By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
The spring migration of birds typically brings hundreds of species to the area starting as early as March and ramping up into May. While the marshes along Lake Erie are popular birding sites, Wood County parks are also common resting places for the migrating masses.
Birds will leave Central America and the tropics or fly from southern states, traveling northbound hundreds and maybe thousands of miles, Wood County Park District Program Manager Jim Witter reported during the park district board meeting Tuesday.
On their way to mountains, Canada or even the Arctic, various species will find refuge in areas where they find food and resting or nesting spots. Wood County parks, with their natural habitats, prairies, native plants and rivers are prime stopovers for the migrating birds, Witter said.
The parks are not the only local sites where the birds can be seen. They might be in backyards or even in city centers, he said. During a presentation at Kenwood School this week, he recognized the trill of a Cape May warbler, but he had a hard time pointing out the tiny bird in the leafy treetops outside the school.
The birds start to migrate when the days get longer, insects (food) are more prolific, and the weather patterns bring warmer days and southwesterly winds. The birds usually feed and take short naps during the day allowing them to travel at night, often using the stars and moon, the Earth’s magnetic field, or waterways and landscapes to light their navigation.
“They use a combination of tools to get them from place to place,” Witter said. Often, they are headed to mountainous areas, Canada or even the Arctic, he added.
The Wood County Park District has created natural habitats to combat the “conservation concerns” of the large number of birds that have been lost since the 1970s, he said. “You can help, too.”
Planting native plants, limiting pesticide use, keeping cats indoors and turning off lights, if possible, during the migration season, can help birds to migrate safely, he said.
The park district is hosting a Friends of the Wood County Parks birding trip on Saturday (May 18) from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. There are still seats available; however, membership in the friends group is required
Friends’ Native Plant Sale is a success
The Friends of the Wood County Parks sold 3,409 native plants and 246 native shrubs during the annual Spring Native Plants Sale the first weekend in May, Friends President Candace Weis reported.
The sale, held for three hours on two consecutive days, raised more than $21,000. They offered 52 varieties of native plants and nine kinds of shrubs. “I’m not sure you can find that variety anywhere,” she said. A visitor to the sale said of the hundreds of native plant sales he had visited, he had not seen one that was so beautiful, organized and quickly processed, Weiss added.
Thanks to the generosity of the Wood County Agricultural Society, the sale was held at the Champion Barn on the Wood County Fairgrounds, Weis said. The line went from the Champion Barn to the Junior Fair Building for well over the first hour of the sale.
The friends group supports the park district’s stewardship program with the sale proceeds. “We plug a lot of that into the stewardship program for dirt, fertilizer and whatever they use to grow the plants, so next year the sale can be bigger and better,” Weis said.
Parks to celebrate milestone birthday
June marks the park district’s 90th anniversary, Director Chris Smalley announced during the meeting.
One of the activities to celebrate the milestone birthday is a T-shirt sale. Jamie Sands, community and communications specialist for the district said the shirt is available to order online. The specifically designed shirt, available in seven colors and seven sizes, is only on sale through May 28.
“The design symbolizes that we are all a part of the park district,” Sands said. “The shirt represents your love for the parks.”
Smalley reported that acquisition of the J.C. Reuthinger Memorial Preserve is finalized. He thanked the staff and all of the county, regional and state entities that supported the project. “It was a labor of love, but it was fantastic how everyone in the county works together,” he said.
The project also was recently approved for a grant from the Country Garden Club in Perrysburg. The garden club approved a proposal to help pay for native plant seeds to convert the Reuthinger farm’s soybean field to a native wet prairie. The grant totaled $24,243.
In other business, the board:
– Renewed an agreement with the Wood County Sheriff’s Department and the Wood County Commissions for the computer-aided dispatch system for the park district’s police department.
– Accepted the bid from Reinke Ford in Fostoria to purchase a Ford 250 XL pickup truck for the operations department at a cost of $47,594.
-Authorized Chris Smalley to spend up to $42,000 for a vehicle to be used by the program department.
– Approved the membership renewal for insurance coverage through the Public Entities Pool of Ohio at a cost of $83,093.92. The cost includes the increased acreage with the Reuthinger property acquisition and the upgraded fleet. “When I started here, about 40% of our fleet had over 200,000 miles,” Smalley said. Rob Fawcett, senior account executive with UIS Insurance and Investments, told the board, the park’s property values had increased from $4.8 million in 2011 to over $12 million in 2024.
