Macklin Smith

You do know that birds birder, don't you? For instance, do you go to Magee Marsh? One of the reasons all those nifty birds go there is because they can count on getting somebody Amish on their list. And why do you suppose certain birders -- say, like Macklin Smith -- keep seeing all those outrageous birds? It's because the birds sit around and say things like, "Well, anybody can get Macklin Smith in Ann Arbor, but how many of you have him at Bombay Hook?"

-- from Betsy Perry, Detroit, Michigan

(Magee Marsh Wildlife Area is 22 miles east of Toledo, Ohio, on the southeast shore of Lake Erie. It rivals or even exceeds Pt. Pelee, Ontario, as a premier spring and fall migration birding spot in the Great Lakes area. Macklin Smith leads all birders for the ABA count area with 904 species as of 11/11/2014.  He had 846 species on 5/27/1999 when this web document was originally posted.   BMB)