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Home > Blogs > Birds and Butterflies > Archives > 2009 > March > 13 > Entry
Birds, Marshes and Spring Family Fun
Last weekend, my wife and I took our children out to look for birds at Spring Valley Wildlife Area. This wetland lake complex is not too far from Sugarcreek MetroPark so you can easily visit both facilities and make it a nice afternoon. Driving to Spring Valley Wildlife Area, we took the side roads off of route 42 and got out in the parking lot at the south end of the lake. This gave us a great view using binoculars and a spotting scope of 
some ring-necked, bufflehead, gadwall, and wood ducks among the Canada goose and American coot. We heard that some sandhill crane and northern shoveler duck had been seen earlier in the day. From there wedrove to the side parking lot of Pense Jones Rd which gives easy access to the boardwalk and tower that overlooks the cattail wetlands.We were treated to hundreds of red-winged blackbird and the loud sounds of spring peeper frogs. It was a beautiful evening and the muskrats and kids enjoyed the wildness of the marsh. Just after sundown is a good time to look for woodcocks performing their courtship dance, Sugarcreek MetroPark typically has great views of these birds as do many of the local parks with open grassy areas and trails. For a map to Spring Valley click here.
Sugarcreek MetroPark information can be viewed at www.metroparks.org
Photo courtesy of ODNR web site “wildlife photos” by william william taken in Marion county
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