BSBO's Morning Flight Count Project
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Spanning August 15 to November 15, this project is designed to capture a full season of standardized data documenting active, visible migration over a designated site on the Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area. This data will be used primarily for BSBO research projects, and the count itself will serve as an avenue for public outreach and communications work.
The focus of the count is driven by specific research questions and a priority for building a standardized dataset that could be easily referenced and integrated with existing protocols and methods (i.e. the Midwest Migration Network). The count design also aims to create and publish accessible protocols and materials to encourage collaboration with other similar efforts in the region. 
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Red-headed Woodpecker
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What is the morning flight count?
The morning flight is a survey of active migration – birds that are traveling over the site as they migrate from one location to another. As birds pass over, they are identified, counted, and their flight direction is recorded into our dataset. As birds move overhead, counters will be identifying them using flight calls, plumage patterns, and flight behaviors. This allows for even birds such as warblers to often be identified as they quickly fly over. During the count, totals are updated live via the Trektellen migration count website. Our friends at Kowa are generously providing scopes to use while visiting the count site to enjoy the variety of birds on Lake Erie and in the marsh. |
Baltimore Oriole
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What causes morning flight?
Many species of birds migrate primarily at night and may often continue their migration into the early hours of the morning. This continued migration is often redirected as birds travel along coastlines seeking ideal habitats to stop over in for the rest of the day. Morning flight is likely caused by a combination of factors including navigational correction for wind displacement, return from the open water of Lake Erie, and search for stopover habitat. |
Indigo Bunting
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What species engage in morning flight?
Redirected morning flight consists primarily of small nocturnally-migrating songbirds such as warblers, vireos, and orioles. Many other birds often migrate during the day – like Blue Jays, which form spectacular flocks numbering into the hundreds or thousands. Our survey is a count of all migrating birds, and the best mornings can yield nearly a hundred different species all traveling past the count site! |
Scarlet Tanager
American Redstart
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Why Metzger Marsh?
Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area is ideally situated along the southern shore of Laker Erie, in a perfect location to catch birds heading back east to reorient after their nocturnal migration. Small songbirds tend to follow the treeline of the woodlot before launching out to the southeast over the marsh, which means the dike is a perfect vantage point to see reorienting songbirds traveling over at close range. The site also offers excellent visibility over the lake and marsh to see a huge variety of other species passing by both close and far. Morning flight provides the opportunity to see many species in ways you may have never seen them before! Out counters will share ID tips for identification in flight. The gallery below contains images of some of the species that have been photographed during morning flight at Metzger Marsh. |
Read more about the details of the study by using the dropdown menu below
Study design
The count takes place on the outer dike at the Metzger Marsh WMA. The count runs a minimum of 6 days per week, beginning 20 minutes before sunrise and extending for a minimum of six hours after sunrise, with the option to extend the count as late as needed until visible migration has ceased to a negligible rate of passage. The count is conducted regardless of weather with the exception of torrential downpours, thunderstorms, or other dangerous conditions. The expected total observation effort for the three-month season will range between 500 and 600 observation hours.
The counter, to the best of their ability, counts, identifies, and records flight direction for all birds determined to be in active migration (unidentified birds are recorded to the most precise taxon possible). Birds are detected and identified visually and/or aurally. The counter is experienced with both identifying all regularly-occurring eastern North American birds in flight and with accurately counting large volumes of birds in a professional capacity.
Data is entered live in the field on an electronic tablet via the Trektellen database, and each entry is time-stamped for further precision. Additional individual data such as age and sex is recorded when possible. Weather data is recorded at the beginning of the count, at sunrise, and at the beginning of each hour following sunrise to ensure correlation of count and weather data throughout the observation period.
The counter also engages with on-site visitors in a public outreach capacity by providing information and education on the count background, count methods, BSBO's mission, and BSBO's research goals and by answering general questions from the public as required.
The specifics of the count and weather protocols have been developed to ensure long-term viability as a standardized dataset.
The counter, to the best of their ability, counts, identifies, and records flight direction for all birds determined to be in active migration (unidentified birds are recorded to the most precise taxon possible). Birds are detected and identified visually and/or aurally. The counter is experienced with both identifying all regularly-occurring eastern North American birds in flight and with accurately counting large volumes of birds in a professional capacity.
Data is entered live in the field on an electronic tablet via the Trektellen database, and each entry is time-stamped for further precision. Additional individual data such as age and sex is recorded when possible. Weather data is recorded at the beginning of the count, at sunrise, and at the beginning of each hour following sunrise to ensure correlation of count and weather data throughout the observation period.
The counter also engages with on-site visitors in a public outreach capacity by providing information and education on the count background, count methods, BSBO's mission, and BSBO's research goals and by answering general questions from the public as required.
The specifics of the count and weather protocols have been developed to ensure long-term viability as a standardized dataset.
Research interests
The count in and of itself serves as a valuable resource for examining data on not only migratory passerines (as in most morning flight counts) but also for any other migratory species that occur at the site (waterfowl, raptors, other nongame species). In terms of passerines, the geography of the count site is ideal for an exploration of migratory decision-making in terms of flight orientation.
The dataset generated from the count will also serve as supplementary data for the long-running banding dataset at BSBO’s Navarre Marsh site, serving as a useful comparison of active and stopover migrants on any given day of migration. The addition of migration count data holds potential for investigation of species-specific microhabitat use, enhanced departure/arrival data, and an in-depth comparison of detection rates between multiple survey methods. These data in combination could be used not only to develop research for publication but also to better inform regional habitat management plans, wind-energy siting concerns, and a myriad of direct and measurable conservation actions.
Additional areas of interest discussed in the initial meeting include supplementing the count and weather data with precise radar data from an on-site unit as well as double-sampling the count with a passive acoustic monitoring protocol.
The dataset generated from the count will also serve as supplementary data for the long-running banding dataset at BSBO’s Navarre Marsh site, serving as a useful comparison of active and stopover migrants on any given day of migration. The addition of migration count data holds potential for investigation of species-specific microhabitat use, enhanced departure/arrival data, and an in-depth comparison of detection rates between multiple survey methods. These data in combination could be used not only to develop research for publication but also to better inform regional habitat management plans, wind-energy siting concerns, and a myriad of direct and measurable conservation actions.
Additional areas of interest discussed in the initial meeting include supplementing the count and weather data with precise radar data from an on-site unit as well as double-sampling the count with a passive acoustic monitoring protocol.
Communications and outreach
The count will serve as a valuable tool for education and outreach within the scope of Black Swamp Bird Observatory. Measurable impacts will include the live-streamed and publicly accessible count species data and totals, which will be linked directly to the BSBO website, as well as social media outreach and on-site public engagement. These interactions will help engage the community as well as serve as a supplement for the annual Biggest Week in American Birding festival.
Externally, the count provides an opportunity for BSBO to be a leader in morning flight count development across the Great Lakes. The count and development of protocols and data implications invite collaboration from other research and conservation organizations with ongoing migration count efforts and further enable other organizations to develop other counts, working in collaboration to potentially furnish powerful datasets. Migration counts are a relatively low-cost and largely effective survey method for many sites and are more feasible for many organizations to start up than banding stations or other methods.
Externally, the count provides an opportunity for BSBO to be a leader in morning flight count development across the Great Lakes. The count and development of protocols and data implications invite collaboration from other research and conservation organizations with ongoing migration count efforts and further enable other organizations to develop other counts, working in collaboration to potentially furnish powerful datasets. Migration counts are a relatively low-cost and largely effective survey method for many sites and are more feasible for many organizations to start up than banding stations or other methods.
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About Our Morning Flight Counter, Gautam Apte
Gautam is a lifelong birder and field biologist originally from Cleveland, Ohio. After spending his early years enjoying the spectacles of fall waterbirds and spring songbirds along the shores of Lake Erie, he went on to earn his degree in Forestry, Fisheries, and Wildlife Science from The Ohio State University. He has worked with birds on a number of projects all over the United States but is most interested in studying the various mechanisms of migration in all its forms. Most recently, he completed his third season counting the autumn songbird migration at Cape May, New Jersey. Gautam is thrilled to be returning to Ohio for the spring to observe one of the continent's great migratory spectacles once again. |