Great program last Wednesday night with Jim McGraff and his snakes of Michigan http://www.naturediscovery.net/presentations.htm#reptilesamphibians

We had kids in the audience with live snake hairdos and people holding snakes that never had before!  We all left with a better knowledge and appreciation and less fear of snakes in Michigan.

Next program will be a potluck reorganization meeting place and time TBA.  Have a great spring and remember to do your lists to eBird or report rare bird sightings to 231-510-9380.

BA

Saturday, April 20, 8:00 a.m. Arcadia MarshThis field trip is a perennial favorite to see waterfowl and returning spring migrants. We will meet at the parking lot for Arcadia Beach at the west end of Lake Street in Arcadia (on Lake Michigan), then break into smaller groups to car pool to local hot spots. Brian Allen (723-7956) and John Ester (325-2445) will lead the trip.

See you there.  

Migration bottleneck :

The bottleneck is open, with the milder weather today loads of birds are on the mover from Cranes to sparrows, this has been noted on radar and by field observers, hawks along the Lake Michigan shore today, a mild "fallout" at noon of Yellow-rumped Warblers, Sapsuckers, Brown Creepers and sparrows at the house at noon and....

Bob Paetschow reports that the Piping Plover is back in Manistee.  Time to get out there and go birding if you can!

program cancelled for this evening due to illness of the presenter.  We will still have an informal meeting for all those that attend.

Next Meeting Wed. April 10th 7PM at the Lake Bluff Audubon Center

Julie Hirshfeld studied beavers and beaver ponds in Vermont for seven years and will present a program on these interesting animals and their habitats.

Apologies to all that attended the program in March and missed Ed Kaminiski's program.  He will return for a program later this year so stay tuned to this website.
 

Meeting tonight at 7:00PM Lake Bluff Audubon Center featuring Ed Kaminski and photos of the birds of NW Michigan.  Ed spends a lot of time in the field getting great photos (I saw him in action checking the Varied Thrush in Benzie County this December) so it will be a great view on our birding world.

Red-headed Woodpeckers in January! and other good birds.  Above is the bird that was on our Christmas Bird Count and was still present January 20th. at the Jados feeder and woods.  A big surprise was after seeing this bird my brother-in-law and I found another (or 2?) at Suicide Bend along the Big Manistee River near the Tippy Dam.  Other good birds found lately are a lingering Merlin (also seen on the CBC) at both Bar Lake and at the Audubon Center by Shelly Green and Rich Kreiger.  Linda Scribner had a one day wonder Red Crossbill at her feeders and the Lesser Black-backed Gull has been making sporadic appearances at the boat ramp at First St.  Occasional small flocks of Pine Grosbeaks and Bohemian Waxwings are still being found at areas with viburnum fruits (all the other fruits are gone) most recently on Cedar Rd. and at the end of Merkey Rd.  The best bird of which I had the pleasure of missing again was the Short-eared Owl found by Carl Freeman at the conservancy grassland on Keilor Rd. north of Bear Lake on January 20th.  Good birding despite the weather!

Adult Lesser Black-backed Gull First St.