OTTAWA COUNTY, Ohio — You may remember when straight-line winds devastated the Magee Marsh boardwalk in Ottawa County last August.
The scars from last year's storm damage are still visible at the Magee Marsh boardwalk.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources officially reopened the boardwalk to the public Friday.
Visitors will see where the boardwalk was damaged, and will now have a better view of the open marshes, as the storm last August destroyed 50-60% of the canopy here.
"Migratory birds coming up are looking for anything that's green, they will be just as heavy," Mark Shieldcastle, research director at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, said. "It might be better for birding because the birds will be all down at eye level now."
"It will be interesting to see the pros and cons of the new environment and landscape," Laura Stanton, visiting Magee Marsh from Cincinnati, said.
Now while the boardwalk is reopened to the public as of Friday, there is actually a stretch of it that is still closed.
That's because one of the bald eagle breeding pairs at Magee Marsh had to relocate their nest after it was destroyed in that August storm. They just so happened to decide to settle down in a tree right along the boardwalk.
Their choice of lodging means construction crews couldn't finish the work because that area is currently under federal protection.
The boardwalk reopening comes with perfect timing, as the Black Swamp Bird Observatory is preparing for its first in-person Biggest Week in American Birding in three years.
Though a small portion of the boardwalk will remain inaccessible, the rest of Maggee Marsh will have plenty of new habitats for birders to enjoy.
"There is going to be actually more availability and more walking areas even though there is a small section of the boardwalk itself that won't be available," Shieldcastle said.
The return of the Biggest Week in American Birding starts in one month and runs from May 6 to May 15.