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Talk about being at the right place at the right time. Pretty cool.One chilly spring morning, amateur bird photographer
Kathrin Swoboda captured shots of a red-winged
blackbird “forming smoke rings with his Spring song.”
Kathrin Swoboda PhotographyInteresting display where our precious little Great Lakes Piping Plover fits in and habitats with it “kissing cousins” around North America and beyond.As breeding season comes near an end, some of our Great Lakes piping plovers have already departed for their wintering grounds. Within a few weeks nearly all of them will have done so. While plovers from all three populations can be found across the whole of the winter range, did you know each population has a region where they predominately winter? This illustration by Megan Bishop for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology shows something of this phenomenon. Most Northern Great Plains breeders winter in Texas, Lousiana and northern Mexico. Many Atlantic breeders go to the Bahamas or Florida and a large percentage of our Great Lakes plovers winter in South Carolina and Georgia (though there are a significant number on the Gulf Coast of Florida as well).
Wildlife never ceases to amaze us. Even if these 56 are just a Merganser’s “Duckie day-care center” on water.
'Super mom' spotted on a Minnesota lake — with 56 ducklings in tow
mnn.com
(And that number has since grown to 76!)
Monthly Archives: April 2017
Spring Backyard Visitor
This photo was taken in Tawas Township on 4/21 and submitted by Terry & Mary Baker. “We rarely see shore birds at our pond, but this Green Heron came to steal some goldfish last Friday. It was camouflaged in the … Continue reading
M-55 Spring Road Cleanup – Updated 4/30
UPDATE: Greetings from sunny Sand Lake Road, May 3rd, Wednesday!. See you there. Where: M-55 and Sand Lake Road parking area. That is 12 miles west of US-23 intersection. Only 5 miles east of M-65 intersection. What: After a short … Continue reading
April AVA Activities
Our April activities have been updated with dates and times. See our Upcoming Field Trips page for the details about the what, where, when of our Oscoda Salmon Projects outing and our spring kickoff of the M-55 road cleanup.
2017 Kirtland’s Warbler Tour Information Is Now Available
In partnership with Huron Pines, Kirtland’s Warbler Alliance, U.S. Forest Service, and Michigan Audubon, the AuSable Valley Audubon (AVA) Chapter conducts our second year of Kirtland’s Warbler tours in our most eastern section of the Huron National Forest called the … Continue reading
Mackinaw Raptor Fest Highlights
Nine of our AuSable Valley Audubon members attended the Mackinaw Raptor Fest in Mackinaw City on April 8. The programs were varied and interesting, the dinner excellent. Even though the airline had cancelled the flight of the keynote speaker, he … Continue reading
Don’t Forget – Tawas Point Birding Festival Is Coming Up In May!
The Tawas Point Birding Festival is coming soon, May 18 – May 20. Join Michigan Audubon and AuSable Valley Audubon at Tawas Point for some of the best birding in Michigan. Loads of migrating birds, especially, but not only many … Continue reading
Come and Join Us At Our April Meeting
The meeting will be at 7:00 p.m., April 11th at the Camp Inn Lodge, 3111 US-23, about two miles south of Oscoda. Guests are welcome! High School biology teacher Matt McDougall, in partnership with the Lake Huron Sports Fishing group, and sponsored … Continue reading