Birding with Bill: Lakeside

Midwest Birding Symposium is the much anticipated birding event in the works for this fall. You'll want to be there to hear all the great speakers and take in the spectacular view from my favorite Lake Erie community. Register now while there is still room on the Thursday night Boat Cruise.

A crowd of nearly thirty gathered this morning to walk the Lakefront path in search of birds and witty humor. Fortunately, both were in good supply. A Caspian Tern performed as if on cue and our guide, Bill Thompson III, was able to correctly identify all those Great Blue Herons and Ring-billed Gulls which are so easy to confuse.

The West end of town offers the additional attraction of a thriving Purple Martin community. The largest of the swallows have become tenants in a mini-Fountain Inn. I hope their accommodations are as lovely as the room I stayed in last night, but I am pretty sure they don't get Direct-TV.

However, their view makes up for it: that is Perry's Monument at Put-In-Bay you can see in the distance. It it about 6 miles away as the Martin flies, but looks like you could almost reach out and touch it. The clouds played in an overcast sky which only added to the intrinsic beauty. I never get tired of this shoreline.

Just to our east is the dock where our ship will come in. The Goodtime party boat is a bit larger than these Sunfish cruising the choppy waters today, but we are keeping the cruise registration to 250, so don't dawdle. You need to register soon or you'll miss out.

Can't wait to get back to Lakeside this fall!