GREAT OUTDOORS: Erie islands used for species migrations

The Lake Erie islands act to steer large numbers of animal species as they migrate through the Western Basin. Many bird, Monarch butterfly and fish migrations are currently underway and being detected passing through the islands. Ohio Sea Grant hosted a webinar on September 13, where Dr. Verner P. Bingman of Bowling Green State University presented findings of his research on how birds use the islands during their springand fall migrations to their respective breeding and wintering sites.He says that Lake Erie is considered a "topographical barrier" to bird migrations. While not the size of the Gulf of Mexico, it can be still be significant and dangerous if caught in a storm while flying over the lake.During one well-documented storm event in May 1996, thousands of birds were killed while crossing over Lake Michigan.When reaching Lake Erie, smaller birds especially choose to follow the angles of the mainland coastline that help aim them toward the direction that they wish to go (north in spring or south in fall), then waitfor favorable winds to give them momentum to launch them onward.Strong breezes can cause small birds to deviate off course when flying across Lake Erie, but Dr. Bingman observed that they appear to visually exploit the islands to compensate for wind drift and sustain atighter track toward their preferred direction.Doppler radar weather stations have revolutionized the study of documenting North American bird migration movements. Infra-red cameras, audio recordings of the unique calls that birds make while migrating at night and visual observations have provided evidence showing the dense concentrations of birds passing overhead the islands.While not stating an opinion on policy decisions about the installation of off-shore wind turbines, Dr. Bingman mentioned that many of the songbird species travel slowly at elevations less than 1,000 feet when migrating through the islands, unlike waterfowl and shorebirds that cross over higher and at faster speeds. He characterized the thought of constructing wind turbines anywhere near the island archipelago as an "environmental tragedy" because of the large concentration of low-flying migratory birds, such assparrow, warblers and thrushes that cross here. Dr. Bingman suggests that future research should include replication of more fall migration seasons, add spring monitoring, additional stations (such as Kelleys Island) to gain greater confidence in the islandobservations and identify the species being observed using the islands to navigate across Lake Erie. Monarch butterflies also famously use the islands as a way to leap-frog across the Western Basin during their 3,000-mile migration that eventually leads to their winter habitat in the Oyamel fir forestsof Mexico. Pelee Point/Island through the Bass Islands to Catawba, or Kelleys to Marblehead provide the sometimes-necessary layovers during their flights. Resting butterfly clusters are often seen hanging from island trees like orange leaves as they rest during cool, wet or windy conditions before resuming their journey south across this narrow lake crossing.This week, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources announced that milkweed seed pods are now ready to be harvested. The seeds are used to establish milkweed patches in unmowed wildlife areas androadsides for the returning generations of summer Monarch butterflies to use to lay their eggs. Of the 17 species of milkweed that occur in Ohio, 13 are used by Monarchs at all stages of their development, from larva to adults. See ohiopollinator.org for a list of Ohio Pollinator Habitat Initiativedrop-off locations for the milkweed seed pods. If you wish to learn "the rest of the story" check out monarchjointventure.org for detailed seed collection techniques and other life-history information about this iconic insect. While not visibly perched in trees like birds and butterflies, walleye also migrate though the island's deeper channels on east to west routes ahead of their spawning runs each season to the reefsand tributary streams. Many of these walleye reliably follow these underwater highways eastward as they seek their preferred water temperatures present in the Central Basin during the summer.