Park Ranger Paul Motts invites you to tour Cuyahoga Valley National Park in May. Look and listen to see and hear spring activities in the park and beyond.

©JIM SCHMIDT

Willow flycatcher

Year of the Cuyahoga: Returning Songbirds
May is the best month to experience the greatest variety of songbirds in Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP), as many birds stop over on their northbound migration to Canada or stay and settle into a late spring nesting site. Everywhere it is possible to listen and hear the tunes of serenading songbirds.

The National Audubon Society has designated CVNP as an Important Bird Area (IBA), and bird watchers have long recognized the park as an ideal observation area. The bottomland forests along the Cuyahoga River provide special opportunities for even the most experienced birders. In mid-May, when songbirds are at their peak, it is possible to observe more than 15 species of warblers that occur regularly along the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail.

©JIM SCHMIDT

Prothonotary warbler

Songbird Hot Spots Along the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail 
Locate the prothonotary warbler along the Towpath Trail traveling north from Red Lock Trailhead, near where the Old Carriage Trail intersects. Observe yellow-throated and cerulean warblers near the historic Station Road Bridge.

You will find American redstart, cerulean warbler, yellow-throated warbler, and yellow-throated vireo on the Towpath Trail traveling north from Hunt Farm Visitor Center to Boston Store Visitor Center. This is also the best section of the trail for seeking Louisiana Waterthrush, often heard along the Cuyahoga River near Peninsula.

The Beaver Marsh is an ideal area to experience a wide variety of wetland birds including swamp sparrow, marsh wren, palm warbler, white-eyed vireo, willow flycatcher, sora rail, rough-wing swallow, and at times, orchard oriole.

Year of International Astronomy: Gazing on Venus
The best celestial opportunity this month is during dawn, approximately one hour before sunrise, when Venus appears exceptionally bright at magnitude -4.7 in the eastern sky. The planet is visible throughout the month but on May 21 makes an impressive sight as it creates a triangle with the moon (slightly above) and Mars (slightly below). With a small telescope, it is possible to see the early May, thick crescent planet phase give way to a first quarter phase by the end of the month.

©JERRY JELINEK

Phlox

Also This Month
At the Ledges Shelter, listen for the very loud churry-churry-churry-churry call of the Kentucky warbler that one can hear more than a quarter-mile away. This rare warbler has been returning to this area for over four years.

In the second week of May look for blooming woodland phlox and mayapple along the Ohio & Erie Towpath Trail just south of Peninsula.

Please note that all wildflowers are strictly protected within CVNP. Please do your part by not picking them.