Cedar Meadow Preserve is a stop on the Lake Erie Birding Trail.

Enter the preserve from Cemetery Road (park in the fire station lot) near the base of the water tower.

Cedar Meadow’s location on Catawba Island, which is a peninsula that juts into Lake Erie, makes it an excellent spot for migratory songbirds that are preparing to cross the lake in spring or have just made the crossing in fall.

The 62 acres that encompass this preserve were acquired in 2005 by Catawba Island Township, with help from the Clean Ohio Fund and the Black Swamp Conservancy. The property is a mosaic of successional fields, mature woodland, shrub zones, and wetlands. It’s location on Catawba Island, which is a peninsula that juts into Lake Erie, makes Cedar Meadow an excellent spot for migratory songbirds that are preparing to cross the lake in spring, or have just made the crossing in fall. Nearly every species of regularly occurring migrant songbird could be expected given the preserve’s diversity of habitat, and as more birders discover this site an impressive species list should be accumulated. Cedar Meadow is only minutes from the ferry dock that services the Bass islands and is a worthwhile stop before or after visiting the islands.