The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
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Lake Metroparks conducts annual Return of the Birds event at Lake Erie Bluffs
Birds of all sorts received plenty of attention during a special event on May 8 at Lake Erie Bluffs in Perry Township. Lake Metroparks annual Return of the Birds program took place in conjunction with the 2021 World Migratory Bird Day. During a two-hour span at Lake Erie Bluffs, event participants celebrated the ritual of birds flying back to North America from their wintering grounds in Central and South America. “A lot of (the birds) are either coming here to breed or moving on to Canada to breed, and they’re in their breeding colors, they’re singing, they’re excited, they’re moving through in huge numbers,” said Lake Metroparks Interpretive Manager Andy Avram. “If you’re birding in Ohio, May is the month to do it. This is our March Madness, this is our Super Bowl, this is what we wait for.”
— Lake Metroparks Interpretive Manager Andy Avram “If you’re birding in Ohio, May is the month to do it.”
Because of ongoing efforts being made to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Lake Metroparks implemented a more structured format for people to participate in this year’s Return of the Birds. Advanced registration was required to ensure that bird hikes could be conducted in accordance with social distancing guidelines. A total of about 90 people attended, and they were assigned to specific groups and start times for their journeys around the park. Those expeditions, which lasted about an hour, were led by seven Lake Metroparks nature specialists. During the walks, participants were afforded the opportunity to not only see and hear birds, but also learn more about these creatures. The first group to hit the trails of Lake Erie Bluffs during the May 8 event was led by Lake Metroparks Interpretive Specialist Nicole Hindman. “So we’ll be seeing some very brightly colored birds that spent the winter, some of them all the way down in South America, and hopefully hearing some awesome birds,” Hindman said at the start of the hike. Hindman told the group there are a few reasons why Lake Erie Bluffs, which has entrances on Clark and Lane roads, attracts many birds. “There’s a lot of really good cover here at the park — awesome bushes for (birds) to hide from predators,” she said. The park also provides a good launching and landing spot for birds heading in either direction over Lake Erie. “If you’re flying over the lake, it’s a good place to stop,” Hindman said. “You’re tired, you want to eat something.” Throughout the hike, Hindman explained information about birds that was displayed at educational stations along park trails. One of those stations featured the names and photos of the different types of swallows. Hikers were introduced to barn swallows, bank swallows and tree swallows. Hindman said the park, with its beach bluffs, provides ideal nesting places for bank swallows. “So they’ll make little holes in the side of the banks,” she said. “We have just the right kind of dirt for it.” Some of the types of birds that Hindman said she saw or heard during the walk through Lake Erie Bluffs on May 8 included a tufted titmouse, with its familiar “peter-peter-peter” whistle; gulls; a rose-breasted grosbeak; bluebirds; a song sparrow; and a red-winged blackbird. Hindman also enlightened hikers with assorted tidbits and trivia about birds. For example, she cited the amazing endurance of the blackpoll warbler. “They’ll go nonstop for 2,100 miles,” she said. “They’re coming all the way from South America and they’ll go all the way up to Canada. They are the real troupers of migration.”