Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge (Western Lake Erie Marshes Loop)
The refuge includes over 9,000 acres, not all of which is open to the public. An excellent visitor's center provides a great overview of the refuge and information on accessibility.
Key Species by Season
Spring
- Tundra Swan
- Dunlin
- Sharp-Shinned Hawk
Summer
- Snowy Egret
- Marsh Wren
- Swamp Sparrow
Fall
- Long-Billed Dowitcher
- Green-Winged Teal
- Bobolink
Winter
- Snow Goose
- Rough-Legged Hawk
- Short-Eared Owl
At-a-Glance
74 - Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
14000 W. State Route 2
Oak Harbor, OH 434490
419.898.0014
Public Access
Open daily, dawn until dusk
Amenities
Hiking Trails, Restrooms, Visitors Center, Handicap Accessible Trails, Checklist Available, Sightings Board, Outdoor Feeders, Wildlife Observation Window, Binocular Rentals
Driving Directions
From Oak Harbor, go north on Route 19 for 6 miles to Route 2. Turn west and drive 3 miles to the Refuge entrance.
What to Look For
The refuge includes over 9,000 acres, not all of which is open to the public. An excellent visitor's center provides a great overview of the refuge and information on accessibility. Much of Ottawa consists of massive diked wetlands, many of which are accessible by foot. Monthly driving tours allow access into normally off-limits areas. Waterfowl abound during migration, and depending upon water levels, enormous numbers of shorebirds congregate. The scattered woodlots can be productive places to find migrant songbirds, and spring and fall brings excellent numbers of migrant raptors passing overhead. Expansive meadows along Krause and Stange roads on the refuge's west side sometimes host Upland Sandpiper, Dickcissel, Sedge Wren, and other grassland species. Northern Shrike sometimes turns up in winter.
Noteworthy Rarities
Too many to list them all, but highlights include Tricolored Heron, White-faced Ibis, Prairie Falcon, Black-necked Stilt, White-winged Dove, Vermilion Flycatcher, and Yellow-headed Blackbird.
Natural Features
The 86-acre West Sister Island, which is not publicly accessible, lies nine miles offshore and harbors an enormous heron rookery. These birds fly to the mainland to feed. Some years, large numbers of American dogface butterflies can be found along ditches where their host plant, false indigo (Amorpha fruticosa) grows.
Local Resources
Lake Erie Shores & Islands
Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce
Ohio Ornithological Society
Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge Association
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
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.
14000 W. State Route 2, Oak Harbor, OH 434490
