The Biggest Week in American Birding — May 3-12 — begins tomorrow in northwestern Ohio.

Birders are flocking from all over the world to see migrating warblers arrive at the south shore of Lake Erie.  The festival, headquartered at Maumee Bay Lodge, has great programs and outings scheduled for the next ten days.  Don’t worry if you haven’t planned ahead.  I learned at the San Diego Bird Festival that openings are often available — especially in mid-week.

If you live within a few hours of the festival it’s well worth the drive.  I’ll be at Magee Marsh but (alas!) only for the weekend.  I wish I could stay longer.  The birding will be great!   Here’s Kenn Kaufman’s report from Magee Marsh Boardwalk yesterday.

While there, be aware that Ohio Route 2 is closed between Magee Marsh and Metzger Marsh.  It’s the main road everyone uses so the organizers of the Biggest Week suggest this detour:  Click here for a snapshot of the directions or visit the Biggest Week website for more information.

I’m glad I checked the website.  Less driving, more birding!

Gotta run.  I hear warblers calling my name.  😉

(photo by Steve Gosser)

I blog about birds Outside My Window.  Glen Apseloff went a step further and photographed the birds outside his window.

Several years ago Apseloff set himself the challenge of photographing birds in his backyard in Powell, Ohio with an added twist — all the photos had to be taken through the window glass and none could use a flash.

He and his wife planted their garden for birds and set out the feeders with care.  The birds came to visit, some quite close.  The result is his book entitled Backyard Birds, Looking Through the Glass.

Accompanying more than 120 photos are descriptions of the birds’ plumage, their behavior, the foods he’s seen them prefer, and his experience watching them.  Occasionally he gives tips on photography.  For instance, “Around my house dark-eyed juncoes usually feed on dropped finch food rather than directly from feeders.  Males tend to be darker than females; females have more brown or a paler black in their plumage.  Males can be challenging to photograph in the snow and in bright sunlight because of the contrast between white and black.”

Glen’s book is like an outing to his backyard.  The birds are familiar and intriguing, often so close we can see their eyelashes.  As on all outings I like to pick a “Best Bird.”  My favorite:  The pileated woodpecker on page 96.

There are beautiful birds outside Glen Apseloff’s window.

(cover of Backyard Birds Looking Through the Glass by Glen Apseloff)

I just opened The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors and could barely put it down to tell you about it.

Birders and Hawk Watchers, you’re going to love this book.

The first half of this slim volume (286 pages) is devoted to color plates of raptors.  Crossley’s method is to build the plate with the bird’s typical habitat in the background.  Then he adds sharp in-focus photos of the birds taken from every possible angle, in a variety of lighting and at various distances.   The flood of photos provides enough images that you “get it.”   This is what the bird looks like in the field.

For solitary species this flood of birds is fictional.  You’ll never see that many of them in the same place at the same time unless you’re at a hawk watch — and that’s where Crossley’s mystery quiz plates are a real help!

Among the ID plates are double-page spreads of mixed species.  After I learned about zone-tailed hawks (I’ve never seen one) I tried the “Dark Raptors of the Southwest” quiz on pages 108-109.  It really helped to see them soaring at a distance near turkey vultures.  Wow! they are similar.

The second half of the book contains range maps and beautifully written species accounts by Jerry Ligouri (Hawks from Every Angle) and Brian Sullivan.  Here’s an excerpt from the peregrines’ Flight Style:  “Their powerful, fluid, whiplike, rolling wingbeats enable them to accelerate to high speeds in seconds.  They are steady in flight at all times!”

Peregrine fans will really love page 136, the first plate of peregrine falcons.  The background habitat is a city where peregrines breed today, the home of “SW” who hatched in Pittsburgh and is now Queen of the Terminal Tower.  You guessed it!  The setting is the skyline of Downtown Cleveland with SW’s home in the center of it all.

Click here for a sampler of The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors, including the urban peregrine page.  Click on the photo above to order the book from Princeton University Press.

p.s. There are 10 peregrines on page 136.  Can you find them all?  Did I miss one?

(book cover photo from Princeton University Press.  Click on the image for more information and to order the book)

Come on down to the Aviary this weekend for their Falcons! event.

I’ll be there on Saturday March 9 from 10:00am to 12:30pm to answer your questions about peregrines.

Click on the image above for more information and directions.

(image from the National Aviary website)