2023 Ohio – Eastern Warblers and Spring Migrants

Located on Lake Erie’s south-western shore just outside of Toledo, Maumee Bay and Magee Marsh are unbelievable migrant traps all spring long. As birds make their tireless flight to breeding grounds in Canada they see the water of Lake Erie and put down in the small patches of trees along the shoreline.

Both areas have fantastic boardwalks right through the middle of these woods, providing some easy walking and birding. It is here that we will target some of the earlier migrating warblers such as Nashville Warbler, Palm Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle subspecies), as well as others that are potentially on the move already. The entrance drive to the Magee boardwalk is through a beautiful and extensive marsh habitat. This should be packed with Yellow Warbler and many large waders.

Stopping here for a day should score us many fantastic bird species and allow everyone to get familiar with this national attraction before we visit it again later in the week for the next few waves of migrants. Toward the end of the day we will start making our way to southern Ohio.

Overnight: Dayton, OH

Dayton has its fair share of hidden-gem, small migrant traps and beautiful, expansive natural areas. Located in southwestern Ohio, this region plays host to the breeding grounds of a few species that rarely make it any further north, such as Blue Grosbeak. We will spend the day targeting these more southern specialties.

Our first stop will be the migrant trap of Hills and Dales, a small 60+-acre park sandwiched between houses and a golf course. This small forest can be loaded with fresh migrants, singing away in the morning sun, such as the quizzical Blue-headed Vireo and the stunning Baltimore Oriole.

From here we will move to Woodman Fen, an even smaller migrant trap of only 37 acres, surrounded by houses, causing all the birds in the area to flock here, with Least Flycatcher calling and Ruby-throated Hummingbird buzzing around. To round out the day we move to the Twin Valley area in southwest Dayton, a large stretch of land that encompasses both Germantown and Twin Creek Metroparks. The large ravines of spectacular old-growth forest provide ideal habitat for breeding Kentucky Warbler and Louisiana Waterthrush.

These areas also have fantastic pockets of prairies and meadows, which hold the ever-sneaky Henslow’s Sparrow and the buzzy song of Prairie Warblers. We finish by moving into some old pine, cedar, and spruce stands to find Pine Warbler and Eastern Towhee. After scoring on several southern warbler specialties we will make the drive to Shawnee State Park Lodge.

Overnight: Shawnee State Park Lodge

We will be up and out of the door very early at this 60,000+ acres of old-growth forest. As we navigate our way up the curvy roads before dawn we should see plenty of eye shine of Eastern Whip-poor-will in the road. The morning chorus here can be absolutely deafening with loads of migrating birds echoing through the slopes and ravines.

We will start on higher grounds, as migrants typically land at the tops of canyons for a rest. As with most migration it can be hit or miss depending on the winds, but we should be able to score a bright Blackburnian Warblerglowing in the morning sun and see loads of Black-and-white Warblers scooting up trunks. After things slow down on the mountain tops we will move back down into the ravines near creeks and streams.

Here we will see loads of Yellow-throated Warblers and Northern Parulas. Next we will move into areas with precipitous drops to find a true southern specialty, Worm-eating Warbler. These mid-to-high elevations also provide us with excellent opportunities to see the jaw-dropping blue of Cerulean Warbler up close and personal.

This huge forest is filled with the skulking Ovenbird and Hooded Warbler as their songs echo throughout the entire area. In the evening we will head out to a small creek in Adams County to listen for Barred Owl and Eastern Screech Owl. This is also the only place in the entire state of Ohio where Chuck-will’s-widow breeds.

Then we’ll head back to the lodge for a good night’s sleep after an action-packed day.

Overnight: Shawnee State Park Lodge

We will spend one more morning up at the top of the mountains, listening to the dawn chorus and searching for new migrants. Anything can show up in these trees, including over 20 different species of warbler, so hopefully we will be able to dig up something new, like Tennessee Warbleror Scarlet Tanager, that we didn’t get the previous day.

After a nice, relaxing morning of enjoying the new migrants we will make the trek down to West Virginia. We should arrive at the New River Gorge area with plenty of time to explore and hopefully pick up the beautiful evening song of Wood Thrush and the contrasting black-and-orange American Redstart before heading to the hotel for the evening.

Overnight: Beckley, WV

We will start the day in the rhododendron-filled forests of the New River Gorge valley as we visit several trailheads in the area, scouring and listening for our top target, Swainson’s Warbler, in its preferred habitat. These birds can be very secretive, so we want to give ourselves as many opportunities as possible to get everyone good looks.

After a nice morning and afternoon of birding in these dense forest regions we will make our way back to Ohio. We will spend the evening birding at a nice grassland habitat called Junction Earthworks. Here we hope to see several grassland birds like Grasshopper Sparrow and Savannah Sparrow as well as having the potential for Mississippi Kite, very rare in Ohio.

Overnight: Chillicothe, OH

Columbus offers a wide array of high-quality habitats perfect for birds, including wetlands, grasslands, and deep forests. As we spend the day exploring these areas we will also be on the lookout for any reports of warblers and other top targets we may be missing. Golden-winged Warbler will likely be at the top of the list, as well as species like Connecticut Warbler and Mourning Warbler.

We will let our needs dictate our goals and destinations for this day but expect to spend some time in an expansive wetland looking for Marsh Wren, Sedge Wren, and other secretive marsh species. Columbus also holds a few high-quality marshy areas that hold populations of the brilliant Prothonotary Warbler.

After this we will make our way back to Magee Marsh to meet up with thousands of others and witness the true spectacle of spring migration in Ohio.

Overnight: Maumee Bay Lodge

Back to the wonder of Magee Marsh and the countless number of parks along the Lake Erie shoreline. Over the next four days we will experience the true greatness and wonder of spring migration in Ohio. Spending most mornings at the Magee Marsh boardwalk, we will be treated to eye-level looks at a great diversity of warblers and migrants as they drip from the trees like rain droplets. This will also give us a chance to see how drastically things can change from one day to the next with different waves of birds moving through.

One day may be dominated by Chestnut-sided Warbler and Black-throated Blue Warbler and the next by Bay-breasted Warblerand Cape May Warbler with little to none left of the previous day. Expect to experience things like Magnolia Warbler bouncing in trees right above your head and Northern Waterthrush foraging on the marshy leaf litter under the boardwalk.

Like in Columbus we will take special interest in targeting any warbler or other migrant we still need for the trip, especially some of the later migrants like Wilson’s Warbler and Canada Warbler. There is great diversity in habitats here for all species of birds from warblers to shorebirds. We will see breeding-plumage Dunlin and American Golden Plover in great numbers at the brand-new and fantastic Howard Marsh. This is a site specially managed with birds in mind, as the water levels are controlled to aid shorebirds in migration.

We will also explore some unique areas to the west in Toledo like the pine and oak savanna at Oak Openings. It is here we will find one of Ohio’s breeding populations of the colorful Lark Sparrow as well as plenty of singing Blue-winged Warblers and some noisy Red-headed Woodpeckers foraging in a stand of dead trees.

At the end of day 11 we will start our journey north to Michigan for the final and most desired warbler.

Overnight: Maumee Bay Lodge for days 7, 8, 9, 10; Saginaw, Michigan, day 11

Kirtland’s Warbler should be our final warbler target for the tour. These large warblers are known for their specialized habitat needs of large patches of young, dense Jack Pine forests for successful breeding. Nowhere exists more of this unique habitat type than at Grayling State Forest in Grayling, Michigan. We will spend our time exploring this massive area, finding multiple Kirtland’s Warblers on breeding territory and spending lots of time with these extra-special birds.

Overnight: Grayling, MI

In the morning we will drive back through the Jack Pines to find a few more Kirtland’s Warblersand watch them sing and stake their territory. From there we will head over to the east coast of Michigan along the great Lake Michigan. Here we will hope to see another species on their breeding grounds, Piping Plover.

These little shorebirds are typically sporting many leg bands of a large variety of colors for individual identification. As we work our way down the coast we can hopefully see a few birds we may have missed earlier during the tour, anything we can find to buff our trip list up by a few. We may also spend the day chasing any rare warbler reports in the area if we missed them earlier in the trip.

Overnight: Detroit

During our final day we will spend the morning exploring the first park we visited on the tour, Pointe Mouillee. This is where we would’ve seen our first warbler of the trip, and now we will see our very last eastern warbler of the trip here as well – a very fitting end to the tour before we make our way back to the Detroit airport for departure home.

YES! – Assuming that everyone’s flight arrives before dark. One of our first targets is only a few minutes from from the airport.

Check the weather for the destination as close to your departure date as possible, and dress accordingly for your comfort level. You can also review our What to Bring page for more information.

There are many items the will be useful to you while on a Bird Treks tour. We have put together our list of recommendations on the What to Bring page.

Our tours are all conducted in English, but we do have some experience working with client that don’t speak English well – Some English would be needed for safety reasons. In locations where another language is predominately spoken, a native guide may accompany the tour.

Yes, we will always try our best to help with anything at all! We’re here to serve you. However, it is usually easier if you book your flight through your own travel agent as we can’t always get the best deals from your particular country. But we will help whenever needed!

While Day 1 is usually a travel (arrival) day, and the last day of the tour is usually also a travel day (departure), many people do like to arrive early and/or leave late. We can indeed book extra nights before and after the trip, and we in fact recommend you let us book them, as it avoids confusion and allows us to book the accommodation that is most convenient for the tour.

NOTE: Most often it is the same hotel or lodge that you use on the first night of the tour, but in some instances it could be an airport hotel or an accommodation establishment where the guide is staying.

No, we do not. We find that it is better for trip participants to purchase their own medical, trip cancellation, and baggage insurance through their own insurance provider in the country they reside in. We expect all tour participants to have comprehensive insurance, and we encourage everyone to send us a copy of their insurance documents.

For most tours, meals are included in the tour price. This may include a hotel-provided breakfast, or guide-provided box lunches. For dinners, we strive to find interesting and delicious local restaurants – this allows us to give back to the local economy, and find exciting new place to eat.