Midwest Birding Symposium...hope to see you in Lakeside, Ohio!

Later this month, I'm heading up to Lakeside, Ohio (half way between Toledo and Cleveland) for the 2011 Midwest Birding Symposium! I went to the event two years ago and had a wonderful time. It was the first time I had ever been surrounded by hundreds of people who love birds! It was a totally unique experience. If you love birds, and you're close by, sign up...and look for me!

p.s. If you go to Lakeside, you'll see lots and lots of this gorgeous bird...

Caspian Tern (Sterna caspia) - Watercolor and Graphite Pencil Field Sketch.

I sketched this fellow out quickly near Marblehead Lighthouse at the last Midwest Birding Symposium (9-17-09). It was a gorgeous day and one Caspian Tern after another was flying by.

The Pavilion and Pier at Lakeside, Ohio, on Lake Erie

Lakeside was founded in 1873. The streets are lined with historic Victorian-style homes and buildings. The town is perched on Lake Erie and fabulous birding spots are all over, including Magee Marsh and the Black Swamp Bird Observatory!

...the boardwalk at Magee Marsh at sunset.

...a Green Heron hunting at sunset. He was just off the Magee Marsh boardwalk and the light was fading fast! Click here for more photos of this fellow.

Something new this year, you will find a booth at the back of Hoover Auditorium for the Carbon Offset Bird Project (COBP). COBP is an experimental program put together by birders to help offset all the fossil fuel we burn riding here and there searching out birds. The project is being launched this September at the Midwest Birding Symposium. I might be volunteering at the booth for an hour, so look me up! Click here for more information. The funds generated from this project will be used to purchase additional wetlands for Meadowbrook Marsh (click here for more info on Meadowbrook Marsh). You can also go to Cheryl Harner's blog, Weedpicker's Journal, for more information.

You can print and fill out the following form to help with the Meadowbrook Marsh Carbon Offset Bird Project:

Hope to see you in Lakeside, OH

at the 2011 Midwest Birding Symposium!

Caspian Terns on the shores of Lake Erie

Birding at the Midwest Birding Symposium in Lakeside, Ohio.
One of the water birds I most enjoyed watching along the shores of Lake Erie was the Caspian Tern. I loved how they would skim over the water with their bills pointed down…always busy, always looking around, never content to just soar with their bills pointed forward looking out at the horizon. Often they would fly directly over me, and it would look like they were watching me, but I knew they weren’t. They were looking for fish, and when they found one, whoa…that soaring plunge headfirst into the water was always fascinating. The Caspian Terns were hard to photograph. They were always moving fast and flying high, so I painted one today for a closer look.

Watercolor of a Caspian Tern, Lake Erie

Caspian Tern from the Lakeside Pier

It doesn’t matter how high he flies,

that carrot bill stands out!

The Lakeside Pier is a great place to just sit and watch

the birds fly by. I saw my first Caspian Tern here.

For more birds from around the world, head over to