My original plan for watching this week’s total solar eclipse was to watch the partial eclipse at one of our local southeast Michigan metroparks.
While not in the path of totality, the park location offered over 99% obscuration of the sun during the eclipse.
Given totality was less than an hour drive, my husband and I decided this once-in-a-lifetime event for our area was something we wanted to see all of.
So we decided we would cross the state line into northwest Ohio, to an area of totality to watch.
Manhattan Marsh Preserve
One of our birding sites, Manhattan Marsh Preserve Metropark in northeast Toledo offered a perfect combination for the eclipse:
- In the path of totality
- Only three miles across the Michigan state line into Ohio
- Easy access into and out of the metropark
- Multiple options for leaving the park and avoiding I-75, which was expected to be congested with traffic from all the Michiganders (like us) heading north after the eclipse
- Picnic tables and shady areas
- Restrooms
- Walking loop and birding at the marsh
We couldn’t have asked for a better spot to watch!
As it turned out, over 90% of the folks at Manhattan Marsh for the eclipse (probably less than 50 total) were from Michigan.
Which makes sense, people in the area could watch from their homes.
We met a couple from the Midland, Michigan area who drove down for the eclipse and a family from Ferndale, Michigan as well as two sisters and their family from Ann Arbor.
Before the eclipse started, we found a shady space for our chairs. And I walked the trail (~ 1 1/2 miles) around the marsh to see the birds.
What a nice surprise to find a Northern Mockingbird perched in shrubs near the trail as well as two flocks of American White Pelicans flying overhead.
Let’s Watch the Total Solar Eclipse!
We ate our packed lunch and settled in for the eclipse to start.
What an amazing experience!
A little before 2PM, we watched (with our solar eclipse glasses) as the lower right portion of the sun had a “bite” taken out of it as the moon slowly moved over.
While there were clouds in the sky, they didn’t obscure our view of the eclipse. The birds kept singing and calling around us during the entire eclipse.
We watched for the next hour as more of the sun was covered by the moon.
To the point that the sun started to look like a crescent moon. A few minutes past 3PM, only a small sliver of the sun was visible.
One of the people near us said, “It’s almost totality!”
Then suddenly it became like twilight as the moon completely covered the sun. Everyone around us got quiet.
We took off our solar eclipse glasses and saw the bright corona of the sun surrounding the black moon in the sky.
It never got completely dark, but the temperature was a bit cooler.
It was magical for almost two minutes as we peered at the sky during totality.
We could see the moon-covered sun, Jupiter, and one star.
Then we looked out at the darkened marsh, where we heard Canada Geese, Red-winged Blackbirds, and Song Sparrows calling and singing.
Suddenly it was if someone turned the lights on outside, as a sliver of the sun came out from behind the moon and everything turned brighter quickly.
People around us started talking about how incredible it was to see it in person. And how this was one event they would never forget.
I know I won’t.
Photo credit of the solar eclipse: NASA Headquarters / NASA/Keegan Barber, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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