By Andy Avram, Interpretive Manager
We are now on the back half of May and migration is happening at a frenzied pace. To capitalize on the birds, we paired our final Sunday Morning Bird Walk with the 100 Birds at the Bluffs challenge. We wanted to see if everyone birding at Lake Erie Bluffs on the morning of May 20 could identify 100 species of birds in the morning.
Spotted sandpiper
The day started out overcast and drizzly, which kept the participation lower than hoped. Sixteen participants broke up into three teams to visit and bird different areas of the park. Each group saw many of the same birds, but each group also found unique birds for the list. By the end of our outing, we saw a total of 92 bird species--just shy of our goal of 100. However, 92 species of birds in one morning in one park is nothing short of incredible and highlights just how important Lake Erie Bluffs is for migrating and breeding birds.
Cedar waxwing
My group had one additional highlight. A participant found a long-tailed weasel carrying an Eastern chipmunk at Chagrin River Park the day before. We were discussing how lucky it is to get a glimpse of a weasel, when not long after another long-tailed weasel ran across the trail! We were able to spend about five minutes observing the tiny carnivore as it hunted for food near the bank swallow colony. Sorry to the birds, but this was the best find of the day!
Long-tailed weasel
The complete list of birds found is as follows:
Scarlet tanager
Birding at Lake Metroparks