As they move northward in the spring, most songbirds migrate at night, stopping to rest and feed for a day or two between legs of their journey. En route, many of these travellers must cross large bodies of water, including the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and the Great Lakes. Finding themselves near or over water in the early daylight hours, they settle down on the closest shoreline and, as one might suspect, some of these coastal areas prove to be excellent birding locations.
Barrier islands along the northern Gulf of Mexico, such as Dauphin Island off Mobile, attract exhausted migrants that have just crossed from Central or South America. In like manner, Cape May, at the southern tip of New Jersey, is a magnet for birds that migrate up the Atlantic Coast. Wooded areas along the southern and northern shores of the Great Lakes always fill with birds during the spring and fall migrations; Cane Creek/Magrish Marsh, east of Toledo, and Point Pelee Provincial Park, on the northern coast of Lake Erie, are two of the more renowned birding hot spots. Late April through mid May is an excellent time to visit these songbird rest stops!
