Wendy Park’s Migration Station

Wendy Park is renowned all over the Great Lakes as one of the top urban birdwatching sites. Over 270 species of birds have been found right here in this remarkable 22 acres of lakefront habitat. During spring and fall migration, hundreds of thousands of songbirds and waterbirds utilize the woodlots, fields and harbor. Colorful warblers, tanagers, orioles, buntings and countless other migrant birds stop here to rest and refuel on their amazing journeys north and south.

Wendy Park's woodland and field habitat may not be expansive, but it's absolutely critical to each bird's survival. Here they'll find insects, nectar, seeds, water, and cover while they're exhausted and in dire need of resources. This landscape, right on the shore of Lake Erie, ensures their survival for years to come. April and May, and September through October are four of the key months when bird numbers and diversity spikes with intensity.

It’s not just birds that find refuge here — even migrating bats, and dragonflies, and Monarch butterflies find refuge here at Wendy Park! Just as birds pour into the habitats here, Monarchs stage a huge migration every September. Each year, visitors arrive to witness the butterflies' remarkable journey south across Lake Erie, as they're headed to Mexico to spend the winter. Wendy Park's woods and fields are absolutely vital to thousands of butterflies’ survival. When conditions are right, hundreds to thousands of these incredible orange beauties will take safe harbor here, roosting just overhead in the low branches of cottonwoods and cherry trees. Two of the greatest phenomenons on earth - bird migration and Monarch migration - happen right here on this critically-important greenspace in Cleveland Metroparks.