Remodeled Magee Marsh Visitor Center opens for Bird Ohio Day

OAK HARBOR - When Kimberly Kaufman, executive director of the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, walked into the newly remodeled Magee Marsh Visitor Center on Gov. Mike DeWine’s Bird Ohio Day on May 4, it was the first time she had visited the center since renovations were completed. Kaufman had been too busy doing what she does best — protecting birds and welcoming birders.

Bird Ohio Day served as the kickoff for the Biggest Week in American Birding as well as the Grand Reopening and Ribbon Cutting for the visitor center. The Biggest Week runs through Sunday, May 14.

Officials have been prepping for 90,000 regional visitors

For the last several months, Kaufman and her staff have been preparing for the approximately 90,000 birders who visit Northwest Ohio each year in the hopes of spotting the dozens of varieties of migrating birds that visit the area each spring. BSBO hosted the Biggest Week in collaboration with Shores and Islands Ohio, Destination Toledo, and Maumee Bay Lodge and Conference Center.

The organizations kicked off the annual event with DeWine, who visited Magee Marsh on Bird Ohio Day along with Ohio Department of Resources Director Mary Mertz and Chief of the Division of Wildlife Kendra Wecker. Mertz and Wecker spoke during the opening ceremony.

Wecker paid homage to early Ohio hunters who, she said, “were the first to protect the wetlands.” A new display in the Magee Marsh Visitor Center highlights the role hunters played in preserving the land that still protects Ohio wildlife. Without their conservation foresight, the thousands of birders who visit Northwest Ohio each year wouldn’t have access to the land or the birds.

Mertz thanked the federal and state partners who help fund conservation efforts in Ohio, and she gave a nod to the birders whose passion for wildlife also aids those efforts.

“To me personally, the best thing about birders is, they’re very friendly,” Mertz said. “The best part about birding is talking to the people along the way and learning about birding.”

Marsh boardwalk swarming with birders

On Monday, the Magee Marsh boardwalk was swarming with warblers, thrushes, vireos, and the birders Mertz praised.  Among them was Helene Weber of Toledo who stood on the Magee Marsh boardwalk and talked about being fortunate to live in one of the Top 10 birding hotspots in North America.

“I’ve talked with people from Florida, Massachusetts, Arkansas — I could just run the list. Everyone from all over the country and the world are saying this is such a fantastic place. They’re all saying you’re so lucky to live here,” Weber said. “People will travel so far just to look at birds. It’s amazing.”

Kathy Stolarak drove four hours from her home in Michigan to bird at Magee and other local wildlife areas.

“I came to the Biggest Week in American Birding because it is the Biggest Week in American Birding,” Stolarak said. “I just want to see as many birds as possible.”

While she was in town, Stolarak attended “A Splash of Feathers: Expressive Bird Art in Watercolor,” an art class at Maumee Bay Lodge taught by Christina Baal of the “Drawing 10,000 Birds” project. The class was one of many bird-related activities available during the Biggest Week.

“She paints birds that are not so much birds but the idea of birds. Yet, they’re still recognizable,” Stolarak said. “Since I’m not very artistic, it was perfect for me.”

As Weber and Stolarak stood on the boardwalk elbow-to-elbow with other birders, Weber said she was grateful Magee Marsh is so close to home.

“You’re getting ease of access here on the boardwalk. It puts you eye-level with the birds because it lifts you up off the ground,” Weber said. “It’s great because you don’t get warbler neck.”

Contact correspondent Sheri Trusty at  sheritrusty4@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Dewine visits Magee Marsh during Bird Ohio Day