18 April 2018 Birding Around Sheldon Marsh

It was time for our annual spring visit to Sheldon Marsh and an assortment of other great birding locations we have visited over the years. Our first stop was Old Woman Creek where we have learned to expect seeing egrets and great blue herons with maybe a few feeding ducks as a bonus. That wasn't to be this year. We were treated to a number of tree swallows nesting near the parking area.

We also started what became a day of spotting yellow rumper warblers.

We also spotted a carolina wren and a few oven birds who received no photographic justice from me. The weather was wonderful at Nickel Plate Beach, but we struck out on both ducks and warblers today. It was time to move on to Sheldon Marsh. A flicker was bouncing from tree-to-tree in front of us as we walked the trail to turtle pond.

The turtles on turtle pond were happy together sunning on a log.

It continued to be a big day for spotting yellow rumped warblers.

Normally we see a bird or two while at the pond. Today there were birds flying everywhere. There were enough golden-crowned kinglets near the pond that they were a flight risk. We occasionally spot ducks in a small wetland as we walk the old road that runs beside Sawmill Creek. Today we were treated to an extended view of a pair of woods ducks. They are usually evasive when humans are near, but the female stayed visible on a log for some time.

Duck sighting opportunities in the marsh were plentiful.

It was unusual that we missed seeing any great blue herons on our visit, but plentiful great egrets made up for that with a few males sporting breeding plumage.

We usually don't see birds while looking down, but there were too many golden-crowned kinglets to count on the ground along the edge of the trail.

When we reached the Lake Erie side of the marsh area, we were hoping to spot an eagle as we have in the past. There were none here today, but we were able to enjoy mergansers on the water.