The Mentor Marsh area is a great place for birding.

One of the premier birding sites in Northeast Ohio, Mentor’s 230-acre nature preserve includes 1.5 miles of shoreline with rare dune plants, a riverine marsh, and mature oak bluff. It is located on the western boundary of the over 800-acre Mentor Marsh State Nature Preserve, which is also one of the best birding sites in the state. Mentor Marsh contains diverse wetland communities and habitat types that serve as important breeding and nursery areas for fish and waterfowl, as well as a ‘stopover’ resting site for neo-tropical birds and butterflies as they migrate up to several thousand miles in the spring and fall.

Over 260 bird species have been recorded within or offshore of the Mentor Lagoons Nature Preserve and Mentor Marsh. The large-scale removal of invasive phragmites, led by the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, has increased occurrences of highly sought-after marsh birds. The potential for rare bird sightings and new breeding species continues to increase. All of these factors, as well as the abundance of protected species like the once rare Bald Eagle, have helped designate the Marsh as an Important Bird Area (IBA) within the Grand River-Lower Watershed.

Along the east portion and south side of the Preserve, you can overlook the marsh and several mudflats, which are excellent spots for shorebirds and waterfowl in migration. The Overlook Trail begins by cutting through deciduous forest, full of warblers, vireos, and flycatchers from spring to fall, and hosts a diversity of species year-round. The trail continues to the bluffs, which offer excellent scoping opportunities for mergansers, gulls, scoters, and many species that overwinter on Lake Erie. Trail maps can be found at the Lagoons office or kiosk.

The City of Mentor Natural Resources Division aims to continue monitoring the quality and diversity of species in the Mentor Lagoons and Marsh to help guide natural resource management. This comprehensive checklist provides abundancy ratings by season for all species observed within the Mentor Marsh region. These ratings are site-specific and are derived from eBird data and local birders.

For additional information on birding in the region, including hotspots and recent sightings visit www.ebird.org and download the app on Android or iOS to record your observations. For a free interactive bird identification guide download the Merlin Bird ID app on Android or iOS.

Additional regional resources include the Cleveland Museum of Natural History Mentor Marsh State Nature Preserve website and the Blackbrook Audubon Society website.