Marcia’s Big Year…aka Marcia's 365 #3

Guest series by Marcia OBara

Follow along this year as Marcia travels around the US in search of birds and freedom in the "Roadrunner!"

Life in a 118 square foot space can be a challenge. For those familiar with a class C motorhome, there is usually a bed over the cab of the vehicle. For me it was wasted space. The seldom-used TV is up there, as well as two shallow storage areas and the bed mattress. There is a cutout that makes the bed double wide, which is removed except when sleeping, so I left that in Tucson. I also decided I did not need the bed ladder so I left that with my sister when I left Birmingham. 

It was nice to have a regular shower, and a bed that did not shudder in the wind, while in Birmingham. Best part of the stay was the crafting of some additions to the storage in the motorcoach. My brother-in-law is a master carpenter and after describing what I wanted he made me a nice storage bin for the overhead and two custom fitted boards to stop stuff from sliding around! He also discovered the battery strap was broken under the steps and helped me fix that.

After visiting my sister, I headed to Point Mallard in northern Alabama and enjoyed a hike through Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. As many of you know, I collect pins from places I have visited. The volunteer at Wheeler could not find any on the display. The ranger discovered the pins were due in a shipment the following week. I thanked them for looking and noticed the volunteer taking off the pin she had on the shirt. She insisted I take it. It was a lovely thing for her to do. 

Mammoth Cave was next on my list. I had visited many years before, and planned to do at least one cave tour. They had plenty of open campsites – dry and no hookups. I headed over to the visitor’s center to see about tours, and while I was in line, a man offered me a free ticket. He bought too many and you cannot get a refund. Another kindness.

Should have read the description – 250 steps down into the cave through a very wet tunnel. Winding, steep walkways and more steps along the way. It was very physical, and I got to see some great cave formations. The next day, my legs were singing an aria!

Highlight of the trail I birded the next day was a Pileated woodpecker. Beautiful, huge and very close to the trail. All the services were within walking distance – 7 miles of walking that day.

Heading out, I stopped at Bernheim Arboretum in Kentucky on the way to Ohio. Great arboretum with a cute restaurant and gift shop.

The most challenging drive of the trip so far was on the way to The Biggest Week in American Birding. Big storms, constant rain and semi-trucks spewing water made me very happy to arrive at Maumee Bay Campground.

Campground here is great with lots of space for each site. Odd though is that only one bathroom/shower is heated…WOW. 

BWIAB

Probably deserves a blog all by itself. The Biggest Week in American Birding proved to be just that. Biggest. Week (well, in reality 10 days but who is counting). American. Birding (oh, yes, birding). Amazing field trips, warblers, knowledgeable field trip leaders, warblers, engaging speakers and workshops, warblers, and a tattoo contest judged by Kenn Kaufmann and Richard Crossley – and of course, warblers.

The towns around the area are welcoming to the migration of birders. Signs are placed throughout the area to welcome the visiting birders.

The organizers avoid field trips to Magee Marsh – so if you wish to visit that area you are on your own.

The field trips are, for the most part, to areas of public access. There were a few to private marshes which are not accessible, a throwback to private hunting clubs. Each van had a leader and a driver. On one trip the van I was in became mired in mud. We were fortunate to have a professional bus driver and she freed us easily with help from the passengers. An interesting sighting on a trip to the lake shore included a snake in a tree. 

Evening programs are scheduled to fit almost every interest. Key note speakers included Kenn Kaufmann, the couple from the Facebook group Birding by Bus and many others. I had a chance to speak with Eliana and Marc of Birding by Bus about how they inspired my current journey. If you are on Facebook take a look at their page and follow their adventures. 

My campsite was less than a mile away and made for easy visits to the Maumee Bay Lodge, home of the festival.  Vendors were plentiful and I spoke with Marcy, the jewelry maker who is always at the Tucson Audubon festival.

For me, the highlight of the entertainment was the birder’s tattoo contest. Some folks know I have several, not-usually-visible tattoos. One, on my right foot, is bird-related and that was my entry in the contest. What I did not know was the tattoos are judged as much on the story behind it as the tattoo itself. Mine was to signify freedom, the end of work and the beginning of my new life. Believe me, the other stories were WAY better. In the end, I was happy to have entered and to enjoy the backstories.

Cape May Warbler

Green Heron

Sedge Wren

Eastern Whip-poor-will

For those unfamiliar with Magee Marsh, it is a migrant trap, on the southern shore of Lake Erie, near Toledo, Ohio. For the first three weeks of May, a sturdy boardwalk accommodates the human visitors, who number in the thousands. You are just as likely to meet an extended family of local Amish as visitors from all over the world. Gold capped men and women act as guides, and are scattered along the boardwalk for the duration of the festival to assist visitors with sightings. One of the photos accompanying this blog was taken with the help of one of the guides! Lifer Sedge Wren.

A brief description related to the weather is needed, so you do not think this trip was all warblers and lifers. There was pouring rain, steady winds and it was so cold I was not comfortable without long johns. There was so much rain the state intermittently closed major roads. Bird trips, however, went on as scheduled, except the birding by kayak. Apparently when creeks flood over onto roads and fields it is not safe to paddle about in a kayak.

I met quite a few new friends and some even asked to follow my Facebook group Marcia365. Hope you are one of those.

About Marcia
Marcia OBara has been a birder since 1984. What started out as a little trip across the country after retirement has evolved into a rather unconventional Big Year.

After 48 years as a nurse, Marcia is traveling across the eastern US in an RV, trying to visit as many birding festivals as possible and birding every day for 365 days! She does not have a goal, but 500 species would be great.

Marcia has been an active member of Tucson Audubon for the past 5 years, joining in for field trips, volunteering for festivals and events as well as at the Paton Center. She has participated in Christmas Bird Counts, cuckoo surveys and her favorites, Elegant Trogon surveys. She was pleased to be offered the chance to blog about her Big Year here and hopes the Tucson Audubon members and other readers will enjoy reading about her adventures. She is also on Facebook in a closed group, so visit Marcia365 (https://www.facebook.com/groups/Marcia365/) and ask to join!