From the observation tower at Magee, we were at eye-level with some small willows. Several Nashville Warblers displayed their acrobatic skills while foraging in the catkins. Wonderful to watch!

On Saturday, we were able to watch as a Mother Woodcock and her two young foraged at the small loop. Unconcerned about the throng of observers, they strutted along with their amusing “Woodcock Shuffle.”
Using their shovel-tipped beaks, they unearthed several juicy worms. Finally, Mom settled in for a rest, and the babes settled into some debris….becoming virtually impossible to see.
Here’s a video clip of their performance:

One of the interesting stories I heard while waiting on birds to work their way into viewfinder range of the Magee Observation Deck, was that of the Blackpoll Warbler.
This tiny powerhouse travels up to 1800 miles over water….according to Cornell’s site, about 88 hours of nonstop flight!

We just returned from a 5 day visit to Magee Marsh, near Oregon, Ohio. This lakeside habitat is a “migrant trap” where birds migrating north to Canadian breeding grounds stop over for feeding before crossing Lake Erie.

A highlight of this visit was our sighting of a female Kirtland’s Warbler. These warblers were thought to breed only in stands of jack pines in Michigan’s lower peninsula. Now breeding populations have been identified in other staes as noted in this article:

A female Kirtland’s Warbler from Magee Marsh….

And speaking of beautiful fellows….guess who is back? That’s right….the Rose-Breasted Grosbeak. Amazing color!

I was thrilled to get an opportunity to photograph this Yellow-Throated Warbler at Buck Creek State this afternoon. What a beautiful fellow!

This Solitary Sandpiper was photographed at Wright Patterson AFB on Monday.

And one other bird from yesterday’s walk……an Orchard Oriole:

We took a walk at Buck Creek’s Prairie View area today and saw an increasing variety of warblers and other migratory birds.
I was pleased to be able to photograph a few, including:
Northern Parula:

Ahhhh….the benefits of electronic media!
Yesterday evening, as I was surfing Facebook, I saw a post and photograph of a Pacific Loon that had been sighted at Eastwood Lake (in Dayton, Ohio). Coincidentally, my plans for this morning would take me right by the lake. I was able to stop briefly this morning, just to confirm that the loon was still around, and then once my meetings were completed late this afternoon, revisited to get some images.
He was still at the lake, and did approach fairly close to where I and others were observing.
In case you’re interested, this loon’s range is shown here: