Glad to say we survived the tornado warning by following the locals’ technique of seeking refuge in the bar!  The next morning we went down to the Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO) at Magee Marsh, where birding filled pretty much all our day.  We stopped off at the BSBO centre where we met up with some very special friends.  Kenn Kaufman, who we’d first met at the ABA Conference in Corpus Christi last year, was doing a book signing there and was kind enough to sign a new copy of his amazing book, Kingbird Highway, for us, our previous well-thumbed copy having fallen apart with use.  We also caught up with Tamie Bulow who we’d also last seen back in Corpus. It’s great to meet old friends when you’re so far from home.
Then we headed down to the Boardwalk and plunged into the maelstrom of birders enjoying the fantastic warbler spectacle here.  A long sturdy boardwalk meanders its way through the damp woodland providing superb habitat for birds.  On the ground, Veery and Grey-cheeked Thrushes, Red-winged Blackbirds and American Robins picked and probed amongst the leaf litter quite oblivious of the hundreds of birders. 
But it really was the warblers who stole the show.  We’ve really enjoyed the warbler migration experience at High Island on the South Texas Coast in previous years, but here at Magee Marsh, the warblers are passing through the trees much closer to head height, and often right at eye-level.  They often seem totally unconcerned about playing out their lives in front of such a large, mesmerised audience, which allows you to enjoy a really close look at the intricacies of their plumage.  And oh boy, what plumage!  Black-throated Green Warblers just kept on coming closer and closer, showing off their green and yellow facial markings and rich black throats.  Black-throated Blue Warblers kept only slightly more distance, their vivid air-force blue-coloured backs standing out amongst the green vegetation.  Cape May Warblers with a bold orange cheek patch displayed every possible angle just above our heads, while Bay-breasted and Chestnut-sided Warblers joined them to show off in one particular tree.  Nashville Warbler was on show too, a contrast of yellow belly and grey head with a startling white eye ring.  Blackburnian Warbler with its fiery orange face delighted the crowds, American Redstart flicked through the branches, while Yellow Warbler truly zinged out from the vegetation.  In fact, the jazzy Black-and-White Warbler seemed almost dull in comparison, which is really belittling this stunning badger-faced bird.
There were hundreds of birders on the boardwalk enjoying the spectacle.  People are so wonderfully friendly and supportive here; everyone wants to make sure that everyone sees all the birds so they’re all helping each other get onto a new bird as it arrives and sharing the best viewpoints.  They’re even happy to share their clothes too – many thanks to Deana who kindly donated a pair of gloves to Ruth as her hands became numb – the temperatures had dropped to North Wales levels, but we’d left all our warm clothes at home.  That’ll teach us to rely on internet weather forecasts!  We bumped into more old friends including Chuck and Nancy Bell, and Dick Ashford from the ABA, and already we’re greeting like old friends some of other birders that we’ve only met in the last two days.  We were really impressed with Doug, who’s been at Magee Marsh with his mother Amanda. Although only young, Doug is incredibly keen and with such sharp eyes that he’s been adding lifers to his list at an amazing rate.  Watch out ABA, here could be your new President of the future!!
Many of our old friends from Tropical Birding are here too, helping people get the best out of their birding here, particularly with the warbler overload on the boardwalk. It was great to see Keith, Christian, Nick, Sam, Michael, Josh, Charley, and of course Iain and Cristina again, and to catch up with the tales of their adventures since we’d last seen them.
Just as our energy levels were flagging, the wonderful Kim Kaufman came visiting with some coconut bread made by a kindly volunteer, just what we needed to give us a boost as we headed over to the Visitor Centre at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge to give the first of our talks on The Biggest Twitch.  It’s a wonderful facility including a large lecture room full of all sorts of AV mod cons.  Luckily, our trusty UK laptop and this US technology were compatible, and we gave our talk to a full house.  They were a great audience, with plenty of questions for us afterwards, before we said our goodbyes and headed back to our motel, to dream of more warblers to come.For more photos of the birds and birders at The Biggest Week, log onto our facebook page under Alan Davies