Lake Erie: Birding the Islands and Shores

Program Registration: 5:00 p.m. After you check in and have your room assignment, walk or take your personal vehicle to join us at The Crew’s Nest waterfront restaurant to register with the program staff, get any updated information, and confirm the time and location of the Orientation session. If you arrive late, please locate your Group Leader and let them know you have arrived.

At The Crew’s Nest.

Orientation: 6:45 p.m. at Put-in-Bay Town Hall. The Group Leader will greet everyone and lead introductions. We will review the up-to-date program schedule, discuss roles and responsibilities, logistics, safety guidelines, emergency procedures, and answer questions. The program is staffed with a birding leader who will provide educational content, a Group Leader who will deal primarily with logistics, and a series of local birding experts who will help lead field trips and provide evening lectures. For most of the time, we will use taxi vans to travel to various birding locations and other locations not accessible by walking. On Tuesday, we will travel by ferry to Gibraltar Island. On Thursday, we will travel by ferry to Middle Bass Island. Breakfasts will be at our B&B. Dinners will be at The Crew’s Nest as well as lunches except Thursday and Friday when we will have box lunches in the field. Periods in the schedule designated as “Free time” and “At leisure” offer opportunities to do what you like and make your experience even more meaningful and memorable according to your personal preferences. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions. Program activities, schedules, personnel, and indicated distances or times may change due to local circumstances/current conditions. In the event of changes, we will alert you as quickly as possible. Thank you for your understanding. Continue getting to know your fellow Road Scholars, settle in, and get a good night’s rest for the day ahead.

At the B&B.

We’ll meet at the Town Hall and split into three small groups (up to 10 participants each). We will take taxi vans to our first bird walk around the island, led by expert birders. In addition to public spots, we have permission to bird on private property. We will have a mid-morning break at the Town Hall.

At The Crew’s Nest.

We’ll board an open-air train for an exploration of South Bass Island to learn about the over 150-year history of the land and people. We’ll drive past the most iconic feature of South Bass Island, Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial, the world’s largest Doric Column. (The Memorial itself will not be open to visitors at the time of the program.) Returning to Town Hall, we’ll have a presentation by a National Park Ranger from the Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial. We’ll learn about the War of 1812 and how the Battle of Lake Erie proved to be a turning point for the Americans against the British and their allies.

At The Crew’s Nest.

At the historic town hall, we’ll update our bird checklist with what we spotted this morning, then hear a lecture on bird migration by regional bird conservation experts.

At the B&B.

We’ll head out on another expert-led walking field trip to find more birds, returning to the Town Hall mid-morning for a short break before returning to look for even more birds.

At The Crew’s Nest.

Next, we’ll board a boat and cruise for 1/4 hour to Gibraltar Island. This small island is the location of Cooke Castle, the historic summer home of Civil War financier Jay Cooke and later the headquarters of The Ohio State University’s Stone Laboratory, the oldest freshwater lab in the U.S. We’ll have a walking lecture from OSU staff while also looking for birds. We’ll return on the boat to Put-in-Bay with some time to freshen up and relax before dinner.

At The Crew’s Nest.

At the Town Hall, we’ll update our bird checklist, followed by a presentation by Master Tom Bartlett on his specialty, bird banding, the act of catching birds and tagging them for study.

At the B&B.

We’ll take taxi vans to the start point of today’s birding walking field trip, this time focusing on bird banding by master bander Tom Bartlett as discussed in his presentation the previous night.

At The Crew’s Nest.

We’ll then head via taxi vans to the Lake Erie Islands Nature & Wildlife Center, where we’ll explore the facility and learn about their programming. Finally, we’ll visit Heineman’s Winery and Crystal Cave, a location that holds the world’s largest geode: measuring 35 feet at its widest point!

At The Crew’s Nest.

Back at the Town Hall, we’ll update our bird checklists and hear again from local bird experts on the spring warblers that migrate through the region.

At the B&B.

We’ll take a taxi from our B&B to board a ferry for a 1/2 hour ferry ride to Middle Bass Island. We’ll go on a full-day birding field trip as we walk around the island. Along with experienced birders, we’ll keep an eye out for many different warbler species.

We will meet up for lunch at the Island Grind

We’ll continue our birding walk around Middle Bass Island. We will be able to join one of our birding experts. At an announced time and place, we’ll board the ferry and return to Put-in-Bay.

At The Crew’s Nest. Share favorite experiences with new Road Scholar friends during our farewell dinner.

Before we depart from the restaurant, we’ll do a final update of the bird checklist and discuss closing procedures. Prepare for check-out and departure in the morning.

At the B&B.

We’ll check out of our B&Bs and say goodbye to Put-in-Bay as we return by ferry to the mainland. Upon reaching shore, we’ll drive independently to Magee Marsh Wildlife Area for a final birding walk. This 2,200-acre state wildlife area on the shore of Lake Erie is mainly popular with waterfowl hunters, but in May, birders from all over the world converge on the marsh for the best opportunity to spot a variety of warblers stopping over before continuing their northward migration.

On the trail, we'll have box lunches at the marsh. This concludes our program.

If you are returning home, safe travels! If you are staying on independently in the area, have a wonderful time. If you are transferring to another Road Scholar program, detailed instructions are included in your Information Packet for that program. We hope you enjoy Road Scholar learning adventures and look forward to having you on rewarding programs in the future. Don’t forget to join our Facebook page and follow us on Instagram. Best wishes for all your journeys!