of visitors to the count, flashy Baltimore Orioles put on a great showing this year. Their cheery song was a constant presence from the nearby woodlot, and small groups of these colorful Blackbirds were perhaps our most consistent presence this year, being recorded on every day of the count in at least small numbers, rain or shine – a feat that not even Red-winged blackbird could muster! A total of 181 Baltimore Orioles was recorded this year. They were recorded on ten days, with a peak count of 86 on May 5th. Cedar Waxwing Cedar Waxwing rounded out the top five this year, peaking slightly later than most other species. With next year’s festival being shifted a week later, this may bode well for their numbers in 2025. A total of 121 Cedar Waxwings were counted this spring. They were recorded on five days, with a peak count of 89 on May 11th.
Other Notable Species: While none of our most numerous species were completely unexpected, there were quite a few surprises during the 2024 count week. The count began with a Sanderling and Ruddy Turnstone on May 3rd, the first to be recorded for the festival this year. On May 7th and 9th, a Neotropic Cormorant was observed as a flyover. A Blue Grosbeak (scarce in the northern part of the state) was a welcome surprise on May 8th, and a Yellow-headed Blackbird on May 9th provided a splash of color on an otherwise rainy and birdless morning. A Lesser Black-backed Gull observed on May 10th was the only one observed during the festival, and a Laughing Gull on that same morning put on a show for the visitors. Finally, on May 12th, the last morning of the count, several Philadelphia Vireos and a Clay-colored Sparrow were highlights for an eager group of birders. Acknowledgements:
Special thanks go out to all of the staff at Black Swamp Bird Observatory for helping to organize the festival and the morning flight project. Kowa Optics generously provided support for this project in the form of two of their spotting scopes, allowing the counter and visitors to use their top-of-the-line optics at the count site for the duration of the festival. Finally, a thank you to Eric Ripma for covering the count on the main counter’s day off; that break was very much appreciated!
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