Harris' Sparrow @ BWIAB - 10 May 2026

I spent the afternoon painting after returning from Petersburg SGA. Seeing that skies were still clear, fairly mild, and that it was Sunday afternoon I decided that visiting Magee Marsh and the Biggest Week in American Birding might be better this evening (when crowds are lower) than tomorrow morning. Plus, a Harris' Sparrow was found in the overflow parking lot just west of the west boardwalk entrance at Magee. Jack and Janet Volker had called earlier in the afternoon to let me know that it was putting on a show so I thought that it was an added incentive to go this evening.

I left for NW Ohio shortly before 5 pm after dinner with Robin at the Mav (Happy Mother's Day!) and arrived shortly before 6 pm. Sure enough, a steady stream of cars were leaving Magee Marsh as I drove the causeway (careful not to hit any Canada Geese or their goslings). 

As I approached the Maintenance Shed at the back of the overflow parking lot I spotted dozens of people with cameras and binoculars trained on a singular bird in the middle of the gravel road. Harris' Sparrow!

I hadn't even stopped to park and already had it in my sights. I parked, walked up to the edge of the gravel drive and fired a few dozen photos of the Zonotrichia sparrow as it foraged for seed and apparently oblivious to the crowd gathered just a few feet away.

The black cap and throat, and gray face revealed a bird in alternate (breeding) plumage as it lacked the tan / buffy coloration of a winter bird. I couldn't resist taking a quick video with the Sony a1 II and 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens.

In less than 5 minutes I was back in the car and driving to the east end of the boardwalk now that the parking lot was thinning out. There were still quite a few people around with the lot half-full but walking the boardwalk would not be a chore. Sure enough, a handsome male Yellow-rumped Warbler greeted me as I stepped onto the boardwalk at the east end. 

Alas, it would be the only warbler seen (or heard) as I walked the east side of the boardwalk to the large pond where (finally) a Prothonotary Warbler had gathered a small crowd of admirers. Unfortunately, it was obscured by branches and difficult of track given the underbrush, but I got a few pics.

On the opposite side of the boardwalk I got brief glimpses of a Red-breasted Nuthatch foraging overhead.

Just 30' down the boardwalk another Prothonotary Warbler was drawing a small crowd so I tried to get a few pics from the backs. 

 

I'd manage to walk to the west side of the boardwalk without taking any more photos. Northern Yellow Warblers were present in good numbers. I'd get a brief glimpse of a Sora and Northern Waterthrush but otherwise had to settle for a quiet walk. 

I walked back toward the east entrance along the parking lot. A few Warbling Vireos were in the trees along the edge of the boardwalk area, but other than that I had to settle for a Baltimore Oriole feeding at one of several orange stations. 

I re-entered the east entrance to the Boardwalk and found a Nashville Warbler foraging next to the railing.

A few Yellow-rumped Warblers later I had a pair of Warbling Vireos land overhead. They were severely backlit. I managed a couple keeper pics.

With crowds thinning and nightfall approaching I managed to find stretches of the boardwalk empty. So were the birds...

Leaving the west end of the boardwalk I walked toward the parking lot and saw several people with binoculars on the parking lot. Sure enough, our celebrity Harris' Sparrow had made its way from the overflow parking area to the west parking lot. I took a few photos then directed people to the bird as I returned to my car at the east end.

A bird that winters in the Southwest and migrates west and north of the Mississippi the Harris' Sparrow is an occasional visitor to the Great Lakes Region during migration. Its distribution map (courtesy of Cornell's Birds of the World website) is shown below:

With it now starting to cool off it was time to head home.

Magee Marsh--Boardwalk, Lucas, Ohio, US
May 10, 2026 5:43 PM - 7:31 PM
Protocol: Traveling
3.275 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Ptly sunny, mild, 60F
40 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  1
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)  3
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  1
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  1
Sora (Porzana carolina)  1
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  1
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum)  1
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  2
Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)  1
Eastern Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus)  3
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  20
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Corthylio calendula)  2
Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)  1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)  1
Northern House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)  1
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)  1
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  16
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)  2
Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina)  1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  1
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  1
Harris's Sparrow (Zonotrichia querula)  1     Found earlier today by Maintenance shed near west entrance to boardwalk. Again seen in parking lot next to boardwalk west entrance. Zonotrichia sparrow w black face and next. Pics and video.
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)  6
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  1
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)  1
Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula)  4
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  6
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater)  9
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)  2
Northern Waterthrush (Parkesia noveboracensis)  1
Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia)  1
Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea)  2
Tennessee Warbler (Leiothlypis peregrina)  1
Nashville Warbler (Leiothlypis ruficapilla)  2
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)  1
Northern Yellow Warbler (Setophaga aestiva)  8
Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum)  2
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)  4
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  2
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S336864502

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)