Yesterday (Sunday October 9) was a spectacular day at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge in northwest Ohio. As mentioned here on Friday, refuge manager Jason Lewis decided to open up the auto tour route so that birders could enjoy the shorebird concentrations -- and did we ever.

I have no idea how many birders came through, but Kimberly and I were there for a couple of hours around mid-day and we must have seen more than 80 birders -- including some from Michigan, Indiana, and even Pennsylvania, as well as from all over Ohio. It was a warm, calm day, and groups of birders were scattered along the south side of the impoundment called MS 5 in groups of two or three up to twelve or twenty people, all reveling in the beautiful fall weather and the chance to study so many shorebirds. Looking north into the impoundment, the lighting was perfect, and everyone enjoyed wonderful views of Hudsonian Godwits, American Golden-Plovers, Black-bellied Plovers, and others. For those who wanted to work on their ID skills, it was a good chance to study Stilt Sandpipers, Greater and Lesser yellowlegs, White-rumped Sandpipers, Dunlins in various plumages, Long-billed Dowitchers, and others. With the quiet conditions, the main sounds were soft conversations and the musical calls of plovers and yellowlegs. A good variety of non-shorebirds added to the mix: the three American White Pelicans were still there, several kinds of ducks were flying around, standard Ottawa NWR birds like Snowy Egret and Trumpeter Swan were on display, and occasional passes by Bald Eagles, Northern Harrier, and Peregrine Falcon kept us looking up.

It was especially satisfying to see that the mix of people ranged from expert birders to total beginners, and every stage in between, with everyone sharing observations and sharing the experience. That's the way the birding community should be. It was also exciting to find out that one friend of ours, a talented eight-year-old birder, saw her 100th life bird (a Red-necked Phalarope) at the refuge!

Thanks again to Jason Lewis and the entire Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge staff for taking the extra effort to make this day possible. For those who missed it, I understand that the auto tour will be open again next Sunday, October 16, for its regularly scheduled day of the month. There is likely to be some rain the latter part of this week, but unless it's heavy enough to damage the road or flood out MS 5, there should still be some decent numbers of shorebirds present then.
Kenn Kaufman
Editor, Kaufman Field Guides series
http://www.kaufmanfieldguides.com/
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