2017 Ohio Big Day

Bay-breasted Warbler - Photo by Dylan Vasapolli

02:00 16 May 2017: We grabbed our binoculars and headed to our already packed vehicle. Our team, the Benannaquits, was off to beat last year's Columbus Audubon Big Day of 144 species on nearly the same date. Our route was similar but slightly revised, and our team gained an additional member. This year in addition to my mom, Julie, and my husband, Ben, we also had Dylan, our friend and a Birding Ecotours guide from South Africa, along for the day. A great advantage that we had this year was the opportunity for myself, Ben and Dylan to spend a good amount of time scouting many of our Big Day stops, during the Biggest Week in American Birding!

Our first bird of the day, en route to our first official stop was an American Robin.

05:02 We arrived in the Oak Openings region just in time for a full dawn chorus. As we sifted through the sounds of Grasshopper Sparrows, Common Yellowthroats, and American Woodcocks, we heard three distant calls that we were not expecting! The first was the low hoot of a Great Horned Owl! Next was an Eastern Whip-poor-will, and finally, and probably the most unexpected was a King Rail calling from a wet corner of the grassland!

We continued through several other hotspots within Oak Openings Preserve Metropark. We added our likely targets, such as Lark Sparrow, Henslow's Sparrow, Summer Tanager, and Red-headed Woodpecker. Among our highlights of Oak Openings were a singing Brown Creeper and Prairie Warbler! We ended our time at Oak Openings with all of the woodpecker species we would have for the day and a total of 77 species!

Brown Creeper - Photo by D. Vasapolli

We continued north, stopping at several of Toledo's fantastic parks, including Irwin Prairie State Nature Preserve, Secor Metropark, and Pearson Metropark. We were able to add a staked-out Louisiana Waterthrush and Hooded Warbler to our total!

While driving through Irwin Prairie, Julie spotted a bird perched atop a dead snag over the marsh. The lighting was poor as it had just started to rain, but there was no mistaking a Wilson's Snipe high above the wetland and calling Sora!

Wilson's Snipe at Irwin Prairie - Photo by D. Vasapolli

Julie, Dylan, and Ben enjoying an Eastern Screech-Owl

11:22 We made it to the Lake Erie coast! Our first stop along the lake was Maumee Bay State Park. We visited several locations within the park, quickly increasing our list with several species of gulls, terns, and swallows, a Ruddy Turnstone, Eastern Screech-Owl, and more! While we were in the lodge parking lot, we looked up to see a kettle of raptors migrating! 12 Broad-winged Hawks, 8 Turkey Vultures and a Bald Eagle swirled high in the sky above us!

Continuing our journey east along the coast, we stopped at a flooded field to find good numbers of Dunlin and Semipalmated Plovers, but not the species diversity we were hoping for.

By now, it was already starting to warm up beyond what we were hoping for. We arrived at Metzger Marsh. Several of our target birds were more difficult to find than we had anticipated, or worse, we couldn't find them at all. We finally managed a distant view of a Common Gallinule, and a single Pied-billed Grebe. The Least Bittern we had hoped for, and had previously heard and seen remained silently hidden in the cattails.

Eastern Screech-Owl - Photo by Ben Warner

13:43 The Warbler Capital of the World! We arrived at the Magee Marsh boardwalk, and it was rather hot. On top of the heat, we were all feeling a bit sleepy, so perhaps we spent too much time at this stop. As we birded, we picked up several new warblers for the day, such as Wilson's Warbler and Black-throated Blue Warbler. The boardwalk was crowded with birders still on their post-Biggest Week buzz. Along the way, we bumped into Jen Brumfield, leading a group of Cleveland-area birders. Ben asked if she had seen a few of our target species and she directed us to where she had seen an Olive-sided Flycatcher. Sure enough, we finished the first loop and Ben looked up to see not one, but TWO Olive-sided Flycatchers perched high! Thanks Jen!

A bit further down our walk, we came across this Protonotary Warbler enjoying a nice snack!

Prothonotary Warbler at Magee Marsh - Photo by D. Vasapolli

Just moments later, we came across a Common Nighthawk resting on a limb, then a Black-crowned Night-Heron foraging along the back side of the boardwalk! As we continued along, Dylan heard a bird calling that we had missed earlier in the morning: Sandhill Crane! We had tallied 11 species of warblers when we left he boardwalk. We checked the beach and as we were leaving, Dylan and I noticed a Lesser Black-backed Gull!

Napping Common Nighthawk - Photo by D. Vasapolli

After leaving Magee Marsh, we continued east along the lake. Our next new bird flew across Route 2 in front of the vehicle... Snowy Egret!

16:48 Pipe Creek was our next stop, and we successfully added two staked out waterfowl species: Greater Scaup and a Ring-necked Duck! We quickly walked the loop hoping to hear rails or bitterns (and also hoping to find a Fox Snake!) We didn't have much luck, but we did see several Northern Water Snakes and as we neared the start of the middle dike, we heard and briefly saw a Virginia Rail!!

Continuing east, we made a brief stop to Huron Pier, where a Black-headed Gull had been seen throughout the previous week. It would have been a life bird for me, but not today. The stop wasn't a total dip though, because we added Mute Swans to our list for the day.

We jumped back into the van for the long drive to our next stop. We needed to head south to pick up some other species such as Cerulean Warbler, Carolina Chickadee, Worm-eating Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Veery and Winter Wren.

20:22 It was getting close to dark when we arrived at Mohican State Park. As we drove in, the evening chorus was in full swing! We were certain we would be able to easily add at least 6-8 new birds. A Wild Turkey darted across the road and a chorus of Veerys greeted us! Then we were unpleasantly greeted by a "Road Closed" sign! In order to get to the area we wanted, we would have to double back, then take a longer route around the Pleasant Hill Dam and back into the park from the other side. We were quickly losing light but we continued along. By the time we reached our destination, many of the birds had stopped singing for the night. No signs of the summer resident Cerulean Warblers or Worm-eaters. Not even a chickadee. We hiked along the river listening for a late Winter Wren, and still nothing. As we headed back to the car, Dylan stopped behind us. He heard a noise and as he shined his flashlight up, a Barred Owl peered back down at us!

21:30 We finished our official birding for the day and just had a few remaining stops, to drop off Julie in Lexington, Ohio, and then continue the trek back to Columbus. By the time we got back home, we had been on the road for a total of 22 hours and we tallied an exciting 153 species for he day! Now starts the planning for our 2018 Columbus Audubon Big Day with a goal of 150+ (hopefully beating our current record!)

Black-thoated Green Warbler - Photo by D. Vasapolli

If you enjoyed our story, please consider supporting our efforts by donating to Columbus Audubon. Bird-a-thon monies raised will go to local conservation and conservation education efforts, as well as supporting the Central Ohio chapter of the Ohio Young Birders Club! Click Here to Support the Benannaquits!

Thank you!


Here's our complete Big Day list:

1. Canada Goose
2. Mute Swan
3. Trumpeter Swan
4. Wood Duck
5. Mallard
6. Ring-necked Duck
7. Greater Scaup
8. Hooded Merganser
9. Wild Turkey
10. Pied-billed Grebe
11. Double-crested Cormorant
12. Great Blue Heron
13. Great Egret
14. Snowy Egret
15. Green Heron
16. Black-crowned Night-Heron
17. Turkey Vulture
18. Osprey
19. Bald Eagle
20. Cooper's Hawk
21. Broad-winged Hawk
22. Red-tailed Hawk
23. King Rail
24. Virginia Rail
25. Sora
26. Common Gallinule
27. American Coot
28. Sandhill Crane
29. Semipalmated Plover
30. Killdeer
31. Spotted Sandpiper
32. Solitary Sandpiper
33. Ruddy Turnstone
34. Dunlin
35. Least Sandpiper
36. Wilson's Snipe
37. American Woodcock
38. Ring-billed Gull
39. Herring Gull
40. Lesser Black-backed Gull
41. Caspian Tern
42. Common Tern
43. Forster's Tern
44. Rock Pigeon
45. Mourning Dove
46. Yellow-billed Cuckoo
47. Eastern Screech-Owl
48. Great Horned Owl
49. Barred Owl
50. Common Nighthawk
51. Eastern Whip-poor-will
52. Chimney Swift
53. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
54. Red-headed Woodpecker
55. Red-bellied Woodpecker
56. Downy Woodpecker
57. Hairy Woodpecker
58. Yellow-shafted Flicker
59. Pileated Woodpecker
60. American Kestrel
61. Olive-sided Flycatcher
62. Eastern Wood-Pewee
63. Acadian Flycatcher
64. Alder Flycatcher
65. Willow Flycatcher
66. Least Flycatcher
67. Eastern Phoebe
68. Great Crested Flycatcher
69. Eastern Kingbird
70. White-eyed Vireo
71. Yellow-throated Vireo
72. Warbling Vireo
73. Philadelphia Vireo
74. Red-eyed Vireo
75. Blue Jay
76. American Crow
77. Horned Lark
78. Purple Martin
79. Tree Swallow
80. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
81. Bank Swallow
82. Cliff Swallow
83. Barn Swallow
84. Black-capped Chickadee
85. Tufted Titmouse
86. White-breasted Nuthatch
87. Red-breasted Nuthatch
88. Brown Creeper
89. House Wren
90. Marsh Wren
91. Carolina Wren
92. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
93. Eastern Bluebird
94. Veery
95. Swainson's Thrush
96. Wood Thrush
97. American Robin
98. Gray Catbird
99. Brown Thrasher
100. European Starling
101. Cedar Waxwing
102. Ovenbird
103. Louisiana Waterthrush
104. Blue-winged Warbler
105. Black-and-white Warbler
106. Prothonotary Warbler
107. Tennessee Warbler
108. Nashville Warbler
109. Common Yellowthroat
110. Hooded Warbler
111. American Redstart
112. Cape May Warbler
113. Northern Parula
114. Magnolia Warbler
115. Bay-breasted Warbler
116. Blackburnian Warbler
117. Yellow Warbler
118. Chestnut-sided Warbler
119. Blackpoll Warbler
120. Black-throated Blue Warbler
121. Pine Warbler
122. Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler
123. Yellow-throated Warbler
124. Prairie Warbler
125. Black-throated Green Warbler
126. Canada Warbler
127. Wilson's Warbler
128. Yellow-breasted Chat
129. Eastern Towhee
130. Chipping Sparrow
131. Field Sparrow
132. Lark Sparrow
133. Savannah Sparrow
134. Grasshopper Sparrow
135. Henslow's Sparrow
136. Song Sparrow
137. Lincoln's Sparrow
138. Swamp Sparrow
139. White-throated Sparrow
140. White-crowned Sparrow
141. Summer Tanager
142. Scarlet Tanager
143. Northern Cardinal
144. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
145. Indigo Bunting
146. Red-winged Blackbird
147. Eastern Meadowlark
148. Common Grackle
149. Brown-headed Cowbird
150. Orchard Oriole
151. Baltimore Oriole
152. American Goldfinch
153. House Sparrow

Bird with Us!

A Kind-of Big Day

This year during Biggest Week in American Birding, one of the field trips that I co-led with Ben was a Big Day van trip on May 12th. Starting at 6AM, we had a full 9 hours to bird, leaving from the Maumee Bay State Park Lodge. The only rules, basically, were that we could not visit the Magee Marsh Boardwalk, and we have to be back by 3PM. Our van was full with 10 participants in  addition to Ben and myself. As a team, we set some ground rules: 1)Birds had to be seen or heard by at least one guide and at least 3 participants in order to be counted, and 2)We would get birds as quickly as possible unless it was a Life Bird for anyone, then we would try to get the person on their life bird for a decent look.

We started the morning at Oak Openings Metropark where we got our woodpeckers out of the way for the day! Red-headed, Red-bellied, Downy, Hairy, Pileated and Northern Flicker all in under 2 hours! We picked up 11 species of warblers and had a good start on sparrows with Henslow's Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Chipping, Field, Song, White-crowned and White-throated, along with Eastern Towhee! Unfortunately, we were unable to refind 4 species that we had the previous day: Black Vulture, Wild Turkey, Cerulean Warbler, and Clay-colored Sparrow.

Stop #2 was nearby at the Wilkens Rd and Sager intersection, always a reliable grassland for Grasshopper Sparrow and Eastern Meadowlark, and it didn't disappoint! In addition, we has Blue-winged Warbler and Savannah Sparrow!

Next we drove through Irwin Prairie on our way to Secor Metropark, without even stopping, we added Brown Thrasher, Turkey Vultures and Sandhill Cranes! Secor was good to us. At the entrance, a Louisiana Waterthrush was heard calling, which is fairly unusual for the area! We also added Cooper's and Broad-winged Hawks, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Orange-crowned Warbler, Hooded Warbler, and Wood Thrush!

We saw our only Rock Pigeon of the day en route to Pearson Metropark. We were lucky enough to spot a Sora walking along the edge of some reeds by one of the parking lots. Amazingly all 10 participants were able to SEE a Sora! It was a life bird for most of them! We picked up several more species for the day including Marsh Wrens, Sharp-shinned Hawk, and Northern Parula.

Our next stop was Metzger Marsh where some of our new birds included Cliff Swallow, Caspian Terns, Common Gallinule, Trumpeter Swan, and Pied-billed Grebe! We didn't stay long before we were off to the Krause/Stange Observation Tower of ONWR. We quickly added Dunlin, Eastern Kingbird and Lesser Yellowlegs before piling back into the van and returning to Maumee Bay State Park. By this time, we had already reached 100 species and we had less than 30 minutes remaining. We hurried down the boardwalk behind the nature center in search of a few key birds. A very cooperative Eastern Screech-Owl, Veery, and nesting Purple Martins made 103 possible!

The best part of the day was getting all 10 participants on life birds throughout the day!

There were a few birds throughout the day that Ben and I had that we couldn't get enough other participants on, like Horned Larks and Black-and-white Warbler. After our trip ended, we continued birding and added several more species to our personal day lists, including Osprey, Great Black-backed Gull, Bonaparte's Gulls, Red-breasted Merganser, Wild Turkey, Common Terns, and maybe a few others.

The Big Day van trip, and other field trips we led during Biggest Week were good for scouting out birds for our annual Columbus Audubon Bird-a-thon Big Day that we will be completing this Tuesday, May 16! Our goal is to beat last year's total of 144 species. Our team, the BenAnnaquits, will include my mom, Julie and our friend Dylan from South Africa. If you'd like to donate in our name, visit this link: https://columbusaudubon.org/groups/birdathon/columbus-audubon-birdathon-support/