Here is our current field trip line up for the 2008/2009 year

Here is the field trip line up for the 2009/2010 year. We would like to add your favorite field trip, just let me know where you want to lead it. I think that many of our members are fully able to show other Audubon members an interesting area that they like. That’s more important than being an “expert” birder. Please let me know if you have an idea and you would like a co-leader for a trip. (Call Steve Minard at 942-7165.) On that note, watch the Caller for future trip announcements.

January 23, 2010, Saturday, 7:30 AM, Leader: Steve Minard

Allegan State Game Area Winter Trip

Explore the Allegan State Game Area, including the Swan Creek Highbanks and the Todd Farm Unit, for winter birds. We are going in late January again this year. Bald Eagle and Rough-legged Hawk are likely to be near the flocks of Canada Goose at the Todd Farm Unit. Wild Turkey, Northern Shrike and Ross’ Goose have been found here in past winters. With luck, winter finches will make an appearance. Bring your CB or family radio, if you have one, and we’ll try to keep in touch between cars. Birders of all skills are welcome.

Essentials: Meet at the McDonald’s in Hudsonville, and car pool from there. Be ready to head out at 7:30 AM. A spotting scope will come in handy on this trip. A bit of food and a warm beverage will take care of any hunger pains. We plan to bird until noon; lunch afterwards is an option.

Safety Hazards: Cold weather and slippery winter driving are the main hazards. As with winter trips in particular, bad weather may cancel the trip. Driving in a caravan can be hazardous. Get directions from the leader for travel to the next stop. Please exercise caution on the roads at all times, and watch the car ahead of you when driving in a caravan.

February 20, 2010, Saturday, 8:00 AM, Leaders: Jonathan and David Lautenbach

Gulls Along the Lakeshore

This is planned as a winter trip to search for winter gulls and waterfowl. We will start checking the channel for gulls and waterfowl at Holland and move north to Grand Haven and Muskegon. Bring your CB or family radio, if you have one, and we’ll try to keep in touch between cars.

Essentials: Meet at the M-DOT lot at the 32nd street exit in Hudsonville along I-196 at 8:00 AM. This lot is on the west side of 32nd street and north of I-196. A spotting scope will come in handy on this trip. You may want to bring a snack and a drink to hold you over until lunch.

February 20, 2010, Saturday, 8:00 AM, Leader: Steve Minard

Winter Field Birding

This is planned as a winter trip to search for winter birds such as Snowy Owl, Northern Shrike and Snow Bunting. These can be quite nomadic and hard to find, so we’ll try to cover lots of territory to look for them. We’ll search fields in northern Ottawa County and Muskegon County northwest of Grand Rapids. We’ll probably check some of the Crockery Creek bottomlands looking for Red-shouldered Hawk. If conditions permit, we'll try to include the Muskegon Wastewater in our search. Junior Audubon plans to join us for this trip to see how we do it, so we need lots of eyes to find the birds! Expect to spend most of the time in the car searching the fields for anything different. Bring your CB or family radio if you have one and we’ll try to keep in touch between cars. Birders of all skills are welcome.

Essentials: Meet at the Boy Scout Headquarters west off Walker Road just north of I-96 at 8:00 AM. We plan to bird until noon; you may want to bring a snack to hold you over until lunch.

March 27, 2010, Saturday, 9:00 AM, Leader: Jim Ponshair

Bluebird Box Cleaning At the Muskegon Wastewater

One way we can help our local nesting birds is by providing places for them to nest. Jim has aided the birds for years with a number of bluebird box trails at the Muskegon Wastewater. This adds up to a large number of boxes and we need a good size group to clean out all these boxes every year. The annual bluebird box cleaning is a great way to learn your way around the Muskegon Wastewater. It’s also a good way to learn about bluebird boxes, how to clean them out and see how the type of box and habitat affects who uses the box. Since we’re at the Wastewater, we usually see some good birds while we work. You may even get to meet mice or flying squirrels up close and personal. And, you get to help the bluebirds, swallows, chickadees, wrens and other birds that use the boxes. Meet at the Maple Island Road entrance to the Muskegon Wastewater System just north of White Road. There, the group will split up to clean out boxes in different areas. We'll plan a group lunch at nearby Morrow’s Restaurant on the corner of Apple Ave. and Maple Island Rd. Following lunch, a birding extension is planned to the nearby Muskegon State Game Area to look for early migrants. This can be an all day trip, or you can head out before or after lunch. For all the carpenters and builders out there, Jim needs more bluebird boxes. Boxes suffer damage over the years and new boxes are always needed. Call Jim Ponshair if you have new boxes to donate.

Essentials: Come dressed for the weather. Bring your spotting scope, if you have one, and bring some tools (screwdrivers, pliers, hammer and nails) and gloves for cleaning out the bluebird houses.

Safety Hazards: Driving in a caravan can be hazardous. Get directions from the leader for travel to the next stop. Please exercise caution on the roads at all times, and watch the car ahead of you when driving in a caravan.

April 17, 2010, Saturday, 7:00 AM, Leader: Steve Minard

Spring Marsh Birds and Hawks

Join us to look for marsh birds at the Hofma Preserve near Grand Haven. Swamp Sparrows should be on territory in the marsh and rails should be in the area by this date. Early warblers are also possible. Mid morning we'll move into Grand Haven to check out Harbor Island and hawk watch locations if we see any hawks moving. Caspian Terns on Lake Michigan and Peregrine Falcons at the power plant are also possible. Birders of all skills are welcome.

Essentials: Meet at the Boy Scout Headquarters west off Walker Road just north of I-96 at 7:00 AM. We plan to bird until noon; you may want to bring a snack to hold you over until lunch.

April 24, 2010, Saturday, 8:00 AM, Leader: Tom Leggett

Millennium Park

Join Tom for a new field trip to explore Millennium Park on the west side of Grand Rapids. This is a new park, and we’re still figuring how to bird the park. But, we have the right person leading the trip. Tom is relatively new to our group, but he has participated in the spring migration count and has found an incredible number and variety of birds on that count. For this trip, we will look for waterfowl on the ponds and along the river at Millennium Park. Other early migrants can also be expected.

Essentials: Meet at the south parking lot in Johnson Park off Butterworth Drive just north of 28th Street at 8:00 AM. This is on the west/north side of the Grand River. This is planned as a morning trip, but lunch and extensions are possible. You may want to bring a snack and a drink to keep you going for the morning.

May 4, 2010, Tuesday, 6:30 PM, Leader: Steve Minard

Tuesday Evening At Reeds Lake

This trip is an evening walk to the Hodenpyl Woods area at the west end of Reeds Lake. Varied woodland, marsh and lake habitat provides a variety of birds right in town. On this trip, we will concentrate on waterbirds, early warblers and possibly Great Horned Owls. Birders of all skills are welcome.

Essentials: Meet at the East Grand Rapids Utility Building parking lot, on Reeds Lake Blvd., north of Gaslight Village, at 6:30 PM. Waterproof footwear and insect repellent may be useful.

Safety Hazards: Watch out for traffic on the road and the bicycle path. Poison ivy is abundant in places, and some of the trails are muddy most springs.

May 8, 2010, Saturday, Spring Migration Count, Coordinator: Steve Minard

Join us counting birds on the second Saturday of May for the Spring Migration Count. In Michigan, we count birds and tabulate results by county for this worldwide event. Locally, we focus on Kent County, but counters are needed across the state. This is a 24-hour count period, but every 1 or 2 hour count helps. Plan to bird your favorite place for the Spring Migration Count. Watch the Caller in the spring for details on this count.

May 11, 2010, Tuesday, 8:00 AM, Leader: Bill Sweetman

Tuesday Morning At Reeds Lake

This trip is a morning walk to the Hodenpyl Woods area at the west end of Reeds Lake. Varied woodland, marsh and lake habitat produces a good variety of birds for this location. The second week of May should be the peak of spring migration, and just about anything is possible here. Essentials: Meet at the East Grand Rapids Utility Building parking lot, on Reeds Lake Blvd., north of Gaslight Village, at 8:00 AM. Waterproof footwear and insect repellent may be useful.

Safety Hazards: Watch out for traffic on the road and the bicycle path. Poison ivy is abundant in places, and some of the trails are muddy most springs.

May 11, 2010, Tuesday, 6:30 PM, Leader: Steve Minard

Tuesday Evening At Reeds Lake

This trip is an evening walk to the Hodenpyl Woods area at the west end of Reeds Lake. Varied woodland, marsh and lake habitat provides a variety of birds right in town. The second week of May should be the peak of spring migration, and just about anything is possible here. Birders of all skills are welcome.

Essentials: Meet at the East Grand Rapids Utility Building parking lot, on Reeds Lake Blvd., north of Gaslight Village, at 6:30 PM. Waterproof footwear and insect repellent may be useful.

Safety Hazards: Watch out for traffic on the road and the bicycle path. Poison ivy is abundant in places and some of the trails are muddy most springs.

May 13, 2010, Thursday, 8:00 AM, Leader: Bill Sweetman

Thursday Morning At Roselle Park

This trip is a morning walk at Roselle Park. This wonderful area has a combination of marsh, wet meadow, grassland, ponds, and river habitat. Yellow Rails and LeConte’s Sparrows have been found here in migration. More likely are Virginia Rail, Sora, Snipe, Swamp Sparrow and Common Yellowthroat. Bill plans to concentrate on rails and sparrows for this trip although there may be warblers in the woods and swallows in the air to distract you. This relatively new park has paved trails and your feet should stay dry if you stay on trails.
Essentials: Meet at the Roselle Park parking lot, on Grand River Drive just east of Michigan. This is west of Ada and northwest of Carl Drive. The best way to get there would be Fulton (east or west) to Carl. Turn north on Carl, and then left on Grand River Drive to Roselle Park by the silos. Waterproof footwear will be helpful if you go off the trails, and insect repellent may be useful.

Safety Hazards: Please exercise caution on the road to and from the park. Bugs will be the main hazard at the park.

May 15, 2010, Saturday, 7:00 AM, Leader: Phil Willemstein

Berrien County Specialties Trip

Phil is checking out some additional areas for this year’s trip. Southern specialties that just make it into Michigan remain a focus, as well as an expected wealth of warblers and other spring migrants. Likely spots to visit are the South Branch of the Galien River and the Kesling Nature Preserve for Yellow-throated Warbler, Cerulean Warbler and White-eyed Vireo. Expect to stop at Floral Lane in the north end of Warren Dunes State Park, unless the area is flooded again. There are several trails here, and this is one of the premier birding locations in Michigan. Migrant warblers can be found along with rare breeding birds like Prairie Warbler and possibly Worm-eating Warbler. It will be a little early for migrating Mourning Warbler and Connecticut Warbler, but in another week, this will be an excellent place to find them. Phil is tracking down Yellow-breasted Chats near Sarett Nature Center and a stop there is likely. Bring your CB or family radio if you have one and we’ll try to keep in touch between cars. Birders of all skills are welcome.

Essentials: Meet at the McDonald’s in Hudsonville, and car pool from there. Be ready to head out at 7:00 AM. This is a longer trip than most since it is a two hour drive. Plan on the better part of the day for the trip. Bring snacks and drinks to keep you going. A lunch stop is planned.