Magee and Metzger Marsh Field Report and Photos Monday 2026-05-18

20334 total pictures before culling. (!!! Somehow I took more shots than on Saturday, 2026-05-16, even though it seemed like a slower day.)

Another good migration day - not as good as Saturday, better than all the others this spring (except maybe Wednesday 2026-05-13). 82°F with 25mph winds - I'm tired of high-wind days, especially as more of the trees leaf out.

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Magee Marsh
Green Heron Nest
New Nemesis - Canada Warbler
Spot 18 was great, as usual
Metzger Marsh comes through
Warblers Seen
Gear
Magee Marsh Field Reports for 2026

Magee Marsh

Like I said - slower than Saturday, but still a lot of birds around. The boardwalk had less people now that the Biggest Week in American Birding is over, but there were still a few traffic jams. My first bird of the day was a great shot of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in the trees near the West Entrance. Lots of Chestnut-sided warblers, American Redstarts, Magnolia Warblers, and Bay-Breasted Warblers today. (Today was heavy on females - I think it's female warbler season.) A group of us spent a lot of time trying to spot a calling Blackpoll warbler, but it was staying well hidden.

Green Heron Nest

The Green Herons have a pair of blue eggs in their nest now!

New Nemesis - Canada Warbler

There were a sprinkling of Canada Warbler sightings - clusters of people staring into the bushes saying "There it is - uh, no, it went left." I have a blurry and slightly obscured reference shot, heavily cropped in and still tiny, because those Canadas like to hide behind lots of brush and leaves. Someday I'll get a clean Canada Warbler shot. Someday...

Spot 18 was great, as usual

The best part of the boardwalk was Spot #18, yet again. I got a Scarlet Tanager (photo life bird, and my first one of 2026), plus a bunch of other warblers, vireos, and flycatchers coming through. I had a Black-Throated Green so close I had to zoom out to 400mm to fit it in the frame!

(I also saw a few people doing iPhone bird photography. Of warblers. I would be amazed if they get anything.)

The rest of the boardwalk was kind of slow - as was my favorite spot between the parking lot and the overflow lot - but there was another Nighthawk sleeping directly over the port-a-potties near the West entrance. (I needed help to find it, like last week. I still don't know how anyone spots Nighthawks - unless they scan every last bump on trees with their binoculars.)

Metzger Marsh comes through

I finished at Metzger Marsh - it was the only location still updating the BSBO Bluesky sightings account. I went back to the dike, got a few shots of flycatchers and vireos, and headed back towards my car to call it a day, when a Blackburnian warbler showed up near my car. (Finally! I was hunting a Blackburnian shot all day.) Then a bunch of warblers joined the Blackburnian - great views of Chestnut-Sided, Tennessee, and Bay-Breasted Warblers, and all of them down low, in the open, and right next to the parking lot. So much for calling it a day - I was there for an extra 45 minutes, pointed at the same clump of trees the whole time, constantly thinking "a few more shots and it's time to go." It was worth it.

This was my last visit during peak migration - I'll be back next week to see what it looks like as migration winds down.

Warblers Seen

American Redstart
Bay-Breasted Warbler
Black-Throated Green Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Canada Warbler
Chestnut-Sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Tennessee Warbler

Gear

I was asked in an email, so, here's my gear list:

Sony A1 ii with battery grip
Sony 400-800mm f/6.8-8 G lens (almost always at 800mm)
Blackrapid Sport X strap
Shimoda Explore v2 35L with Large DSLR Core Unit v3 (a core units that fits the 400-800)

I have the A1 ii set for 1/2000 shutter, f/8, Auto-ISO, with a tracking expanded spot and bird subject detection. Pre-capture is set for 0.5 seconds when I half-press the shutter, and shooting is electronic shutter set to 30fps. The 400-800 is always at 800 (unless a bird gets so close that I can't focus on it at 800).