On the last Sunday of the Spring Bird Walk Series, May 17, birders can witness migration from a "landing spot" at Blackbrook Audubon's Big Sit in the picnic area by the entrance to Headlands Dunes State Nature Preserve. Bring a chair and a potluck brunch item to share after 8:30 a.m. to the far eastern side of Headlands Beach State Park at parking area P-1. Anyone who brings a cup or mug for a beverage will get a ticket toward a gift card in Blackbrook's Bring Your Own Mug raffle.
The state park and state nature preserve share a common entrance at the northern terminus of State Route 44 (Heisley Road) in Lake County.
Blackbrook will supply coffee as everyone scans the nearby shrubs and trees for warblers, vireos and other neotropical migrants taking a break before they cross the lake. This is a perfect outing for less mobile folks who enjoy group birding. Public restrooms are nearby and so is the entrance to the handicapped-accessible boardwalk to the beach.
A Piping Plover is often seen briefly during the Spring Bird Walks. Ohio's Division of Natural Areas and Preserves has blocked a portion of the Dunes beach in hopes of encouraging Piping Plovers to nest here. A pair of these plovers, an endangered species, nested at Maumee Bay State Park in 2021, a first for Ohio in 80 years. Headlands Dunes visitors still have access to the lighthouse and breakwall.
Blackbrook will have a pair or two of binoculars to lend, or those needing binoculars may be able to checkout a pair at the Mentor Public Library.
Blackbrook Audubon covers Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake Counties as the local chapter of National Audubon Society. For more information, email blackbrookaud@aol.com or visit blackbrookaudubon.org. Follow Blackbrook Audubon Society on Facebook.
Photo: Blackbrook's 2014 Big Sit by Roger Beuck