Join us via Zoom for our first monthly meeting of the 2020-2021 program season. Four speakers will share the “stage” as we learn about this local birding hotspot. Heather Ratliff and Erin Fuller, both members of the Stewards of Kleinstuck (SoK) board of directors, will give a history of the property and how it came to be open to the public. Nate Fuller, former SoK board member, will describe the geology and natural features that make the property special. From John Brenneman, Research Project Coordinator at the Kalamazoo Nature Center, we will hear about the bird surveys that the Nature Center has conducted on the property for more than 40 years.
The meeting will take place via Zoom on Monday, October 26, beginning at 7:30 PM. For those with less Zoom experience, you may want to try to enter the meeting early in case you experience technical difficulties. The host will be available to let you in beginning at 7:15 PM. We will begin the meeting with a few short announcements before our speakers begin. For anyone interested in hearing an update about Stewards of Kleinstuck’s efforts to acquire the adjacent 12-acre property to the east of Kleinstuck Preserve, Heather and Erin will stick around after the meeting and bring you up to speed.
A link to the meeting will be emailed to the membership a few days prior to the meeting. If ASK does not have a current email address for you, please let us know at ask@kalamazooaudubon.org. If you have not yet used Zoom, Google “Zoom Quick Start Guide” and click on the support.zoom.us link. There you can read about how to get started and watch a video about how to use Zoom. Our plan is to record the meeting and make it available for later viewing, so don’t panic if you can’t get in. You will be able to watch it later!
Thank you in advance for your patience as we figure out this new way to gather. We look forward to connecting with you virtually on October 26!
Our weekly Kal-Haven Trail walks will be on Tuesdays at 9:00 AM in September and October, starting at the Trailhead on North 10th Street between G and H Avenues. A few of us walk 2.5 miles to the usually very birdy marsh at 8th Street and then back for a total of 5 miles, but anyone can cut that short and turn around at any time. There will not be a “leader” although someone will be keeping a species list. See the article below for changes this year.
KAL-HAVEN TRAIL WALKS
We’ll be continuing the years’ long tradition of Tuesday morning trail walks on the Kal-Haven Trail in September and October. We meet at the caboose at the trailhead on 10th Street. The September and October walks will begin at 9:00 AM.
Walks will start on Tuesday, September 1. During the walks, social distancing will be maintained. No spotting or shuttling of cars will be available unless you arrange your own.
If you would like to be in an email group to be notified of the latest status of the walks or to discuss weather conditions, please send an email to Joyce Leppard at joyceannleppard@gmail.com.
We hope to see you on the trail.