Spring 2026 Metzger Marsh Morning Flight Survey

By Morning Flight Counter Gautam Apte

Our second season of spring migration monitoring at Metzger Marsh was a resounding success, and we were thrilled to share the results throughout the season both in person and on our social media channels! A more detailed season report is provided here. A detailed narrative with featured images is first, with some short-form summary figures included so keep on reading to learn more! As always, please remember you can support this project by donating via the BSBO website at https://www.bsbo.org/donate.html.

The month of March was spectacular. We expect the highest volume of birds to pass through in this early season, and this year was certainly no exception. While large numbers of birds are almost always on the move this early, the biggest flights require favorable weather conditions with relatively warm temperatures and southerly winds. Luckily, warm fronts came around early and often this season, and the birds came with them. 

​The first few days of the count were bitterly cold – one last gift from the frosty winter that left the lake frozen for the first week of the count. Migratory activity was generally slow before the first warm front hit a week later, but some signs of winter were evident with a few Iceland and Glaucous Gulls moving past over the pack ice on the lake. As temperatures slowly warmed, waterfowl began to exit the Lake Erie Marsh region and head north, and there were some excellent flights of dabbling ducks over the marsh and divers over the lake as we expect in this season. Waterfowl numbers were similar to the previous season, with a few exceptions. Numbers of Red-breasted Mergansers, Redheads, and Canvasbacks were slightly up from the 2025 season, while Northern Pintail and Greater Scaup weren’t as abundant. 

Glaucous Gull, March 2

One of the more surprising datapoints of the season was the low total of 2,875 Canada Geese this spring – a decrease of 70% from the 2025 total (9,614). This difference came entirely during March, when Arctic-nesting “Lesser” Canada Geese are moving north over Lake Erie. During the late May molt-migration of nonbreeding “Giant” Canada Geese, numbers were much more typical for this species. The stark difference in March could be due to a number of reasons – perhaps some geese had already left before the start of the season on March 1, or perhaps the deep-frozen Lake Erie Marsh region wasn’t offering the resources necessary for these birds to put on fat before their migration and some geese opted for a different migration route. In a similar vein, we did not observe any Cackling Geese this season, a steep decrease from last year’s total of 23. 

​For the first time in its relatively short history, the project saw a day of over 100,000 individual birds moving past on March 7. As expected, the bulk of this flight was blackbirds with a particularly significant total of 50,415 Red-winged Blackbirds. Other significant totals this day included Tundra Swans (1,419), Greater White-fronted Geese (143), and American Crow (139). 

Common Grackles, March 9

Red-shouldered Hawk, March 9

​Following this huge flight, the winds across the region remained from the southwest for the next several days, and there were some more excellent days of migration. While blackbird numbers were still strong (although not as strong as on the 7th), the feature of the week quickly shifted to raptors. A staggering 251 Red-shouldered Hawks drifted through on March 8 (after only 14 the preceding day), followed by 132 on March 9 and 50 on March 10. This was a fantastic stretch of Red-shouldered Hawk migration, which is a species that doesn’t concentrate in numbers this high at many other sites away from the Great Lakes.

Horned Grebe, March 18

​After this, March carried on as it does around here, alternating freezing temperatures and northwesterly winds with short spells of warmth and southwesterlies bringing big pulses of blackbirds through. One frigid day on March 17 brought a record flight of Horned Grebes (67) along with a rare Red-throated Loon moving over the lake in temperatures below 20 degrees. A few rare Surf Scoters and Harlequin Ducks punctuated some large movements of Lesser Scaup over the lake, and Bonaparte’s Gulls began to trickle into the western basin. We continued to see large flights of blackbirds through the end of the month, and March 26 brought the second-largest flight of birds (79,068) for the season, highlighted by a substantial push of Rusty Blackbirds (4,252).

Lapland Longspur, March 31

The arrival of April brought unseasonably warm temperatures, with very gusty southerly winds and generally rainy conditions. Some birds like Barn Swallows and Purple Martins were very slow to arrive in the region, while others – like Broad-winged Hawk and Common Tern – arrived earlier than expected. Generally, though, migration proceeded as normal through early April, aided by gusty southwest winds and warm rainy conditions. 

A huge flight of Tree Swallows (9,323) on April 2 was a notable highlight, as were substantial movements of Rusty Blackbirds on April 9 (2,687) and April 15 (5,046), coinciding with the last couple of large Red-winged Blackbird flights of the season. The biggest flight of Lapland Longspurs this season (1,155) came on April 12, over a month later than last season’s big push in early March. We still have much to learn about the migratory behavior of this abundant Arctic species, and more data from the project in future years should help us glean more information about their spring habits!

By mid-April, Blue Jays were already on the move – beginning about two weeks earlier than their 2025 migration! As typical, they arrived rapidly and flights of thousands were already happening as soon as April 14.

Comparison of seasonal Blue Jay abundance between 2025 and 2026

As the season transitioned towards late April, shorebird movement – which had been unimpressive up until that point – became a major feature of the flights. April 18 was an excellent day, with rainy conditions forcing shorebirds to pass close by over the marsh as they headed west along the lakefront. Pectoral Sandpipers (842), American Avocets (53), and American Golden-Plovers (124) were all major highlights of the day, and 10 species of shorebirds were recorded in total. 

​We continued to see American Avocets on several other days in April, resulting in a surprising season total of 250, aided by an astonishing count of 169 on April 22 which furnished a new state record. This species is a scarce but regular migrant through the western Lake Erie region, traveling from stopover and wintering sites on the Gulf Coast and skirting the western half of Ohio en route to their breeding grounds in the central prairies of the continent. Many more are recorded some years than others, and we hope data from our count can help evaluate what factors influence this variation, and how they tie into the broader picture of conservation for this species. 

American Avocets, April 22

​April drew to a close with continued warm weather, and the requisite first wave of warblers started trickling in with Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers and Palm Warblers leading the charge. While these species were abundant around the region, their numbers in active migration (flying over) were substantially reduced this year – due to factors we will continue to investigate as the project continues. Also arriving in April were the first Baltimore Orioles, Bobolinks, and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds as expected. There were some great flights to be enjoyed towards the end of the month, with spectacular movements of American Pipits and Blue Jays, and steady streams of Sharp-shinned Hawks coursing over the dike at very close range putting on a great show for all who came out to check out the migration.

Blue Jay, May 5

American Pipit, May 4

Bobolink, May 5

​Early May felt more like a return to March, with temperatures regularly dropping into the 30s for the first week of the month. Migratory activity was very limited while these unfavorable conditions held up migrants, and indeed we did not record any significant numbers or diversity of the Neotropical migrants we expect until May 9, when temperatures finally rose into the 60s. Favorable conditions arrived again on May 16, and there were some moderate flights of Neotropical migrants for a several-day stretch as peak migration passed through the region. These flights were generally smaller than the peak of May migration in 2025, and we will be investigating this variation with the help of continued data from the project. Understanding the motivating factors for long-distance migrants in particular to engage in morning flight behavior is a priority of our project, and observing inter-seasonal variation like this is a great opportunity to find out exactly what drives the behavior of these birds.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo, May 18

Blue Grosbeak, May 17

While numbers were generally down, the month was certainly not without highlight! Some species like Indigo Buntings and Cedar Waxwings were very abundant compared to the previous year, and the exceptionally warm conditions in mid-May lent themselves to an abundance of southern “overshoot” migrants appearing at the count. These are typically birds that occur just south of us here in northwest Ohio, but prolonged southerly winds and warm temperatures can lead to them migrating a bit too far north and being forced to backtrack a short distance to reach their preferred breeding areas.  Three Blue Grosbeaks, a Summer Tanager, two Little Blue Herons, and three Yellow-throated Warblers were all great examples of this migratory phenomenon, and visitors to the count enjoyed great looks at all of these birds.

Late May this year was characterized by very calm winds and warm temperatures. Late-season warblers continued to trickle through along with the occasional flycatcher and a smattering of shorebirds, and the Canada Goose molt-migration picked up steam in the final few days of the count with a daily high of 736 on May 29. A rare Eurasian Tree Sparrow on May 30 was also a major highlight. It was a very pleasant end to the count and a great way to wrap up a fantastically successful second season! It was a privilege to be able to spend the spring on the Lake Erie shore once again and share our work with thousands of interested visitors, and we can’t wait to do it all again very soon!

GENERAL OVERVIEW

From March 1 to May 31, 2026, we conducted our second full season of visible migration monitoring at Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area. Following the same standardized scientific protocol as in 2025, a single observer counted actively migrating birds on at least six days per calendar week. As in 2025, counts began 20 minutes before sunrise and continued for the next six hours, and this year we sampled 81 days of the 92-day observation period for a total of 499 hours of observation. 

This season, we recorded a total of 756,606 individual birds in active migratory flight, distributed amongst 195 species. An additional 30 species of birds were observed at the site but not detected in active migration. We also made note of non-avian migratory taxa at the site and incidentally recorded 16 species of insects in active migratory flight. Cumulatively, we recorded 17 new species for the spring survey this year that we did not record in the 2025 spring season. 

We also were thrilled to welcome a record 2,106 visitors to the count this season, an increase of nearly 50% from last spring! Sharing our research with everyone interested is a priority of this project, and we were elated to see the impact on so many of those who came out to see the site and watch some of the flights this spring. We’re hoping to increase this number even further next spring, so please stay tuned for more details on next year’s season. 

As expected from the 2025 season, we continued to see striking variation in species composition and raw volume of diurnal flights, with species diversity again peaking towards the end of the count season, while raw volume declined throughout the season.

Monthly trends in raw volume and species diversity of active migration at the Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area.

​Proportions of species observed in active migration across the season were distributed similarly to last season.

Distribution of species diversity from migration survey season totals.

​We continued to record weather data this spring and found some slight differences from last season. April was strikingly warm, averaging nearly 5 degrees warmer than last year, and conditions were generally windier during the whole season. Easterly winds were generally less frequent than last year, and the theme of the spring seemed to be warm, windy, and rainy.

Monthly summary of weather conditions during the morning flight survey.

​While the similarities between the 2025 and 2026 season data are encouraging from a long-term monitoring perspective (stable datasets between years indicate strong potential for the project to effectively indicate trends within species), there were of course some significant and notable differences this year. That being said, it’s important to bear in mind that two years is not enough time to form a solid understanding of trends at a migration monitoring site, so these differences are not likely to reflect changes in the overall populations of these species but are probably influenced by a number of other factors that should become more clear as we continue collecting data for this project.