Mallard Club State Wildlife Area (Western Lake Erie Marshes Loop)
This wildlife area offers an excellent and easily accessible immersion into a diverse Lake Erie coastal marsh. Walk the dikes that extend due north towards Lake Erie, which bisect the 402-acre marsh.
Key Species by Season
Spring
- American Bittern
- Virginia Rail
- American Coot
Summer
- Sora
- Pied-Billed Grebe
- Common Moorhen
Fall
- Wilson's Snipe
- Northern Harrier
- Swamp Sparrow
Winter
- Swamp Sparrow
- Canada Goose
- Bald Eagle
At-a-Glance
76 - Mallard Club State Wildlife Area
Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife
8299 Cedar Point Road
Oregon, OH 43618
419.424.5000
Public Access
Open all day, year-round
Amenities
Hiking Trails, Handicap Accessible Trails
Driving Directions
Exit I-280 at State Route 2 and go east to N. Curtis Road. Go north on Curtis Road to Cedar Point Road. Turn east on Cedar Point Road to the Mallard Club Marsh parking lots.
What to Look For
This wildlife area offers an excellent and easily accessible immersion into a diverse Lake Erie coastal marsh. Walk the dikes that extend due north towards Lake Erie, which bisect the 402-acre marsh. Early morning or near dusk is best, as that's when the various marsh birds are at their most vocal. American Moorhen should easily be found, and Marsh Wrens are frequent. The marsh is fabulous for migrant waterfowl, especially in spring.
Noteworthy Rarities
A Garganey was present from May 19-25, 2002, and is one of only two Ohio records. Yellow-headed Blackbirds and Sedge Wrens turn up on occasion, and in some years, Black Terns may nest locally, as do King Rails.
Natural Features
A great number and diversity of dragonflies can be found in the marsh. Clouds of eastern and fragile forktails will flush from the vegetation as one walks the dikes, and dragonfly enthusiasts should keep watch for much rarer species such as striped saddlebags.
Local Resources
Destination Toledo
Eastern Maumee Bay Chamber of Commerce
ODNR Division of Wildlife
Ohio Ornithological Society
About the Western Lake Erie Marshes Loop
The vast marshlands that buffer extensive areas of the Lake Erie shore are a cradle of biodiversity. This globally significant region stretches from Toledo to Sandusky Bay and is the most heavily birded part of Ohio.
On the second Saturday in May, which is International Migratory Bird Day, as many as 10,000 birders from all over the country and beyond will be in the area. While great swaths of the original marshes have been destroyed, huge tracts have been protected as wildlife areas or as part of the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. The total species list for this loop is 350, and eleven of these species have been found only in this region.
What To Look For
There is never a dull season in the western Lake Erie marshes, but spring brings the most birders. They’re there for good reasons: Magee Marsh and vicinity supports one of the greatest migration spectacles to be found anywhere in North America. Scores of flycatchers, vireos, thrushes, tanagers, and others pass through in May. Stars of the show are the warblers, though. Thirty-seven species occur annually, and many of them can be found in jaw-dropping numbers. Early spring and fall see large movements of nearly all of the regularly occurring waterfowl. Raptor migrations can be sensational, and this is Ohio’s premier region for shorebird migration.
Noteworthy Rarities
There are probably more records of the federally endangered Kirtland’s Warbler from the western Lake Erie marshes region than anywhere else outside of the species’ breeding and wintering grounds. The warbler is but one of scores of rarities that have turned up in this region: 17 species with five or fewer Ohio records have been found, and the only Ohio records for four species come from western Lake Erie. The ODNR Division of Wildlife publishes A Field Checklist to the Birds of Magee Marsh (Publication 342), which details all of the birds found to date in the western Lake Erie marsh region.
Natural Features
The largest remaining marshes in Ohio buffer the western end of Lake Erie. In addition to supporting tremendous numbers and diversity of birds, these wetlands also harbor many other animals and an impressive diversity of plants. Species of plants that are now threatened or endangered, such as wild rice and bullhead-lily, can still be found. Two interesting reptiles that occur are the Blanding’s turtle and Eastern fox snake, both of which are largely confined to the western Lake Erie shoreline in Ohio. Incomprehensible numbers of dragonflies of many species live in the marshes, and occasionally rare migrant dragonflies are found, such as the striped saddlebags.
8299 Cedar Point Road, Oregon, OH 43618
