Ohio Site Guide

A Guide to Ohio’s Best Places for Bird Photography by Matthew Studebaker

I met Matthew Studebaker when he graciously agreed to show me around the North Chagrin Reservation on a speaking trip to Cleveland.  I was blown away by the Wood Ducks and the lovely reflections of fall color.  You can see my Wood Duck images and learn more about that trip here:  http://www.birdsasart.com/bn213.htm.  And I was again blown away while viewing Matthew Studebaker’s images and seeing the diversity of great subjects and places in his home state of Ohio.  Several months ago Matthew approached me about creating an Ohio Site Guide and I thought that it was a great idea so Matthew went to work.  His 61 page guide is exceedingly well done.  And as you will see here http://www.birdsasart.com/bn228.htm, he is a skilled photographer (in spite of having “only” a Digital Rebel) and an excellent writer. 

The guide gives explicit and clear directions (with great maps), best times to visit, and expected subjects for eight major locations: Crane Creek State Park (migrant songbirds, former IPT-site), Castalia, OH (wintering ducks),  East 72nd St., Cleveland (gulls—including rare species, Red-Breasted Mergansers, and ducks), the aforementioned North Chagrin Reservation (ducks—especially tame woodies, Canada Geese, American Robin, migrant songbirds), Conneaut, OH (shorebirds, gulls, and terns), the Bath Nature Preserve (migrant and nesting songbirds, Great Blue Heron rookery), Cuyahoga Valley National Park (nesting songbirds especially warblers &  vireos, woodpeckers, and Chipping Sparrow), the Tri-valley Wildlife Area (nesting songbirds especially sparrows—Henslow’s, Grasshopper, and Field, Eastern Towhees & Meadowlarks, and Sedge Wren) and Shawnee State Forest (migrant & nesting songbirds including Hooded, Cerulean, and Prairie Warblers).  

In addition, there are lots of technique tips including an excellent section on judiciously using tapes to attract songbirds.  Matthew is a set-up master and the Site Guide includes a how-to section with photographic examples and tips for getting the birds to perch on the set up!   Lastly there is a section noting the locations of publicly accessible feeding stations in the state.