 Ruffed Grouse Foraging in the Snowfall
 On a a trip in December 2021 I was treated to these ruffed grouse foraging outside in the snowfall, view from the window of my B&B! Watch them wade through the snow and pick buds off the plants as the snow falls all around.
Stay tuned for a future video series about “Winter Birding in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula” which will include the whole story of all the birding I did.
Also stay tuned for more Birding Alaska with Curtis & Mike videos. Sorry it's taken a while to complete the next installment!
 Upcoming Birding Programs & Outings
For more details or to register check us out ONLINE!
2023 Mug Reveal Event - 11/22/22
7-8:30pm at the Nature Center at Hemlock Crossing
Get in early on the Coffee with the Birds action with this special evening event!
Enjoy some hot coco and cider while socializing with other bird lovers! Then be the first to see the winners of the 2022 Mug Club Photo Contest and which photo will be on the new mug! Following the reveal, Curtis will give a fun talk on his recent birding adventure to North Carolina over spring break.
In-person at the Nature Center
& Livestreamed!
Stay tuned for details on how to link to the livestreamed event!
EVENT SCHEDULE:
- 7:00 pm - Socialize with other bird lovers over hot coco and cider
- 7:30 pm - Watch the Mug Club Photo Contest winner reveal!
- 7:45 pm - Presentation: The Ultimate North Carolina Birding Road Trip! by Curtis Dykstra
- 8:30 pm - Event Concludes
|
MI Birds & Owashtanong Islands Audubon Society present...
Birds 'n Brews!
December 6, 2022; 7-9pm at Trail Point Brewery in Allendale
 |
|
Owashtanong Islands Audubon Society, MI Birds and Ottawa County Parks invite you to Birds 'n Brews, an evening event where you'll meet fellow birders, and learn about the importance of our public lands to birds – all while enjoying a complimentary drink on us. Normally we sip coffee together, but on this night we'll be sipp'n brews.*
Beth Miller, MI Birds program ambassador, will give a brief presentation on the MI Birds program, an education and outreach program from Audubon Great Lakes and Michigan Department of Natural Resources, which deepens Michiganders engagement in the understanding, care, and stewardship of public lands that are important for birds and local communities.
Afterward, guests can join Lucas Timmer for some fun, bird-related trivia. There will also be Pictionary and plenty of birding stories -- make sure to come with one to share during this special event!
*Non-alcoholic drink options will be available
Limited Tickets Available
Get yours TODAY!
*Non-alcoholic options will be available
Trail Point Brewery is located at
6035 Lake Michigan Dr, Allendale, MI 49401
|
 The 2023 Mug is HERE!
Mug Club Memberships Available for PRE-SALE!
 |
|
2023 Mug has arrived and Mug Club Memberships are available for pre-sale! Click the link below to reserve yours today!
Memberships are $25 and support the Coffee with the Birds events and help feed the birds at the Nature Center!
Mugs will be available for pick up at the Nature Center starting at the Mug Reveal Event on November 22nd. Mug Club members receive a limited edition mug and fun birding perks throughout the year.
If you have questions, please let us know!
616-786-4847
naturecenter@miottawa.org
|
Coffee with the Birds Events
|
Enjoy a hot cup of coffee and some baked goodies as you watch the birds at the feeders and discuss various birding topics with a naturalist. Bring your bird questions, curiosities and stories, and don't forget your favorite mug!
There are 2 sessions of Feeder Watching to choose from (see below) and a Birding Tidbits "bite-sized" presentation on topics ranging from local birding information and bird identification to natural history and stories of birding adventures. Don't miss them as these short presentations are sure to be entertaining and informative.
*We plan to be both in-person and Livestream!
|
|
CwB Schedule
9:30 - 10:20 Feeder Watching Session 1
10:30 - 11:00: Birding Tidbits
11:10 - 12:00 Feeder Watching Session 2
Upcoming CwB Event Dates
- 12/10/22 - Photo Contest Winner's Stories
- 1/21/22 - Bird ID: Merlin Bird ID App
- 2/11/22 - Birding Story: Birding Alaska
- 3/18/22 - Bird Profile: TBD! Featuring winning bird from 2022 Photo Contest
*Put them on your calendar TODAY!
|
For more information and updates, visit the website below.
 Listening to Birds Reduces Anxiety and Paranoia
 |
|
Study/Article/Video: Various
Listening to birdsong can help to reduce anxiety and paranoia in healthy participants, a study has found. A German team of researchers investigated the effect of urban traffic noise versus natural birdsongs on the mood and cognitive performance of participants. The study, which was published in the Nature Portfolio journal Scientific Reports, found evidence for the beneficial effects of birdsongs on mood and paranoid symptoms—the latter being demonstrated experimentally for the first time.
Photo by Martin Blanchard, 2021 Photo Contest
|
 |
|
Video: Science Friday
Carla Rhodes's “Beneath the Birdfeeder” project captures familiar birds, squirrels, and other backyard critters in an intimate, formerly unseen way. She hopes that by getting to see animals “on our level,” we learn to love, respect, and protect the wildlife we normally see from a distance.
|
 |
|
Documentary: PBS Nature
Go deep into the woods to explore the lives of a unique avian family. Woodpeckers come in 239 species and live on every continent except Antarctica and Australia, playing a powerful role in every ecosystem they inhabit. They come in all shapes and sizes, each uniquely engineered for their particular lifestyles. Filmmaker Ann Johnson Prum pecks away at what makes these birds so special through the intimate stories of woodpecker families across the world. Narrated by Paul Giamatti.
Photo by Jeff Slaughter, 2021 Photo Contest
|
 |
|
Podcast: American Birding
Finding birds in places where you shouldn’t expect to find them if certainly one of the more exciting aspects of birding. The unpredictability, the excitement, the community that builds around these sorts of birds are certainly appealing even if mechanisms that bring them to these places are not always known. Alex Lees is a senior researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University and, along with James Gilroy, the author of Vagrancy in Birds, which attempts to answer some of those questions of how and why vagrancy is so prevalent in birds.
Photo by Craig Kingma
|
A non-stop flight from Alaska to Tasmania may be for the birds — and a possible record
 |
|
Article: NPR
A young bar-tailed godwit appears to have set a non-stop distance record for migratory birds by flying at least 13,560 kilometers (8,435 miles) from Alaska to the Australian state of Tasmania.
Photo by EJ Woehler/AP
|
*If you have an interesting bird-related article or video to share, let us know!
Email it to us at naturecenter@miottawa.org and put "Bird News" in the subject line.
 Submit your sightings, photos and videos and I'll share them in these Newswire emails. See below for information on how to submit your sightings!
Ottawa County Parks Bird Outings
 |
|
Fall Bird Outings with Ottawa County Parks
Click links to view checklists
*Photo - Crockery Creek Natural Area 11/16/22
|
 |
|
Osprey
While traveling around Michigan in early September, we visited Arcadia Marsh. If you haven't been there before, this is an outstanding place to photograph wildlife. You can often get quite close to the herons, kingfishers, ducks, etc. An Osprey was fishing very near the boardwalk and we observed it for some time on two different visits to the marsh.
Michael Monfore
Arcadia Marsh Nature Preserve, Arcadia, MI
|
 HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR BIRD SHARE SIGHTINGS
Click on the "Google Forms" link below to fill out where, when and what birds you saw. As an additional option at the end of the form, you'll have opportunity to upload any bird photos or videos you'd like to share! Please limit photos/videos to 3 per monthly newsletter and they must be <10MB each. Thank you!
*NOTE: You must be signed into a Google account to upload files. If you don't have a Google account, email your submissions to naturecenter@miottawa.org with "Bird Share" in the subject line.
*Any information or photos shared will be used in future Birding Update Newswire! emails.
BIRD BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
If you have a bird-related book recommendation you'd like to share, click the link below to let us know!
|
 Links to Share
 |
|
One-stop-shop for bird identification resources, bird videos, Coffee with the Birds, local bird clubs & many more useful birding websites and resources.
Use this link to sign up for this Newswire! email or share it with other who may enjoy it too.
|
|
