Image by Jeanne Church, picturewalks.org – Blue Jay
Events in October 2024
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September 29, 2024
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September 30, 2024
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October 1, 2024(1 event) – Continuing the years’ long tradition of Tuesday morning trail walks, our weekly Kal-Haven Trail walks will be on Tuesdays at 9:00 AM in September and October, starting September 3. We will meet and start 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. If you are interested in a bird walk with a leader (or leaders) please consider joining us for our Monthly Beginning Birding Walks held at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery the first Saturday of every month. More information about this program can be found here. No spotting or shuttling of cars will be available unless you arrange your own. The Kal-Haven Trail walks are handicap accessible. 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@nullgmail.com. Kal-Haven Trailhead |
October 2, 2024
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October 3, 2024
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October 4, 2024
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October 5, 2024(1 event) – Please join us the first Saturday of each month at 9 AM (barring special events or bad weather which will be announced on our Facebook page), for "Beginning Birding Walks," led by experienced birders from the Audubon Society of Kalamazoo. This event is free and open to the public. Meet at the second parking lot at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery in Mattawan, just off SR 43. All skill levels are welcome. We will enjoy nature while typically identifying 20-40 species of birds, plus butterflies, frogs, etc. Over 200 bird species have been sighted at Wolf Lake, which offers a variety of habitats and easy walking trails. Annual highlights include colorful songbirds like orioles, warblers, tanagers, hawks and eagles, kingfishers, Great Blue and Green Herons, and over 20 species of waterfowl. Eastern Bluebirds can be found year-round! Children accompanying adults are welcome. The focus is on birding fundamentals, and extra binoculars are always available. The walk typically takes about 2 hours (but feel free to arrive late or leave early). Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery |
October 6, 2024(1 event) – This field trip has been canceled! If you were planning to attend, we apologize for the cancellation. This fall marks the 42nd consecutive autumn monitoring diurnal raptor and vulture migration at Lake Erie Metropark. Southbound migrating raptors are naturally funneled to this location between Lakes Huron and Erie, where counting occurs daily from September 1 to November 30. (For more information link to detroitriverhawkwatch.org.) To experience this phenomenon, meet us at the Oakland Drive/I-94 commuter parking lot at 7:30 AM to join a caravan to the park, or join us at the Lake Erie Metropark boat ramp (32481 West Jefferson Avenue, Brownstown Charter Twp, MI 48173) at 10:00 AM. A $10.00 vehicle pass is required for entry. Bring spotting scopes if you have them. We will have pastries and coffee available and will stop for lunch after leaving the park. Days immediately following a cold front are ideal for hawk migration. If weather forecasts for the 28th look extremely poor, we will postpone our trip until October 6. ASK members will receive email notifications by mid-week in this case. Give us a call a day or two ahead of time if you are unsure of the status of this event. Leaders: Susan Creager (269) 716-7988 and Kent Martin (256) 751-3358 See field trip description. |
October 7, 2024
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October 8, 2024(1 event) – Continuing the years’ long tradition of Tuesday morning trail walks, our weekly Kal-Haven Trail walks will be on Tuesdays at 9:00 AM in September and October, starting September 3. We will meet and start 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. If you are interested in a bird walk with a leader (or leaders) please consider joining us for our Monthly Beginning Birding Walks held at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery the first Saturday of every month. More information about this program can be found here. No spotting or shuttling of cars will be available unless you arrange your own. The Kal-Haven Trail walks are handicap accessible. 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@nullgmail.com. Kal-Haven Trailhead |
October 9, 2024
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October 10, 2024
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October 11, 2024
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October 12, 2024
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October 13, 2024
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October 14, 2024
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October 15, 2024(1 event) – Continuing the years’ long tradition of Tuesday morning trail walks, our weekly Kal-Haven Trail walks will be on Tuesdays at 9:00 AM in September and October, starting September 3. We will meet and start 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. If you are interested in a bird walk with a leader (or leaders) please consider joining us for our Monthly Beginning Birding Walks held at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery the first Saturday of every month. More information about this program can be found here. No spotting or shuttling of cars will be available unless you arrange your own. The Kal-Haven Trail walks are handicap accessible. 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@nullgmail.com. Kal-Haven Trailhead |
October 16, 2024
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October 17, 2024
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October 18, 2024
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October 19, 2024
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October 20, 2024(1 event) – The recently opened Armintrout-Milbocker Nature Preserve, owned by the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy, encompasses 142 acres of mixed woodland along the Kalamazoo River in Allegan. Join us for a scenic, and hopefully bird-enhanced, hike through this park. We will walk about 1-1/2 miles on crushed and compacted gravel trails in variable terrain, with trail slopes averaging 5%, with a few slopes exceeding 8%. No restrooms are available onsite, so plan accordingly. Meet at the Oakland Drive/I-94 commuter parking lot at 8:00am to join a caravan to the park, or join us at the parking lot (137 Thomas Street, Allegan, MI 49010) at 9:00am. If you’d like, please join us afterward at Mugshots Coffeehouse (340 Water Street, Allegan) for brunch. Armintrout-Milbocker Nature Preserve: https://swmlc.org/project/armintrout-milbocker-nature-preserve/ Leaders: Sue Creager and Kent Martin (256-751-3358) Armintrout-Milbocker Nature Preserve |
October 21, 2024
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October 22, 2024(1 event) – Continuing the years’ long tradition of Tuesday morning trail walks, our weekly Kal-Haven Trail walks will be on Tuesdays at 9:00 AM in September and October, starting September 3. We will meet and start 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. If you are interested in a bird walk with a leader (or leaders) please consider joining us for our Monthly Beginning Birding Walks held at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery the first Saturday of every month. More information about this program can be found here. No spotting or shuttling of cars will be available unless you arrange your own. The Kal-Haven Trail walks are handicap accessible. 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@nullgmail.com. Kal-Haven Trailhead |
October 23, 2024
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October 24, 2024
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October 25, 2024
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October 26, 2024
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October 27, 2024
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October 28, 2024(1 event) – Why are we having a presentation on butterflies? Granted – they have wings, they fly, you can look at them through binoculars, and many of them are colorful. But, what does that have to do with birds? To us, butterflies are usually welcome visitors to our flowerbeds and fun to watch. To a bird, they are food factories. Birds rely on the caterpillars of butterfly and moth species as a major food source. Many birds will also consume the flying adult stages of butterflies. Even seed-eating and fruit-eating birds rely on nutritious protein-filled caterpillars for their nestlings. Without that food source, the youngsters will not survive. Environmental effects on butterflies, therefore, have an effect on birds. Unfortunately, many butterflies and various other groups of insects are in steep decline. This decline is occurring across ecosystems worldwide and may have grave future implications for species that depend on them – including humans. Our October speaker, Stephanie Clark, is a fifth-year graduate student at Michigan State University / Kellogg Biological Station and is studying the effects of various factors, such as drought, insecticides, and temperature, on butterflies. Her primary species of study has been the Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) which she fell in love with after working in an insect lab after college. She works with the butterflies both in the field and in controlled laboratory settings. Stephanie has also studied how ant communities in farming plots with and without pesticides are impacted by the presence of native Michigan prairie plants. Please come and hear about this important topic and find out how you can support insect diversity in your local ecosystem. We hope you'll join us on Monday, October 28, at People's Church, 1758 North 10th Street, Kalamazoo. Come at 7:00 PM for some refreshments and socializing. Snacks and beverages will be provided. The one-hour program will start at 7:30. Masks are recommended but not required in the church. Handicap parking and access is at either the front or the rear entrance. We have a simultaneous Zoom meeting link for those who can’t attend or feel uncomfortable attending in person. Topic: October Program: The Effect of Global Change on Butterflies
Join Zoom Meeting - https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81643660569 Meeting ID: 816 4366 0569 This link will also be included in the November member newsletter. We will record the meeting for later viewing. |
October 29, 2024(1 event) – Continuing the years’ long tradition of Tuesday morning trail walks, our weekly Kal-Haven Trail walks will be on Tuesdays at 9:00 AM in September and October, starting September 3. We will meet and start 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. If you are interested in a bird walk with a leader (or leaders) please consider joining us for our Monthly Beginning Birding Walks held at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery the first Saturday of every month. More information about this program can be found here. No spotting or shuttling of cars will be available unless you arrange your own. The Kal-Haven Trail walks are handicap accessible. 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@nullgmail.com. Kal-Haven Trailhead |
October 30, 2024
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October 31, 2024
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November 1, 2024
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November 2, 2024(1 event) – Please join us the first Saturday of each month at 9 AM (barring special events or bad weather which will be announced on our Facebook page), for "Beginning Birding Walks," led by experienced birders from the Audubon Society of Kalamazoo. This event is free and open to the public. Meet at the second parking lot at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery in Mattawan, just off SR 43. All skill levels are welcome. We will enjoy nature while typically identifying 20-40 species of birds, plus butterflies, frogs, etc. Over 200 bird species have been sighted at Wolf Lake, which offers a variety of habitats and easy walking trails. Annual highlights include colorful songbirds like orioles, warblers, tanagers, hawks and eagles, kingfishers, Great Blue and Green Herons, and over 20 species of waterfowl. Eastern Bluebirds can be found year-round! Children accompanying adults are welcome. The focus is on birding fundamentals, and extra binoculars are always available. The walk typically takes about 2 hours (but feel free to arrive late or leave early). Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery |