Ira+Road

Also, see Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Cuyahoga River-Lower Important Bird Area, and Cuyahoga Valley National Park Birding Drive
 * =Birding in Ohio=

Summit County
=Cuyahoga Valley National Park= =Ira Road Beaver Marsh= Riverview Road Peninsula, Ohio 44264 Cuyahoga Valley National Park website Cuyahoga Valley National Park (Facebook) webpage Cuyahoga Valley National Park map Cuyahoga Valley National Park trail maps Cuyahoga Valley Bird Watching at its Best webpage

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Cuyahoga Valley NP--Ira Rd. Beaver Marsh
Coordinates: 41.1842256, -81.5825629 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

Tips for birding the Ira Road Beaver Marsh
The Ira Road Beaver Marsh is a good place to visit during the waterfowl migrations in March and November. Wetlands provide essential feeding and resting places to migrating birds. Less than 10 percent of Ohio’s original wetlands still exist, making this habitat in Cuyahoga Valley National Park especially valuable to wildlife.

A walk along the boardwalk often provides great bird watching opportunities, especially during summer, when it is possible to see birds at close range and in their peak breeding plumage. Watch for families of wood ducks in the water, look for tree swallows as they capture insects in mid-air, and listen for the single-pitched staccato trill of the swamp sparrow.

The Beaver Marsh is accessible from the Towpath Trail between the Ira and Hunt Farm Trailheads. From Cuyahoga Valley Bird Watching at its Best brochure

About Ira Road Beaver Marsh
The Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail becomes a boardwalk over the Beaver Marsh, just north of Ira Trailhead in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. One of the best bird and wildlife viewing spots in the park, this area is a state Watchable Wildlife location and is one reason the park was designated an Important Bird Area by the Audubon Society of Ohio. The marsh exemplifies the conservation success of the park.

Once a junkyard, the area was reclaimed through beaver activity combined with clean-up efforts by park staff and volunteers.

Birdlife at the beaver pond is abundant and showy and easily accessed on the Towpath Trail and boardwalk, making it a top destination for birders in the Spring and Summer.

Along the old canal, Prothonotary Warblers, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and Indigo Buntings abound. Field and Song Sparrows, Common Yellowthroats, and Yellow and Blue-winged Warblers are common nesting species in the fields and meadows. Green and Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, and sometimes, American Bitterns are joined by Virginia Rails and Soras in the healthy cattail marsh. Tree Swallows and Eastern Kingbirds put on aerial flycatching shows just overhead. During the Spring and Fall, the Beaver Pond hosts multiple species of migrating waterfowl, including American Wigeon, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Wood Duck, American Black Duck, and the common Mallard.

Woodpeckers are drawn to the marsh’s free-standing dead trees. Downy, Red-bellied, and Pileated Woodpeckers feed in the swamp lowlands. Overhead, Red-tailed and Broad-winged Hawks, Bald Eagle, Turkey Vulture, and sometimes Osprey will soar on warm days.

The Beaver Marsh is wildly active during Spring migration, when multiple species of warblers, vireos, thrushes, sparrows, gnatcatchers, and more work their way north along the canal and swampy river bottomland forest. During the Winter months, birders will find traveling flocks of songbirds led by chickadees, titmice, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper, and sparrows, including Eastern Towhee.

A host of reptiles and amphibians abound, with Eastern Garter Snake, Northern Water Snake, Black Rat Snake, Eastern Painted Turtle, Green Frog, Bullfrog, Spring Peeper, Gray Treefrog, and more. White-tailed Deer, Muskrat, Coyote, Mink, rabbit, and raccoon are common mammal residents, but the highlight is surely the active American Beaver lodge just off of the boardwalk. The health of the wetland can be attributed to last year’s sighting of a rare River Otter along the Towpath Trail. From Ira Road Beaver Marsh webpage

About Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Though a short distance from the urban areas of Cleveland and Akron, Cuyahoga Valley National Park seems worlds away. The park is a refuge for native plants and wildlife and provides routes of discovery for visitors. The winding Cuyahoga River gives way to deep forests, rolling hills, and open farmlands. Walk or ride the Towpath Trail to follow the historic route of the Ohio & Erie Canal. From Cuyahoga Valley National Park website

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|| L416769 US US-OH US-OH-153 41.1842256 -81.5825629 Cuyahoga Valley NP--Ira Rd. Beaver Marsh