Northwest Ohio: Spring Migration

Day 1: The trip begins at 6:00 p.m. in our hotel near the Detroit Metro Airport with a brief meeting followed by dinner. Night near Detroit Metro Airport.

Day 2: We’ll depart early for Pointe Mouillee State Game Area just north of the Ohio border. This 4,000-acre coastal wetland complex borders Lake Erie at the mouth of the Huron River and is a magnet for waterfowl, waterbirds, and shorebirds. If we hit it right, we should see hundreds of Dunlin and perhaps Short-billed Dowitcher and Black-bellied Plover among others. Black Tern, American White Pelican, and Yellow-headed Blackbird are locally uncommon, and we’ll keep an eye out for them. We’ll make several more stops en-route to Ohio, targeting Bobolink among others. In the late afternoon, we’ll check into our hotel and, if time permits, bird a local park before dinner. Night in Oregon, Ohio.

Days 3-5: With Oregon as our home base, we’ll spend the next three days birding countless hotspots in northwest Ohio. We’ll remain flexible as weather, winds, and bird reports will largely control when and where to bird. Our main stop will be the Magee Marsh boardwalk where sighting more than twenty species of warblers in a single day is not out of the question. We’ll also hope to see various species of vireos, flycatchers, thrushes, and cuckoos. We will also bird nearby productive woodlots such as Metzger Marsh, Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, Pearson Metropark, and the Maumee Bay State Park boardwalk, keeping our eyes to the skies for migrating raptors—most notably Broad-winged Hawks. We’ll also bird several wetlands and flooded fields for waterfowl and shorebirds, especially Howard Marsh, which is a metropark that was only recently converted from farmlands to 1,000 acres of prime wetland habitat and has attracted nesting Black-necked Stilts, Wilson’s Phalaropes, and Yellow-headed Blackbirds—all three of which are rare breeders in Ohio! We’ll also search for American Pipit, Marsh Wren, and lingering ducks. An hour east, we’ll spend one morning birding a beautiful eastern hardwood forest where Cerulean and Yellow-throated Warblers breed. Rare near Magee, these local breeders are quite reliable at this local metropark and we will also keep an eye out for a few other resident breeders such as Acadian Flycatcher and Wood Thrush. One evening we’ll offer an optional night-birding excursion for rails,bitterns, and Eastern Whip-poor-will. Nights in Oregon.

Day 6: We’ll depart early for the 45-minute drive to Toledo’s largest Metropark, Oak Openings Preserve. This 5,000-acre park is predominately oak savanna which contains oak forest, grasslands, and vegetated sand dunes.  Wild lupine blankets the forest floors while prickly pear and sand cherries grow on the shifting dunes. Our main targets are birds we won’t find elsewhere: Barred Owl, Pileated Woodpecker, Lark Sparrow, Blue Grosbeak, Summer Tanager, Henslow’s Sparrow, and Yellow-breasted Chat. Red-headed Woodpeckers are abundant, and we should be able to pick up a good selection of Neotropical migrants. After a full day of birding Oak Openings and its surroundings, we’ll make our way to Detroit. Night in Detroit.

Day 7: The tour concludes this morning in Detroit.

2026 Narrative

When someone mentions spring migration in the U.S., Northwest Ohio, particularly around Magee Marsh, is often one of the most talked about destinations. Several migratory routes converge here, and the Lake Erie shoreline often creates a bird-blocking effect, grounding birds. By now they are nearing their northern breeding grounds and are in full song. 

With such a migration spectacle, we focused this tour in one area which prevented the need for long drives and constant hotel changes. We took advantage of excellent weather, delicious local lunch and dinner stops, and of course an excellent migration. Starting near Detroit, we visited Pte Mouilee where we had a nice selection of waterfowl and shorebirds before continuing into Ohio. Over the next several days we focused on birding all of the local hotspots including Magee Marsh, Ottawa NWR, Metzger Marsh, Howard Marsh, Pearson Metropark, and Oak Openings Metropark along with a few other hidden gems where we tallied an impressive list of warblers, thrushes, cuckoos, vireos, etc. One morning we headed east into an area of healthy deciduous forests where we picked up a few resident breeders including Cerulean and Yellow-throated Warblers. Overall, it was a very successful trip!

Day 1: The tour began near the Detroit Airport where we had our introductory meeting followed by an excellent Italian dinner.

Day 2: Just a short drive from our hotel brought us to Pointe Mouillee State Game Area, located along the western shores of Lake Erie. This vast expanse of bays, wetlands, and mudflats spans thousands of acres. With special access, we were able to drive deep into the area and cover a large amount of ground efficiently.

Our primary focus here was waterfowl, and we were rewarded with sightings of 12 species. Highlights included Wood Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Gadwall, Redhead, Greater and Lesser Scaup, Ruddy Duck, and singletons of Common and Red-breasted Mergansers.

We also encountered ten species of shorebirds. Among the Dunlin the most abundant shorebird, we also picked out Semipalmated Plover, Short-billed Dowitcher, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Least Sandpiper, and a locally rare Willet to name a few.

Additional highlights included a couple very cooperative Bobolinks, several pairs of Sandhill Cranes, four species of terns, most notably the striking Black Tern, along with at least 80 American White Pelicans, a species that has seen a rapid population growth in this region. We also observed Marsh Wren, five species of swallows, Savannah Sparrow, Least Flycatcher, and the ever-present Bald Eagle. 

After lunch, we continued south into Ohio and visited Bay View Park, a nice migrant trap on the western end of Lake Erie. This proved fruitful and we were able to experience what makes this region famous. We tallied 19 species of warblers including Northern Waterthrush, Prothonotary, Cape May, Magnolia, Bay-breasted, Blackburnian, Black-throated Blue and Black-throated Green to name a few. As if that wasn’t enough, we had a whole host of other migrants such as Yellow-throated, Philadelphia, Eastern Warbling, and Red-eyed Vireos, Swainson’s Thrush, Orchard and Baltimore Oriole, and Indigo Bunting. 

We then moved on to the Pearson Metropark Window on Wildlife which would give us up close views of resident species as well as migrants coming in to drink at the water drip. Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-billed Woodpecker, Tufted Titmouse, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak were all common at the feeders as well as a late Dark-eyed Junco that should be further north by now. 

The water drip lived up to expectations with five species of warblers including Nashville, Chestnut-sided, and American Redstart along with a gorgeous male Indigo Bunting. 

As if this wasn’t an exciting enough start to day one, we continued towards the Magee Marsh visitors center where a Kirtland’s Warbler had been found. With great anticipation, we worked our way along the trail passing a number of people giving us big smiles and thumbs up and stopped to observe a striking Golden-winged Warbler. Eventually we made it and had suburb views of this major target! It was one of sixteen species of warblers along this short trail. 

Our final stop for the day was Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area. Here we had over 50 Trumpeter Swans, a couple pairs of Black-necked Stilts, Lincoln’s Sparrow, and a locally rare Glossy Ibis. 

Day 3: The winds overnight shifted and were not favorable for any new migrants to move in, so we opted to head east towards Cleveland to target a few resident breeders. We spent the morning birding Vermilion River Reservation which consists of primary deciduous forests with a sycamore lined Vermilion River passing right through. Our main targets here were Cerulean and Yellow-throated Warbler; both species are quite rare as passage migrants in the Magee region. It didn’t take long before we heard both of these gorgeous warblers and we eventually tracked down the songsters, obtaining excellent views. The park was very productive with 11 species of warblers in total, along with Eastern Wood-Pewee, Acadian Flycatcher, Blue-headed Vireo, Eastern Bluebird, Scarlet Tanager, and a singing Purple Finch, which eluded us. 

In the afternoon we chased a reported Loggerhead Shrike, which sadly didn’t make an appearance, before continuing to Sheldon Marsh State Nature Reserve. This park had been hosting a rare migrant to Ohio, a Clay-colored Sparrow. After a bit of searching along a hedgerow bordering a golf course, we finally found it feeding among a group of White-crowned Sparrows.

After a nice sparrow session, we continued back west and headed to the Magee Marsh boardwalk for our first visit to this iconic place. There were plenty of people around but also some excellent migrant action as well. We slowly birded the boardwalk enjoying many warblers at point blank with the likes of Prothonotary, Wilson’s, and a Canada among the 15 warblers in total. We also had great views of a charming Eastern Screech-Owl roosting above the boardwalk.

After dinner we headed to Maumee Bay State Park and positioned ourselves for the evening American Woodcock “sky dance”. This time of year, males come out just before dusk and begin “peenting” before spiraling high up the sky producing twittering calls with their wings before plummeting back to the ground. Let’s just say we weren’t disappointed. We also had a lovely Eastern Meadowlark keep us company and a Common Nighthawk flying around.

Day 4: The next morning, we found ourselves in a small patch of prairie surrounded by large agricultural fields. It was quite a surreal experience taking in the dawn chorus during the cooler morning hours. We had the place to ourselves. Our target bird was Dickcissel and they were singing and teed up offering excellent views. This was a perfect example of good habitat means good birds. 

With more favorable winds overnight hinting at a turnover in migrants, we returned to the Magee Marsh boardwalk and spent much of the morning birding the boardwalk. It was the perfect choice as the boardwalk was teaming with migrants. We tallied 21 species of warblers including our first Mourning Warblers. Although they can be a challenge to see, patience paid off. We also had more excellent views of Cape May, Bay-breasted, Blackburnian, Blackpoll, Black-throated Blue and plenty others. There were well over a hundred individual warblers along the boardwalk. Although warblers stole the show, there were plenty of others to see including Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Gray-cheeked and a lingering Hermit Thrush, and large flocks of Cedar Waxwings moving overhead.

With rain threatening us, we headed to lunch at the locally famous Blackberry Corners where we enjoyed lunch and obligatory lifer pie. We were soon out birding right away heading back to Metzger Marsh. On the drive in, the stopped along the marsh and heard a King Rail call several times from deep within the marsh. We also had more views of the Glossy Ibis that was continuing along with several Black Terns flying around in the distance. 

At the end of the road is a productive small woodlot along Lake Erie and today was no exception. With much smaller crowds and plenty of migrants at or near eye level, this was one of the favorite birding stops for the group. We spent a couple hours “slow birding” seeing what migrants would make an appearance during our stay. By now we have seen nearly every warbler possible, but we did enjoy more excellent views of a Mourning Warbler which kept making an appearance in the same viewing window of a shrub directly in front of us. Overall, a dozen warblers were entertaining us offering excellent photographic opportunities. 

Next up we headed to Howard Marsh—a remarkable restoration success story, having been transformed from farmland into thriving wetland habitat in just a few years. Wilson’s Phalarope and Semipalmated Sandpiper were new for the fast-growing trip total. 

Our final stop for the day was back at Pearson Metropark as it’s only a mile from our hotel. While some relaxed in front of the bird feeders, others did a short walking loop finding our only Olive-sided Flycatcher for the trip. 

Day 5: By now, we’ve had a very successful trip with very few outstanding species remaining, so we headed back to the Magee Marsh boardwalk one last time to soak in migration. We tallied 21 warblers once again, but who’s counting? And the numbers were even more impressive. By this time of May, some of the later migrants become more common such as Canada, Wilson’s and Blackpoll. Down the road we stopped to check on a nesting Cooper’s Hawk, which was nesting in a conifer before heading to a creamery for lunch and ice cream. 

The afternoon was spent slowly birding along the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge auto tour and Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area seeing more of the same. It’s always important to try and see things multiple times and always stive for better views. We did pick up our first Snowy Egrets, however. 

Day 6: West of Toledo lies Oak Openings Metropark, the largest metropark in the region, encompassing over 5,000 acres of diverse, bird-rich habitats, including its signature oak savanna.

This morning we started off along a quiet road next to a prairie where we had Grasshopper, Field and Henslow’s Sparrows, Willow Flycatcher, Blue Grosbeak, and Blue-winged Warblers – all local breeders. 

We then focused on a trail that runs through an area impacted by a tornado a few years ago, which has since developed into productive scrubby habitat. This spot yielded several great finds, including Red-headed and Pileated Woodpeckers, Eastern Towhee, and highly vocal Yellow-breasted Chats.

Nearby we walked a well-wooded trail where we had a couple Hooded and Pine Warblers, the latter making our 30th warbler of the tour! 

Before lunch, we explored an open oak savanna, home to one of the few breeding populations of Lark Sparrow in the state. True to form, they were active and vocal, offering excellent views. We also had our first and only Northern Mockingbird and Summer Tanager. 

After lunch we began our journey back north towards Detroit stopping back at Bay View Park once again.  Although we turned up nothing new, we still had great views of Philadelphia Vireo, Canada Warbler, and a host of other migrants practically all to ourselves. 

Our final stop of the tour was at a metropark not far from our Detoit airport hotel where a half hour walked yielded Wild Turkey as our final new bird of the tour. After a quick dash back to the vehicle, we dodged the rain and headed to our hotel and our final dinner. 

-        Ethan Kistler, 2026

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