The Biggest Week in American Birding - May 2026
This year I made my annual pilgrimage the second week of May to Northwestern Ohio to participate in the Biggest Week in American Birding. As usual it didn’t disappoint, with rainy and windy weather often forcing the birds down deeper into the canopy around the Magee Marsh Boardwalk.
On Thursday May 14th, the second day we were there, the morning started off windy and questionable, but as a seasoned birder I knew that this was going to be the big day. When we arrived just after dawn we were one of the first few cars in the parking lot. Once on the boardwalk, the birds were so close that I often could not get the shot with my 500mm lens, while other people were often getting captures of birds with their phones. For this trip to photograph birds I tried to keep my kit light, only bringing one of my D850 bodies with the 500mm PF lens. In retrospect I should have also brought my D500 with me with the 70-200 f/2.8 lens. That would have given me a decent close range for those birds who insisted on being close. It’s not often one can complain about the birds being TOO close, but as a lot we birders like to find things to complain about so here we are. :) When we left the boardwalk about 3 hours later, there were so many cars that the parking lot was full and people were parking on the grass along the entrance road.
We spend 3 days total in the area, hitting our favorite spots such as Magee Marsh, Metzger Marsh, and Ottawa State Preserve. We did the drive at Ottawa again and it was amazing as usual. Last year was the first year we did the drive, and we enjoyed it so much it was on our “must do” list for this year.
OK, enough babbling. Here are some bird pics from the trip. Click on the first image to open in a new window to scroll through.
It wasn’t ALL about the birds. Also while we were in the area we visited Fort Meigs, which is an amazingly well-preserved fort from the War of 1812. The fort was involved in 2 skirmishes with British troops in 1813. It’s fascinating to walk the grounds and see how soldiers lived back then. For walking around images, I carried my Fuji GFX 50s medium format digital camera with the 35-70mm lens, and shot jpeg in the Fuji Provia film sim preset. Below are some images from our walk around the site. Click on the first image to open in a new window and scroll through.
For this trip we once again stayed in a hotel in Port Clinton that’s right on Lake Erie. Our room overlooked the lake, and on the last morning we were treated to a spectacular sunrise. True to form, the red skies at morning did mean that sailors should take warning, as the heavens opened up on us later in the day on the way home. Image shot with my Fuji GFX 50s with my 35-70mm lens in 24×65 “Xpan” panoramic mode in jpeg with the Fuji Velvia fim sim preset.
Sunrise over Lake Erie at Port Clinton.
So the 2026 Biggest Week in American Birding is done and in the bag! I’m already looking forward to next year’s trip. If you are interested in going and are looking for tips on where to bird, feel free to send me a note. One hard-learned tip I will give here is to plan your trip during the weekdays, as the weekends in the area can be CRAZY busy and crowded at each location.
Thanks for reading!
Jeremy
BONUS IMAGES - while birding in different locations in the weeks leading up to the Biggest Week, I caried my GFX with me to capture some landscape images. Below are three shots from various locations in Northern Ohio. Click on the first image to open in a new window and scroll through.
