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4 - Geneva State Park
Ohio State Parks
4499 Padanarum Road., Geneva, OH 44041
440.466.8400
Public Access
Open all day, year-round
Amenities
Hiking Trails, Restrooms, Visitors Center, Picnic Area,
Handicap Accessible Trails, Camping, Outdoor Feeders,
Binocular Rentals
GPS Coordinates
N 41° 50'45.33"; W 80° 57'34.53"
Driving Directions
Take I-90 East to State Route 534 North. Park entrance
is six miles north on State Route 534 (turn left).
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What To Look For
Ohio's state park system gained its ninth lodge in 2004, when the lodge and conference center opened at Geneva State Park. The lodge provides a good base of operations for birders visiting this region.
Geneva State Park encompasses nearly 700 acres, and lengthy bird lists can be tallied at nearly any season. Habitats include older-growth woodlands, beaches, and a small amount of marsh. Spring and fall migration can produce lots of songbirds in wooded areas, and occasional shorebirds on the beach.
As the park harbors one of the larger woodlands that is accessible to birders in this region, summer is good for finding diversity of breeding forest species. Possibilities include Barred Owl, Eastern Screech-Owl, Great Horned Owl, and several species of vireos, flycatchers, and warblers, as well as Scarlet Tanager and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Purple Martins use nest boxes in the area and can't be missed.
Late fall and early winter bring lots of migrant waterbirds moving along the lake shore, including large numbers of ducks and gulls.
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Noteworthy Rarities
Brant sometimes turn up in late fall on lawns near the lake. Always check the geese in mowed grassy areas in November and December. Cave Swallows are a possibilty as well, but luck is required as movements of this major Ohio rarity tend to occur over just one or two days in November and the birds are typically seen briefly as they fly by. Blustery days from October through early December bring the possibility of Parasitic or Pomarine Jaeger over Lake Erie, or rare gulls such as Black-legged Kittiwake.
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Natural Features
Untrampled areas of beach, especially towards the westermost beaches, support rare beach plants such as Purple Sand Grass (Triplasis purpurea), Inland Sea Rocket (Cakile edentula), and Coastal Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium littorale). There are records of the rare American Sweet-flag (Acorus americanus) and Deer's-tongue Arrowhead (Sagittaria rigida) in marshy areas at the mouths of small creeks in the park. |
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