Traveling-with-TLC

May 11- 13: A random park and birds!!!!

Sometimes missing the planned activity can lead to a serendipitous activity that is even better! Lesson: go with the flow! We meant to go to the botanical garden in Ann Arbor, but the Driver/Parking Agent and the Navigator/Liaison with Google could not agree on a proper course of action. We ended up driving in circles through Ann Arbor before giving up on the plan and driving straight towards Toledo. We happened to drive by an amazing park. Wildwood Metropark is the former estate of Toledo’s Stranahan family. The Stranahans started the Champion Sparkplug company and had an exclusive contract with Ford. We were not expecting to see the Manor house at all, we were just stopping to stretch our legs for a minute. We ended up staying for a couple hours exploring the gardens and hiking the extensive woodlands. What a lovely afternoon.

We checked into our campground just before dark. It was nothing to write home about so I won’t. Tomorrow: BIRDS!

I know people wonder why anyone would drive all the way from California to Ohio to see birds. Well, let me try to elucidate.

1. Birds are beautiful. They are like jewels in the trees, or the air, or the water. Birds have not one, but two ways to be colorful. They have pigmented coloration which stays the same color no matter how you look at them. They also have reflective coloration which changes as light hits it. That is why sometimes a hummingbirds gorget will appear black until the hummer “flashes” you. Then you are hit by a brilliant magenta, like a thousand little prisms are shooting color at you. Seen through binoculars, the colors are nothing short of breathtaking. Also, I love the way birds move, so often like a dance. Oh and they sing, too. There are not too many other tiny packages in God’s creation more beautiful than a bird.
2. Birds are fascinating. They migrate, they build nests, they stand at a tall place and sing their lungs out. It’s fun to watch birds interact with each other or go about their daily business. Birds occupy different niches: some only feed on the ground, some only the the trunk of a tree, some in the foliage and some flying out from the tops of the trees. There is so much to learn: which bird flips his tail up, which makes a raspy sound, which walks or jumps? You can spend a lifetime learning behavior. It’s like a giant, multi-dimensional puzzle. I like solving puzzles.
3. Some birds are extremely rare, so they become “target birds”, like the diamond in a pile of gemstones. Everyone wants to see it. The target bird for this trip is the Kirtland’s Warbler because it is the rarest warbler in the US and can only be found nesting in Michigan. Even more rarely, a Kirtland’s stops to rest at Magee on it’s way to Michigan. Ted had 4 days set aside later in our trip to wander around Michigan looking for a nesting Kirtland’s.

In the US, there are maybe a dozen world renowned “hot spots” where birds congregate each year. In mid-May thousands of birds funnel into Magee Marsh on their migration route to Canada. The locals hold an international Birding Festival each year: “The Biggest Week of Birding”. Birders from around the world flock to the area to watch the birds that gather there. Birders are almost as interesting as birds!

You won’t believe how many $1000’s of dollars are spent on lenses and cameras and binoculars. Some people are all decked out in expensive outdoor clothing, too. If you are old enough, you may remember Miss Hathaway from the Beverly Hillbillies. She still exists! There are also young birders and middle-aged birders. Some families but mostly retired couples. We even saw an Amish Family out for the festivities.

When we arrived at the parking lot and managed to find a place to park among the 1000’s of cars, we greeted someone coming back from the field. She said, “Have you seen the Kirtland’s?” Ted almost forgot his binoculars as he started sprinting towards the location where it was last seen! I followed more slowly and soon lost sight of him. Although I didn’t have directions, it was easy to find the bird, I just followed the paparazzi. We arrived at the location of the “it” bird, and joined the gathering. It’s kind of funny because a temporary community immediately forms. There is a mayor of sorts. In this case she is obviously a local, very experienced birder. She assumes the role of making sure everyone sees the bird. She is very vocal, “It’s in the dead branches on the tree next to the green about 20 feet up.” As everyone focuses in, cameras start clicking. Various people ooh and awe. Those who don’t see it immediately ask for help. Someone invariably helps. New arrivals just point their binoculars in the same direction everyone else is pointing. Other birds are identified and pointed out. Eventually folks start to visit about where they have been birding and other exciting birding days. It’s very communal, very feel-good energy, and quite exciting.

After about 40 minutes or so, we had seen the Kirtland’s well, watched the other birds in the area, visited with other birders and decided to move on. We wandered along the beach and had terrific views of several more warblers.

There are about 30 species of warblers which might be seen during the migration at Magee, we saw more than 20 of them. What fun!! The warblers are so perky and so utterly beautiful! Ted got some great images. These are from Cornell Lab of Ornithology:

These little jewels are MUCH prettier than the images. A camera lens can’t capture the refraction of the sun that flashes the colors. We also saw vireos, buntings, kinglets, orioles, and more. What a fun day!!