It’s gonna start soon.  It happens every year.  Spring!  Warblers will be everywhere again decorating the trees like Christmas ornaments and filling the area with a cacophony of glorious song!  I can’t wait.  It’s my favorite time of year!  Ohio is home to an extraordinary warbler experience.  Some of the best opportunities to be amazed by the event we call migration can be found right here in Ohio.

People from around the world will come to visit Ohio.  The best time to come?  May.  If you only have a short time to visit, why not base your visit around the events of Biggest Week in American Birding?  Yes, there will be lots of people.  And for good reason–they are here for the birds.  My favorite family of birds, the wood warblers, will be here in full force.  How many species of warblers can you see?  Well, technically 36 species occur regularly in Northwest Ohio at places including Magee Marsh, Crane Creek, Ottawa NWR, Maumee Bay State Park, and Oak Openings.  I usually count a good week as about 28 species of warblers.  Some of the southern species are harder to find here.  But, this year I am leading a road trip to Southern Ohio in Scioto and Adams Counties.  We’ll have a chance to see 9 species of warblers that are easier to find on their nesting grounds in the forests near the Ohio River than as rare over-shots in Northwestern Ohio.  Some of you may come away with nearly all the wood warblers found in Eastern North America.

I’ve included some charts here on my website of relative distribution for 37 species of warblers.  Check out the tab under Ohio Warblers in Spring.

Time to learn some songs, brush up on plumages, and read up on warbler habits.  Warbler Mayhem will soon be upon us!