The Biggest Week 2023
- The Satiated Blonde
- 11 minutes ago
- 2 min read
How did I become a bird watcher? Well, my husband is a photographer and one day he talked me into going to the nature preserve near our home for a guided tour. It turned out to be super rainy and we ended up in the duck blind learning about different kinds of ducks and passing the binoculars, haha. Plus, it's amazing the variety of sounds you hear in different places! If you don't know, there's a free app called Merlin that you can record bird sounds, and it pops up what kind it is hearing, if it's in season, or rare to hear that kind of bird at that time, super cool!
So, I didn't know this until more recently, but "big week" typically refers to the huge migration of birds through an area where you're likely to see lots of different species. There's a ridiculous movie called The Big Week that shares the extremes of this, but I must say there is no exaggeration on the outfits!
My hubby rented a HUGE camera lens and we did some traveling to the Maumee Bay State Park and Magee Marsh. The park had lots of booths set up inside, but most of the vendors were on lunch. It was neat to walk around and look at all of the different bird books, though!
Before we went to an official "Biggest Week" event, we saw a tent on the way and wanted to check it out. It was a binocular bonanza! So many to choose from and try out, which most of them let you do. My favorites were the Leica brand.
Next, we went to Magee Marsh. It was packed -- with birds and people! We heard a lot, and saw quite a few. My favorite was the yellow throated warbler because of how vibrant it was! But we also saw eagles and some others that I don't remember their names, but can see in my mind's eye, haha!
If you look close, you can catch the bright yellow in the yellow throated warbler. Something else of note is that the boardwalk was packed. It is amazing the only sound in the video was just the birds because people are really silent and only whisper if they need to -- a big surprise for me, lol!
Making our way to the boardwalk, we spotted this baby turtle - I can't believe we spotted it with how small it was, but glad we did!
I didn't know there was a beach across from the marsh!
Look at all those shells! I know, you probably came here for birds, some are coming!
And finally, what you've been waiting for, the one picture I snapped that was not blurry of the beautiful yellow throated warbler!
We look forward to going to some of the lectures and other events they have! What's the coolest bird you've ever seen? Share with me in the comments! Keep up with me in my stories.
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