Birding By The Numbers

Baltimore Oriole--Proof that you are what you eat

Susan and I are catching our breath after the Biggest Week in American Birding. Actually it was the second biggest week since we were otherwise busy the first week. We attended with long-time birding buddies Pat and Karin, and new-found birding buddies Helen and Bill from California. The Biggest Week thing is becoming a generic term for spring bird migration through northwest Ohio, but is actually an event sponsored by Black Swamp Bird Observatory and several other organizations. It’s such a big week that it often takes 9 or 10 days to get through.
As anticipated, the birds put on their usual spectacular show, in greater or lesser abundance, depending on one’s memory of previous years. I’m of a mind to not make comparisons of how many Blackpoll Warblers, for example, we saw this year compared with last. Although there did seem to be more of this long-distant migrant this year …
We made our annual check of the parking lot to see how many out-of-staters showed up and tallied 25 non-Ohio license plates, ranging from Maine to California. One couple we chatted with skewed the data a bit. Tom and Bev were from Alaska, but driving a rental car with Louisiana plates. I couldn’t help but think of all the birders who rush off to Alaska, yet here’s a pair from Alaska rushing to northwest Ohio.

Orchard Oriole--Always a welcome, if irregular visitor

The birds are certainly the big show during the Big Week. Depending on your generation, expressing amazement at colorful species like Baltimore Oriole, any of the wood warblers or secretive birds like American Woodcock, varies, but seems to have the same meaning. For example, while watching a group of birders ranging in age from whatever’s above Golden Ager through early Tween, sight an elusive American Woodcock, their initial responses were: Oh my goodness, oh my god and OMG!
Only if you’re a birder can you enjoy the humor posted on the hot line by Ben Warner when he alerted everyone to a spectacular “nine species pie fallout” at Blackberry Corners—the popular place to eat in northwest Ohio. I heard that they baked about 130 pies during the Big Week, rhubarb is the only one I can attest to.
And, while there were many special birds on the move through the area, the highlight species for me was the trio of White-faced Ibis that mysteriously showed up May 16. This is a bird so rare in Ohio that if it appears on a checklist at all, its occurrence is usually designated with an X, which translates as: So rare you stand a better chance of seeing an extinct Passenger Pigeon. But there they were, three of them. We went looking for these birds about 12 hours after they were first reported. No luck. It was obviously one of those nano miracles that happen in birding.
It was not a life-bird for either Susan or me since they’re rather common in Florida or out west. But if it’s in Ohio … well, you have to chase it. As we were leaving the Metzger Marsh area where it was reported, Susan at the wheel, me riding with the Nikon shotgun, she said, “Look! There! Over the treeline. Three dark shapes!” I was bumping my head against the windshield trying to see what she was talking about when she said, “No! Behind us!” I didn’t realize she was looking in the rearview mirror, pointing with both hands, while we were cruising down a narrow road with death lurking on either side.
She made a spectacular three-point turn without having to check for oncoming or following traffic. Within about 5 seconds the three knock-out gorgeous birds, shimmering in the sun, bright enough to make any rainbow fade in comparison, drifted down right in front of us.
Three White-faced Ibis. As often happens with these rare visitors, they seemed to pay no attention to the commotion they created. I wondered why all the “Ooooos” and “Aaahhhs” didn’t scare them away.

White-faced Ibis