Iproudly wear a T-shirt purchased in May 2016 at the Biggest Week in American Birding festival. The event, organized by the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, is held annually at Magee Marsh and surrounding areas on the southern shore of Lake Erie, near Oregon, Ohio. The shirtfront shows five warbler species, and the back says, "I Birded the Warbler Capital of the World." Yes, a bold claim, warbler capital of the world, but perhaps accurate for a few magical weeks in May.Standing along the edge of the wooded area by the parking lot of Magee Marsh, where a boardwalk winds its way through woods and marsh (and was densely packed with hundreds of birders shoulder-to-shoulder seeking out the likes of Mourning and ConnecticutWarblers), I watched as nearly 10 warbler species foraged before me, some at eye level, some higher, some on branches, some on bark. Lake flies had emerged en masse, abundantly available, a cornucopia of protein and fat for the migrant birds at this, a crucial stopover site. The various spring migrants of the family Parulidae, most properly called wood-warblers, were methodically feeding, each stoking up for the final leg of their migratory journeys.
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