Washtenaw Audubon Society - Calendar of Events

May 01 2008		Nichols Arboretum for Spring Migration Meet at 8:00 a.m. at the Riverview Drive cul-de-sac off Geddes Road. Bird the Arb from start to finish of spring migration. This is our second season of leaderless spring migration walks through the Arb and this field activity is well on the way to being an annual birding success. As with the fall migration walks, they are well-attended and you will have the opportunity to meet and enjoy birding with others. The Arb is fantastic for spring migration and should not be missed. Everyone will also have an opportunity to enjoy the spectacular trilliums that bloom throughout the Arb's wooded hillsides. These are leaderless walks. Don't be shy; introduce yourself and set out to acquaint yourselves with the beauty of Ann Arbor's central park. Visitors to Ann Arbor, you won't be disappointed.
May 06 2008 6:00 PM		Tuesday Evening Birders Each Tuesday evening May 6 through May 27th, 2008. Leaders: Mike Sefton and Lathe Claflin on May 6th and 13th, Dea Armstrong on May 20th and 27th. This field activity is back by popular demand. Meet at 6:00 pm for a 6:15 pm sharp(!) departure. In May of 2007 there was some confusion about the meeting location secondary to road construction. By May of 2008, assuming that road construction is no longer an issue, the likely meeting spot will again be the Miller Road Park & Ride off M-14. If not, then it will be the Meijer's parking lot on Zeeb Road. (Look for birders with binoculars and spotting scopes.) Of course, details will be posted on the website and on birders@umich.edu at the dates approach.
May 08 2008		Nichols Arboretum for Spring Migration Meet at 8:00 a.m. at the Riverview Drive cul-de-sac off Geddes Road. Bird the Arb from start to finish of spring migration. This is our second season of leaderless spring migration walks through the Arb and this field activity is well on the way to being an annual birding success. As with the fall migration walks, they are well-attended and you will have the opportunity to meet and enjoy birding with others. The Arb is fantastic for spring migration and should not be missed. Everyone will also have an opportunity to enjoy the spectacular trilliums that bloom throughout the Arb's wooded hillsides. These are leaderless walks. Don't be shy; introduce yourself and set out to acquaint yourselves with the beauty of Ann Arbor's central park. Visitors to Ann Arbor, you won't be disappointed.
May 10 2008		International Migratory Bird Count International Migratory Bird Count, Saturday, May 10th, 2008 is arguably one of the most anticipated birding events of the year. Participate in this international activity at the local level. County coordinator for Washtenaw May Count is Roger Wykes. In past years Washtenaw County has topped the state with most participants and most species counted. (Roger reviewed the 2007 May Count results at the June, 2007 Wednesday evening meeting at Matthei, but I cannot remember where Washtenaw stood.) Update: There have been postings by many area leaders who need help counting their areas. Contact Roger Wykes by phone - 734/769-6482 - to participate in this exciting day.
May 11 2008 7:30 AM - 10:30 AM		Impromptu field trip invitation, Dolph Park, Ann Arbor Dolph Park, Sunday, May 11th, 2008. Meet at Dolph Park in Ann Arbor at 7:30 am - Wagner Road entrance. Leader: Karen Markey. For directions click on the website below: www-personal.umich.edu We've had a generous offer from Karen to lead this last minute field trip add on. Dolph Park is a favored migrant trap in Ann Arbor. In the throes of spring migration, our passing-through visitors will be the focus of the morning. Rails, shorebirds, swifts, swallows, flycatchers, mimics ... not to mention tanagers, grosbeaks, warblers and sparrows ... should all be possible. Of course, at Dolph, there is always the chance for a surprise find, too. Join Karen this coming Sunday to bird our local hotspot. You won't be disappointed.
May 13 2008 6:00 PM		Tuesday Evening Birders Each Tuesday evening May 6 through May 27th, 2008. Leaders: Mike Sefton and Lathe Claflin on May 6th and 13th, Dea Armstrong on May 20th and 27th. This field activity is back by popular demand. Meet at 6:00 pm for a 6:15 pm sharp(!) departure. In May of 2007 there was some confusion about the meeting location secondary to road construction. By May of 2008, assuming that road construction is no longer an issue, the likely meeting spot will again be the Miller Road Park & Ride off M-14. If not, then it will be the Meijer's parking lot on Zeeb Road. (Look for birders with binoculars and spotting scopes.) Of course, details will be posted on the website and on birders@umich.edu at the dates approach.
May 15 2008		Nichols Arboretum for Spring Migration Meet at 8:00 a.m. at the Riverview Drive cul-de-sac off Geddes Road. Bird the Arb from start to finish of spring migration. This is our second season of leaderless spring migration walks through the Arb and this field activity is well on the way to being an annual birding success. As with the fall migration walks, they are well-attended and you will have the opportunity to meet and enjoy birding with others. The Arb is fantastic for spring migration and should not be missed. Everyone will also have an opportunity to enjoy the spectacular trilliums that bloom throughout the Arb's wooded hillsides. These are leaderless walks. Don't be shy; introduce yourself and set out to acquaint yourselves with the beauty of Ann Arbor's central park. Visitors to Ann Arbor, you won't be disappointed.
May 18 2008 6:00 AM		Magee Marsh, Crane Creek State Park, Oregon, Ohio Leader: Karen Markey. Meet at Busch's in the Plymouth Road Mall at 6:00 am sharp(!) to arrange for carpooling. Alternatively, meet at the warbler sign near the boardwalk in the park at 7:30 am. This trip will go until mid-afternoon. Bring lunch, snacks, and beverages. In the non-food category, insect repellent may be found to come in handy. If you have never visited this world-renowned migrant trap for spring songbirds, this is your chance to see what all the fuss is about. You won't be disappointed!
May 20 2008 6:00 PM		Tuesday Evening Birders Each Tuesday evening May 6 through May 27th, 2008. Leaders: Mike Sefton and Lathe Claflin on May 6th and 13th, Dea Armstrong on May 20th and 27th. This field activity is back by popular demand. Meet at 6:00 pm for a 6:15 pm sharp(!) departure. In May of 2007 there was some confusion about the meeting location secondary to road construction. By May of 2008, assuming that road construction is no longer an issue, the likely meeting spot will again be the Miller Road Park & Ride off M-14. If not, then it will be the Meijer's parking lot on Zeeb Road. (Look for birders with binoculars and spotting scopes.) Of course, details will be posted on the website and on birders@umich.edu at the dates approach.
May 21 2008 7:30 PM		Antarctica and South Georgia: Penguins and Pintados Join ace photographer Rich Miller for a photo safari to Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia. See immense penguin rookeries, molting Kings, necking blue-eyed shags, testosterone-crazed 2-ton elephant seals, adorable baby Gentoo chicks, and pintados on parade, all set among sculpted icebergs and fog-enshrouded dawn landscapes. Plus a very homesick reindeer. Richard Miller is a researcher in the Pathology Department and Geriatrics Center at the University of Michigan Medical School, and the go-to guy for very, very old mice. He likes to photograph penguins because they do not fly away.
May 22 2008		Nichols Arboretum for Spring Migration Meet at 8:00 a.m. at the Riverview Drive cul-de-sac off Geddes Road. Bird the Arb from start to finish of spring migration. This is our second season of leaderless spring migration walks through the Arb and this field activity is well on the way to being an annual birding success. As with the fall migration walks, they are well-attended and you will have the opportunity to meet and enjoy birding with others. The Arb is fantastic for spring migration and should not be missed. Everyone will also have an opportunity to enjoy the spectacular trilliums that bloom throughout the Arb's wooded hillsides. These are leaderless walks. Don't be shy; introduce yourself and set out to acquaint yourselves with the beauty of Ann Arbor's central park. Visitors to Ann Arbor, you won't be disappointed.
May 25 2008 7:30 AM - 10:30 AM		Hudson Mills Metropark Leader: Karen Markey. Meet at the flagpool near the Activity Center at 7:30 am for this annual field activity for spring migrants. Connecticut Warbler is always possible this time of year. The walk will go until 10:30 am. Bring a beverage. Insect repellent may also come in handy. If you do not have a 2008 metropark sticker on your car there is a vehicle fee to enter the park.
May 27 2008 6:00 PM		Tuesday Evening Birders Each Tuesday evening May 6 through May 27th, 2008. Leaders: Mike Sefton and Lathe Claflin on May 6th and 13th, Dea Armstrong on May 20th and 27th. This field activity is back by popular demand. Meet at 6:00 pm for a 6:15 pm sharp(!) departure. In May of 2007 there was some confusion about the meeting location secondary to road construction. By May of 2008, assuming that road construction is no longer an issue, the likely meeting spot will again be the Miller Road Park & Ride off M-14. If not, then it will be the Meijer's parking lot on Zeeb Road. (Look for birders with binoculars and spotting scopes.) Of course, details will be posted on the website and on birders@umich.edu at the dates approach.
May 29 2008		Nichols Arboretum for Spring Migration Meet at 8:00 a.m. at the Riverview Drive cul-de-sac off Geddes Road. Bird the Arb from start to finish of spring migration. This is our second season of leaderless spring migration walks through the Arb and this field activity is well on the way to being an annual birding success. As with the fall migration walks, they are well-attended and you will have the opportunity to meet and enjoy birding with others. The Arb is fantastic for spring migration and should not be missed. Everyone will also have an opportunity to enjoy the spectacular trilliums that bloom throughout the Arb's wooded hillsides. These are leaderless walks. Don't be shy; introduce yourself and set out to acquaint yourselves with the beauty of Ann Arbor's central park. Visitors to Ann Arbor, you won't be disappointed.
Jun 06 2008 -- Jun 07 2008		Berrien County and Warren Dunes State Park on Lake Michigan Leader: Matt Hysell, M.D. Many of you will know Matt from his U of M ER residency days, his digiscoping lecture for the WAS Wednesday evening gatherings and as the winner of the 2005 Washtenaw Wingnuts award for the birder with a job who found the most species in the county. I have also entreated Tim Baerwald, Berrien County lister, who is currently (March/April, 2008) working with the Cornell Ivory-billed Woodpecker search team, to help out as we drive around the county. At this time, the plan is to meet at the #4 sign near Sears of the Briarwood Mall parking lot for a Friday evening June 6th departure around 4:00 pm. We will stay at the shabby, but cheap Red Roof Inn, have dinner and then go out to hear the Chuck-will's Widow (that is, if he returns for his 4th year) after dark. Early Saturday morning we're in Matt's hands for a birding tour of Berrien County. Berrien County, being in the most southwest corner of the state attracts some different birds. Target warblers will be Yellow-throated, Prothototary, Worm-eating and Prairie. We should get good and close looks at singing Sedge Wrens. We will return to Ann Arbor on Saturday evening and probably stop for dinner and a gas fill-up somewhere on the drive home. Details will be added to the website and on birders@umich.edu as the date gets closer.
Jun 14 2008 7:00 AM - 11:15 AM		Stinchfield Woods Annual Census Leaders: Karen Markey and Sharon Benjey. Meet at the Stinchfield Woods Road gate, drive up to the classroom area adjacent to the caretaker's house, park and meet. Stinchfield Woods features 777 acres of conifer plantations and stands of native hardwoods. In spring and summer of 2007, Stinchfield Woods was home to a Yellow-throated Warbler.
Jun 15 2008 6:00 AM		Port Huron State Game Area Leader: Allen Chartier. Meeting time 8:00 am at the baseball fields on the east side of Wildcat Road just north of M-136. Since this is approximately a 2 hour drive from Ann Arbor a 6:00 am sharp(!) departure is necessary. Every effort will be made to carpool from the #4 sign near Sears in Briarwood Mall parking lot. Target birds for this trip are nesting Golden-winged, Hooded and Mourning warblers amongst others as this is terrific habitiat for a large number of Michigan breeding birds. Bring lunch, beverages, sunscreen, and, of course, insect repellent. As always, details found in the usual spots as the date gets closer.
Jun 18 2008 7:30 PM		Kenya Birding Safari Join Don and Robyn Henise on a trip to Kenya, a country known for its spectacular array of mammals, and home to a wide variety of birds. We'll visit several of the national parks and reserves in the central and western highlands, and the lakes of the Great Rift Valley. Don and Robyn Henise, natives of Pennsylvania, have been avid birders for more than 20 years. They have been living and birding in Michigan since 1998, where they serve as the librarians at New Tribes Bible Institute in Jackson.
Jul 13 2008 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM		Leonard Preserve for Butterflies in July Back by popular demand, please join field trip leaders Roger Kuhlman, John Swales and Roger Wykes at the Leonard Preserve near Manchester to look for butterflies in July. Since there is limited parking at Leonard Preserve, we will meet first at the #4 sign near Sears in Briarwood Mall parking lot at 9:00 am. We will arrange carpools and depart at 9:15 am. From Briarwood it is approximately a 40 - 45 minute drive to Manchester and the Leonard Preserve. We will arrive in time for a 10:00 am start. Unlike birds, butterflies are late risers so we can sleep in a little too. As with all summertime field activities, it is likely to be quite warm to downright hot. Please bring adequate fluids for hydration and dress appropriately with hat and light colored clothing. We will be in meadows and fields much of the time, so this means bright sun. Sun screen is advised. Since the trip will span lunch time, please bring snacks or other food that you will need to carry you over. We will begin our search for butterflies around the parking lot and will continue on from there. Some walking will be required, but it should be mostly level and easy. Leonard Preserve offers unusual habitat that is described as dry sand prairie. Target species include: Aphrodite Fritillary, Meadow Fritillary and Little Yellow. This is one of my favorite field trips. I cannot say enough about the skill and knowledge of our leaders. Please join us if you can. You won't be disappointed.
Aug 19 2008 7:30 PM		Up Close With a Live Eagle, Owl, and Hawk Tuesday, August 19, 7:30pm (note Tuesday date!) Up Close and Personal With a Live Eagle, Owl and Hawk: How Raptors Have Adapted To Survive In Their Habitats -- And In Ours, featuring Francie Krawcke of the Leslie Science Center. This kid-friendly event is co-sponsored by the Huron Valley chapter of the Sierra Club.