Before I get into how marvelous Magee Marsh is, allow me to share some birding on the way north, at Pilot Mountain State Park (NC) and Salt Fork State Park in Ohio.
Pilot Mountain State Park
We arrived at Pilot Mt. State Park late afternoon. Birds were relatively quiet around the parking area. It was a warm afternoon with good thermals being enjoyed by a large group of Turkey(26) and Black(10) Vultures. After setting up camp I walked the campground and located only 2 warblers, Black-throated Blue and Ovenbird. The only migrant was a singing Swainson’s Thrush. In the morning, while packing up, we added Balck and White, Black-throated Green and Yellow-Rump Warblers. Time to head north, the warblers seem to be ahead of us.
Salt Fork State Park
Located in east-central Ohio, Salt Fork is Ohio’s largest state park. Before leaving home I looked up the most recent eBird counts, and the one with 24 warbler species really stood out. While setting up camp, and afterward, our warbler list reached 10 species. Most of them were right there in our campground loop. There were numerous Baltimore Orioles, Warbling Vireo, and Indigo Bunting. That night I hoped for some nocturnal action. Only a Barred Owl stepped up to the plate.
For the visit, warblers included Ovenbird, Worm-eating, Blue-winged, Black-and-White, Tennessee, Common Yellowthroat, Hooded, Cerulean, Northern Parula, Blackburnian, Cape May, Yellow-rump, Chestnut-sided, American Redstart, Yellow, and Prairie.
On our return visit, we added Northern Waterthrush, Bobolinks, and I finally got a visual on the Cerulean Warblers (Sheree’ saw them at Maumee). Total count for the campground area – 72 species. Look forward to exploring more of this awesome park in the future.