Spring Birding Part 2

It is a tradition each Spring to go with my mom and my friend Rox to Magee Marsh Bird Sanctuary on Lake Erie during Spring migration. Birding is huge in our area during Spring migration because of the number of Warbles that come through here and rest along the lake shore before their flight across Lake Erie. The birds actually will wait for the right weather conditions before crossing the lake. In a previous post I wrote that the second week in May is known here as The Biggest Week in American Birding where literally thousands of people flood the area from all over the nation and beyond. Well, we wait until the following weekend each year to avoid the crowds. There may not be as many varieties of Warblers but we still see a lot of birds.

This year we took my young birders with us, SaiVion (9) and Corvieon (12). And it was quite a treat! I honestly don't know how SaiVion made it through church. His excitement level was at high alert from breakfast, through church, and never waned the entire afternoon! Spending time with the boys like this is great stuff. The more we do this the more we start to see a glimpse into how God is shaping them and the interests that are forming in them. SaiVion has such a true love for animals and nature and his passion for art is really developing. He is constantly thinking in terms of drawing and capturing his memories on paper. Corvieon is developing a talent for photography. A friend of ours let him borrow his old digital camera for the day and that opened up a new world for Corvieon. He really has a good eye and had a blast with the camera until the battery died!

We had a good day, saw a lot of birds and the boys learned a lot. The highlight of our day was getting close to an Eagle's nest and seeing both the parent and the youth. It was fun experiencing their first time seeing an Eagle in the wild. And my track record for Eagle-spotting continues to grow. This was my fourth spotting this year!

Gray Catbird

Swallows

Yellow Warbler

Blue Heron

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

We saw both Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets. At first the boys thought the smaller ones were babies but we looked them up in the bird book and learned the differences between the two.

Saved the best for last!