Winter Greetings...

 Winter greetings.  It is time to breathe deeply and relax before the next round of holiday hits us again.  Honestly, I am not one for shopping or conforming to all of the holiday expectations. Instead I am enjoying these images that make me happy and relaxed.  Maybe you can catch a moment of peace here, too.

The Marblehead, Ohio light house is decked out in holiday array.

Someone has gone to great pains to decorate the top of the Marblehead light.  It is quite beautiful, and better yet, it required no effort what-so-ever on my part. 

Huron Light

Marblehead isn't the only Lake Erie town with a light.  Huron has a more modern-day light at the end of a long pier.  This is an excellent hang-out for birders. Rafts of Red-breasted Mergansers were recently noted here.  It it has been known for rarities, too.  Everything from Sabine's Gull to  Purple Sandpipers have made appearances at this jetty. 

Awesome sky light-

It can get windy out at the tip and sometimes I enjoy watching the clouds go by from my car. It is restorative. Relaxing. I don't have to chase every bird, sometimes I can take in the total picture and just know- things are good.  My birding friend Jim McCormac was out in the weather on this particular day, and you can read his report from the point  if you like.  Click here  Yeah, I was getting over a bad cold and stayed in my car. It was nice and warm.

Lorain Light

 Same day, different light house.  Lake Erie sat gray against a backdrop of blue and clouds cart-wheeled across the sky.  Lorain was hosting some rare gulls that day. I missed them too, but I really didn't care.

Marblehead Lighthouse 

 We've come full circle.  Back to the place that feels like home to my heart.  I may have been born a flat-lander, a child of the the mid-Ohio farm fields, but this beacon calls "home" to me.

Wherever you wander this holiday season, my wish is for your happiness.  Enjoy nature, and may you enjoy time with your loved ones.  Do me a favor and take them outside for a bit to see our magnificent natural world!

Happy Holidays- however you choose to enjoy them!

Marblehead Kingbird awaits ID

Having just returned from a trip to chase rarities, Kirtland's Warblers, Henlow's Sparrows, Lark Sparrows and the like, I had no idea we would find an unusual bird in my old hometown. 

Kingbird: definitely not an Eastern, or a Great Crested Flycatcher.

 Maybe it was my new "birding burka" that brought me good luck, or maybe I was tuned-in to the rarity mode.  Whatever it was, I noted this bird looked different.  It was definitely not one of Ohio's regular flycatchers.

Marblehead Lighthouse, Ohio's most photographed location.

We had just arrived back in Marblehead after three days of hard, black-fly bitten, mosquito-ridden, tick infested Michigan birding. Once we landed, what did my friend Michael Godfrey and I do?  Go birding.

We were hoping for some cuckoos and thought the lighthouse might be a good potential location.

What is that in the dead limbs of a Basswood tree?

Instead, I noted a flycatcher,that was "too big" and "too bright".  I asked Michael to take a look; he's birded everywhere, man. (Insert Johnny Cash song here.)

 Michael's first impression was a Western Kingbird.  
"Cool," I said. "We don't have those here."

The speculation on Facebook has created quite a stir and honestly I cannot say "what" I saw at this time, except- that ain't no Eastern Kingbird.

So here you go, arm-chair birders: enjoy this series of totally un-touched photos. I have not adjusted color, I have only cropped their size.  We will get Michael Godfrey's video up as soon as he has processed it

 But as we studied the video in the field and took photos, we could not see the distinctive white tail-linings a Western Kingbird should have.  But the end of the tail did appear flattened... like a Western.

Except when the tail looked notched.

I thought it looked liked it had an eye-stripe, (so what do I know?) but no tail stripes.  Could they be "worn off"?

We are awaiting the experts opinions, as I have little to no experience with these birds.  I only know this is not a bird  regularly seen in Ohio.

Happy birding!  I am wishing you a rarity, too.

 It is that time again!  Our Flora-Quest friends will be gathering to learn more about Ohio and some of our native plants.  This year we are convening at a new location.

To learn more about the event ( being held on a Monday and Tuesday) go to our web page at www.flora-quest.com,  You will find a registration on-line, and you best be quick.  We are only allowing 60 participants this year- so it will fill to capacity in short order.

Marblehead Lighthouse

This is the first time Flora-Quest is being held in northwest Ohio and it is more of a workshop format, but wait 'til you see what is in store!

Everyone will visit our favorite locations and see the rare Lakeside Daisy.  You can learn all about alvars  (sneak peak on alvars- here).  We have two hotels lined up, and it is perfect timing to see the most migration of neo-tropical birds!  

Black-Swamp Bird Observatory hosts its annual event, Biggest Week In American Birding,  where you can also pick and choose from  wonderful guides, speakers and trips- a mere 20 minutes from our location in Lakeside/ Marblehead.  Our pricing is more reasonable than ever this year, and I can't wait to share some of my favorite places in the world with you.

Remember to bring your camera!  We will be visiting Ohio's most photographed location: the Marblehead Lighthouse!

Altered Landscapes

Having just returned from Midwest Birding Symposium, it will take a day or two to process all the photos, unpack the bags and deal with life's pressing issues that were going on without me.  Work, speaking engagements and family life are demanding my attentions today.  However, I would like to offer two photos from my whirlwind week on the "North Coast."

Oddly enough, my two favorite photos speak of the man-made changes and the impacts of industry along our Great Lake.

The loading dock at Marblehead is bathed with moonlight. 

Upon returning to my dear friend, Dottie's lakeshore cottage after Saturday evening's program, we enjoyed the moonscape on Lake Erie.  The LaFarge-Standard Slag loading dock was bathed in moon light. Lake Erie freighters have been hauling stone out of Marblehead for a long as I can remember, but the lights on the loading dock seem much brighter than before. It is probably due to ramped-up gravel production and shipping, as well as modern day safety requirements.

Although it speaks of an industrial and altered lake shore, aesthetically it was pleasing.  True Marbleheaders (residents of Marblehead) are inured to noon-time blast "aftershocks" that rumble through the community each day, as well as the gigantic wheeled loaders' backing lights warning "beep-beep-beep" as work continues all night long.  

Davis Bessie nuclear power plant as seen from the Port Clinton Water Works Park.

This second photo was taken from the parking lot at Water Works Park in downtown Port Clinton, Ohio. We were gull watching and photographing water and shorebirds along the city beach when I snapped off a few random shots of fly-by gulls.  I can not say what atmospheric conditions occasionally make the islands or far off shore line look so close, but the views were exceptional on Sunday evening.  The surreal effect of the fly-by gulls struck me as a page from the Crossley ID Guide.

Crossley created a new sensation in guides when he photo-shopped various poses of birds, in varied ages and plumages, against a "typical" background. This would be the page on Ring-billed and Bonaparte's Gulls.

Unfortunately, this typical back ground includes the nuclear power plant that is considered a blessing or a curse, depending on the local to whom you speak.  The federal fines levied for an incredibly scary lack of maintenance and its cover-up allowed First Energy to pay for our new visitor's center at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge.  It is a sad way to get good accomplished for nature, but at least sometime nice happened after the lives of hundreds of thousands were put in jeopardy.  Click on the link for an amazing news article from the Toledo Blade which tells the whole story.

Meanwhile, enjoy these altered landscapes as best you can.

Our Great Lake...

 It is no great stretch of the imagination to understand why I want to protect and conserve the Great Lakes.  Marblehead, the most photographed location in Ohio, was my home for 20 years.  Yes, it is beautiful.

The Marblehead Lighthouse, Ohio's most photographed location.

We never tire of the view at the Marblehead Lighthouse.  I have been there a hundred times, and hope to return another hundred before I shuffle off this mortal realm. But, during my last visit something was different...

The water on the western basin of Lake Erie is at an all time low.

The water at the Lighthouse was disturbingly low.  The local marina has but 2 foot of water in their harbor.  I hear that the West Bay at Kelleys is too shallow to enter safely.  What is causing these low water levels?  A dry year? A seiche (low water levels due to high winds) would be in our favor on the day I photographed the shore-winds were from the north-west.

There are many factors potentially at play here -but we need to look closely- as Lake Erie is a one time gift from the Glaciers.  We must protect it for the life and health of Ohio (and Ohioans).  Perhaps it is time time to enact laws (like Pennsylvania) reducing the the water "harvested" from our rivers to feed the fracking frenzy.

This Columbus Dispatch article illuminates one more reason our lake level is going frighteningly low.  The water is being taken from the rivers before it ever reaches Lake Erie.  Is the water being regulated?  Not really, regulations are so vague there is no way we will know who is taking how much.  Experts have told me they have grave concerns for our rivers.

The Dispatch article states:  "In Steubenville, Chesapeake took roughly 6 million gallons over a two-week period ending March 5..."

That is one town in a two week time frame.  What of the other towns and the other fifty weeks?  Wake up Ohio,  your lake is trying to tell you something.  

Lighthouse Tour

I awoke to the sound of gulls this morning, and realized I had been dreaming of the Ivory Gull.

Actually, I awake to the sound of gulls every morning, it is the nature sound set on my alarm clock. But the Ivory Gull, a polar rarity being seen in New Jersey has been in my mind. As several of us are discussing the possibility of a trip to the coast, it has turned my mind to winter gulls. Yes, it is craziness to pursue gulls on a blustery beach or breakwall. But because I do it, I have seen some of the most incredible lighthouses in Ohio- and beyond.


Marblehead Lighthouse, Marblehead Ohio
Certainly not a surprise that I would list first the "most photographed" location in Ohio. A favorite of mine, since Marblehead was my home for almost 20 years.


Huron Pier light, Huron Ohio
Not as well known or as striking, but this light holds many memories for me. This was a rainy miserably cold day, but I saw my life Sabine's Gull flying circles around this light.



Headlands Light, Mentor Ohio
Wonderful birds and botany at Headlands, and the winters are likely to yield Purple Sandpiper on the rocks.


Peggy's Cove Light, Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia
The Holy Grail for lighthouse aficionados. We visited this rustic coast in fall of 2008; it is a view that could change your life.

So if winter weather makes it too cold for plants, here's wishing you beautiful lighthouses, and good gulls!

Meadowbrook Preserve: Marblehead's Best Kept Secret

The Marblehead peninsula, home to Lakeside and the Lakeside Daisy Preserve has been featured in numerous blogs this month. Just Google "Midwest Birding Symposium" and you should get a ton of hits featuring the peninsula: East Harbor State Park's Kirtland's Warbler, the historic city of Lakeside, and for the botany minded, Lakeside Daisy Preserve. An earlier Weedpicker post gave some of those botanical highlights- just click here.



But the best kept secret on the Peninsula is the new Meadowbrook Preserve. This beautiful causeway spans a part of the wetlands, which supports various habitats, from open water to mudflats. A scant 4 miles from the Fifth Street gates of Lakeside, an inland channel feeds this phenomenal preserve which plays host to numerous species of birds, botany and much more.



Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, and Black-crowned Night-Herons are common fare for this wetlands. The numerous frog species may be part of the reason the herons are found here. It's essentially a fast-food market for these birds! The ducks also gathered for our viewing pleasure: Wood Ducks, Mallards, Blue-winged Teal, Green-wing Teal, and Hooded Mergansers were all well represented.

A few days after the Midwest Birding symposium, Paul Baicich and I took a whirlwind tour of the peninsula , Medusa Marsh and part of Huron. Nothing else compared to the sheer numbers we found right here at Meadowbrook Preserve. Congratulations to the Danbury Trustees for their excellent work on providing habitat and a place for people to connect with nature.

Look for these signs on Bayshore Rd, just to the east of Englebeck Rd. I predict it will be a favorite site of the Midwest Birding Symposium 2011 participants, and nearby location for excellent birding. Bring on the Whimbrels!