In early May millions of birds fly north in the night, then stop where they find good food, bad weather, or natural barriers that give them pause. By next weekend they’ll pile up at Lake Erie’s southern shore.

The best warbler “rest stops” are at Magee Marsh /Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge in Ohio and Presque Isle State Park, Pennsylvania.  The birds’ timing is so predictable that the second Saturday in May is always International Migratory Bird Day and the date of many bird festivals.

Warbler-viewing is excellent at the Magee Marsh Boardwalk but it’s very crowded as you can see in the video.  Ohio’s DNR expects 10,000 people along the Western Lake Erie Marshes birding loop  during the Biggest Week in American Birding.

If the crowds are too much for you, Presque Isle offers a calmer experience.  It’s also the site of Presque Isle Audubon’s Festival of the Birds.

Despite the crowds, I don’t want to miss my “warbler fix” in early May so I, too, will be flocking to Lake Erie’s shore.

p.s. So many Pittsburgh and Ohio birders visit Magee Marsh that you might recognize someone in the video. I did!

(YouTube “location preview” filmed at Magee Marsh Boardwalk in May 2013)

p.s. New arrivals at Schenley Park on May 4:  Scarlet tanager, least flycatcher, Blackburnian warbler, cerulean warbler.  There are so many Baltimore orioles that, though they only arrived last week, they are boring.