At the end of April and in early May, as the spring migration really got rolling, I visited West Virginia and then Ohio, participating in two great events. The New River Birding and Nature Festival is based around the New River Gorge in southern West Virginia, and it's one of my very favorite events of the year. In Ohio I gave a talk at the Biggest Week in American Birding, a major event held along the southern shores of Lake Erie in northwestern Ohio. I post a few highlight photos here.
West Virginia & Ohio, Spring 2019
Hooded Warbler in Tulip-tree
West Virginia White
Birding along a forest trail
Baltimore Oriole
Large-flowered Trillium
Kentucky Warbler
Barred Owl
Northern Parula
Two scenes from Babcock State Park, the old grist mill and view from the hilltop picnic area.
Cranberry Glades, an area of high mountain bogs
Mourning Warbler
The boardwalk at Magee Marsh, quiet at dawn, busy by mid-morning.
Warblers, such as the Nashville Warbler at left, are the big attraction in woods of NW Ohio , but only if you're lucky will the rare Kirtland's Warbler show up. I was lucky, as four photos attest.
More colorful warblers, l to r: Magnolia Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Cape May Warbler.
There are other interesting birds here, not just warblers, l to r: Sandhill Crane, Sora, Henslow's Sparrow. I had hoped to return to West Virginia and Ohio in 2020, but fate did not permit it. Maybe in 2021?