OAK HARBOR, Ohio — The weather has been picture perfect for the Biggest Week in American Birding along the Lake Erie coast in northwest Ohio.
There are still a couple more days to go with plenty of outdoor adventure opportunities in store this weekend and through the rest of the month. The parking lots were full Friday, and the boardwalk was shoulder-to-shoulder at the Magee Marsh bird trail boardwalk.
Organizers of the Biggest Week in American Birding say the annual migratory bird event has fully bounced back from pandemic levels, and still has more to offer.
"Overnight last night we had a whole new arrival of birds," said Kimberly Kaufman, executive director of the Black Swamp Bird Observatory. "We now have Wilsons Warblers in the area, we have both species of cuckoos. A whole new round of birds coming through to the delight of birders."
The mix of local, regional, and international visitors here has made this one of the biggest tourism draws of the year in Ohio
"We have friends in South Africa, Poland, and certainly Japan who come here," said Lee Faber, who has visited from the Sylvania area for nearly 15 years. "Their dream is to visit this site during the Biggest Week - it's a big deal."
And if you do come out this weekend, make sure you follow the Biggest Week in American Birding's Twitter account, where they have spotters throughout the area updating their followers on any rare sightings.
Event regional partners Trust for Public Land Ohio visited the marsh Friday.
"Really what we want to do is create a new valuation and looking at potential prospect sites," state TPL director Sean Terry said. "And determine if a bird habitat can inform them, make them more valuable. Not only from an economic standpoint, but from an ecosystem benefit standpoint as well."
Terry says work to preserve wildlife habitats like Magee Marsh are not only vital for tourism events like this one, but have a direct impact on the health of the Great Lakes.
"The habitat that is around that water, the grasslands, the forested lands, the marsh lands that the birds habitat and spawn in is important to preserve," he said.
The Biggest Week in American Birding continues through the weekend.
Even after the Biggest Week concludes there's still more birding to come. So get out in the month of May, come out to Magee Marsh, Ottawa National Wildlife National Refuge, and any of our world class Metroparks and you're going to find birds.
There will be a free Birding for Beginners class on Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m. at Pearson Metropark.
If you can't make it out, the rest of May is still considered one of the best times of year to see these migratory birds in our area.
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