Lorain County has been getting a huge influx of visitors the past few days, and hundreds more are on the way! Don’t worry- they won’t have any influence on traffic or getting a seat at your favorite area restaurant.

The annual monarch migration has begun, and the butterflies are making their way through Northern Ohio on their way to spend the winter in Mexico. Last weekend large groups of monarchs came into Ohio from areas north of Lake Erie. 

Sandy Ridge Reservation is a great place to go to witness this annual event. There are currently hundreds of monarchs in the park. To look at the rest of the monarch migration pattern, and to track your sightings, go here.

Monarch’s are far from the only beauty you can find at Sandy Ridge. Bird watching along Lake Erie will be entering its fall peak very soon. The wetlands at Sandy Ridge provide a safe haven for shorebirds in the fall and the beautiful wooded areas draw songbirds during fall migration. Recently, there have been reported sightings of ospreys, a little blue heron, american wigeon, a sora and much more!

By Tim Fairweather, Senior Manager/Park Naturalist at Sandy Ridge Reservation   The frogs are calling, the flowers are blooming, and the birds are back. Migration for some birds involves traveling thousands of miles most of it at night. They use stars and magnetic cues from the earth to find their way. Many of them come […]

Snowy Owl  Photos by Dr. Thomas Mahl I went to Sandy Ridge Reservation to visit with Lorain County Metro Park’s resident birding guru, Tim Fairweather, to see what was ruffling everyone’s feathers in north central Ohio. With good reason, everyone is excited over the recent snowy owl sightings around Lorain County. Birders have flocked to the […]

The month of November has blown in with gusto!  Often times when the weather is not great for us, it can be a great opportunity for bird watching…the winds can drive birds inland and right into view. Lorain County is a fabulous birding destination. With more than a dozen birding locations in the Huron & […]