May 12, 2007

We are fortunate here on the shores of Lake Erie to have some of the great birding spots in the entire world. Point Pelee, Lake Eire Metropark, Presque Isle, Mentor Headlands and the Magee Marsh wildlife area- Ottawa NWR complex. During spring and fall migration these areas offer fabulous birding.

We left for Magee-Ottawa at 5:30 am. Before getting into our vehicle it was great to hear so many Junco’s singing. 2 hours later we pulled into Magee. I am always thrilled and amazed at the sound one hears getting out of the car at the Boardwalk parking area in May. It is beautiful and unlike anything I hear elsewhere. A concentration of bird song unrivaled anywhere.

The winds are out of the north and the weather is cool. Yet just into the boardwalk we find a Blackburnian, a Nashville and a Magnolia. By the end of the day we will have tallied 23 species of Warblers and little else. The day was interesting but for me there was something missing.

I am a birder, not a bird watcher. The main difference between the 2 is that birders keep lists. Life lists, day lists, year lists, state lists, yard lists. Birders however, are not tickers. A ticker is someone who ticks off species. A ticker sees but often leaves the identification to someone else. They don’t always make the connection between seeing and identifying for themselves. A bird watcher does not care much about lists. They might keep a life list, but nothing else. They are there in part for the spectacle and not the sport. For a birder, while there is still joy in seeing every bird, once a species is on the list it is time lo look for something new. Once the possibilities of an area are exhausted it is time to move on to somewhere new. For a birder the maximum diversity holds the most fascination. What was missing for me today was the sport. It took us over 4 hours to walk the boardwalk up and back once. Part of the reason was the 800 or so people there, part of the reason was running into old friends, part of the problem was the nature of the day itself.

Magee now attracts a lot of people. Based upon my 2004 study, under favorable conditions about 1200 people visit the boardwalk on a May weekend day like this. For me this makes birding less fun and more difficult. The things I find most difficult are the lack of good information, and the inability to talk openly about birds. With so many people collecting warblers, one cannot mention a species without raising the question where? from expectant faces. So for instance, when I spotted a Blue-winged Warbler, unusual today, I didn’t say anything. I made a mental note, rather than calling the bird and having to get a hundred eyes on this individual. When someone called a Pine, a very good bird for Magee in May, and when we looked at the bird and saw a female Blackpoll, we just whispered among ourselves and moved on.

It is fun seeing people you have not seen for a while. More disconcerting is when someone knows you and you have absolutely no clue how or why.

But to see other birders you know and trust, the talk can be pure joy. Around 5:30 pm I was talking with Jenn Blumfield, about the report of a Connecticut Warbler, late in the day. She practically had me in stitches with her possible explanations for this sighting so late in the afternoon, and on an exceptionally early date based upon historical data. Why it was suddenly found after most people had left, on a day when there was little or no migratory movement by Warblers. Peterjohn confirms our observation: “The first migrants normally appear around May 15... Connecticuts are rare to uncommon along Lake Erie”

Another phenomena at Magee-Ottawa is the celebrity birder. These are authors, artists and marketers who have a degree of fame in birding circles. Some for their knowledge, some for their ability to communicate, others because they have done very well attaching their name to the work of others, and are very good at selling their product. I have no use for celebrity. To me are just other people. I may respect or admire the person’s work, but this is based upon the work itself, and not how much attention it has attracted or how good they are at promoting themselves. Unfortunately the bird world is not a pure meritocracy.

The funniest thing that happened was on the Ottawa driving tour. We could repeatedly hear an American Bittern. It sounded as if it was perhaps 15 -20 feet away but we could not see it. Eventually we spread out, and when we again heard the bird, and now all thought it was in a different place we realized we were in trouble. Some people were on a dike about 50 yards away. I asked them what they were looking at? American Bittern, they said pointing way out into the impoundment. The Bittern was actually about 80 yards away from where we were looking. Such is the nature of the Bittern’s “unka Unk” song.

What I find both amazing and encouraging about Magee is how quiet so many people can be. It is wonderful. Sure there are occasional loud voices, but people quickly catch themselves and again quiet down.