Early May is a key portion of the calendar if you are a North American birder. This season may even have resonance for those of you outside the ABA area, but if you’re within in, you lick your lips (figuratively, I’m sure) all winter awaiting the arrival of spring migrants. Well, early May in America just got a whole lot bigger…

The Biggest Week in American Birding is a new birding festival planned during the peak of spring warbler migration in the Lake Erie Marsh Region of Northwest Ohio, often heralded as the “Warbler Capital of the World.” This epic event, hosted by Black Swamp Bird Observatory, Tropical Birding, Kaufman Field Guides, Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, and Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, will be so jam-packed with trips, workshops, speakers, and, of course, WARBLERS that it is being held over 11 days, from Thursday, May 6, 2010 through Sunday, May 16, 2010. What a week of birding!

I had a blast in Ohio last fall at the Midwest Birding Symposium and I am seriously looking forward to the Biggest Week. Not only will I get more time at the amazing Ottawa NWR, but I’ll finally experience the full fantasy of spring warblers at the legendary Magee Marsh. Equally as important are the amazing people on the scene. I won’t name names but will say that many of your favorite guides, authors, bloggers, publishers, and personalities will be at the Biggest Week. You should be there too.

Alas, I’ll only be in attendance from May 7-9. Look for me at Magee Marsh, hopefully knee-deep in Mourning Warblers, on the morning of Saturday, May 8.  I’ll be at the Blogger BBQ on Saturday night. My trip will culminate with my presentation “Around the World in 80 Blogs” at Ottawa on Sunday from 11AM to noon. Will I see you there?

IMPORTANT: If you are a blogger who will be attending my presentation, be sure to let me know in advance so I can give you a shout-out!

Written by Mike
Mike is a leading authority in the field of standardized test preparation, but he's also a traveler who fully expects to see every bird in the world. Besides founding 10,000 Birds in 2003, Mike has also created a number of other entertaining but now extirpated nature blog resources, particularly the Nature Blog Network and I and the Bird.