My Biggest Week - Magee Marsh, Toussaint WIldlife Area, Ottawa National Wildlife Area, Metzgers Marsh

Well, the Biggest Week in birding has come and gone. These are some of my better pictures ( I think I took about 1,500) of the birds we saw. Not all are great, but some of these birds are just so beautiful, even the blurry pics are worth sharing. I have been fortunate to move within a 45 min drive of one of the most wonderful places to bird, Magee Marsh. For a full list of what we saw, scroll past the pictures.

Each spring thousands of birds migrate north. Along the way they stop, just south of Lake Erie at Magee Marsh and the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge to rest up before crossing the big lake. This pit stop allows thousands of birders like myself a close-up brief glimpse of these guys (and gals) as they make the long journey to their summer breeding grounds. Not only are they here en masse, but they are also very close to the ground making pictures and observation a lot more easy.

Also included are some other non-bird photos, snakes, turtles, rabbit and a sleeping raccoon. Some birds do stay here to breed and I did get a few nest pictures and some geese babies. Always love the babies!  I have to say my favorites are probably the owls and the eagles. The small birds are very colorful, but the big birds are just so awe-inspiring. 

I hope you enjoy. TVH

Birds seen during the big week:

1. American Bittern
2. Brewer's Blackbird
3. Red-winged Blackbird
4. Indigo Bunting
5. Northern Cardinal
6. Grey Catbird
7. Black-capped Chickadee
8. American Coot
9. Double-Crested Cormorant
10. Brown-headed Cowbird
11. Sandhill Crane
12. Brown Creeper
13. American Crow
14. Mourning Dove
15. Ruddy Duck
16. Wood Duck
17. Bald Eagle
18. Great Egret
19. Snowy Egret
20. House Finch
21. Northern Flicker
22. Great Crested Flycatcher
23. Blue-grey gnatcatcher
24. American Goldfinch
25. Canada Goose
26. Common Grackle
27. Pied-billed Greibe
28. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
29. American Herring Gull
30. Bonaparte's Gull
31. Ring-billed Gull
32. Northern Harrier
33. Red-tailed Hawk
34. Great Blue Heron
35. Green Heron
36. Blue Jay
37. American Kestral
38. Killdeer
39. Eastern Kingbird
40. Belted Kingfisher
41. Golden Crowned Kinglet
42. Ruby Crowned Kinglet
43. Mallard
44. Hooded Merganser
45. Northern Mockingbird
46. Baltimore Oriole
47. Ovenbird
48. Eastern Screech Owl
49. Great Horned Owl
50. Long-eared Owl
51. Eastern Phoebe
52. American Redstart
53. American Robin
54. Solitary Sandpiper
55. Spotted Sandpiper
56. Northern Shoveler
57. Pine Siskin
58. Sora
59. American Tree Sparrow
60. Chirping Sparrow
61. Fox Sparrow
62. House Sparrow
63. Lincoln's Sparrow
64. Song Sparrow
65. White-crowned Sparrow
66. White-throated Sparrow
67. Common Starling
68. Barn Swallow
69. Tree Swallow
70. Mute Swan
71. Trumpeter Swan
72. Scarlet Tangier
73. Blue Winged Teal
74. Common Tern
75. Hermit Thrush
76. Tufted Titmouse
77. Eastern Towhee
78. Blue-headed Vireo
79. Red-eyed Vireo
80. Warbling Vireo
81. White-eyed Vireo
82. Turkey Vulture
83. Bay-breasted Warbler
84. Black-and-white Warbler
85. Blackburnian Warbler
86. Blackpoll Warbler
87. Black-throated Blue Warbler
88. Black-throated Green Warbler
89. Blue-winged Warbler
90. Canada Warbler
91. Cape May Warbler
92. Cerulean Warbler
93. Chestnut-sided Warbler
94. Golden-winged Warbler
95. Hooded Warbler
96. Magnolia Warbler
97. Mourning Warbler
98. Palm Warbler
99. Yellow Warbler
100. Yellow-rumped Warbler
101. Louisiana Waterthrush
102. Northern Waterthrush
103. Eastern Whip-poor-will
104. American Woodcock
105. Downy Woodpecker
106. Hairy Woodpecker
107. Red-bellied Woodpecker
108. Carolina Wren
109. House Wren
110. Common Yellowthroat

110 birds in 10 days. 131 birds for the year. 240 birds lifetime to date.