The purpose of the IBA program is to identify and protect those sites most
critical to bird conservation. This includes many sites owned and managed
by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR). MDNR is currently
soliciting help removing invasive species from one current IBA, Waterloo
Recreation Area, as well as several other sites. Please consider helping
in this effort! If you can spare some time in the month of March here is
the information:
What:
Join the DNR, Parks and Recreation Division, Stewardship Unit in a
hands-on approach to removing invasive shrubs (glossy buckthorn, autumn
olive)from high-quality native ecosystems within the parks. This is a
great opportunity to get outside with your kids or to relieve some of your
winter blues.
Where & When:
Sunday, March 1, 2009, Algonac State Park, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday, March 7, 2009, Island Lake Recreation Area, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Sunday, March 8, 2009, Highland Recreation Area, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday, March 14, 2009, Bald Mountain Recreation Area, 9 a.m. to noon
Saturday, March 21, 2009, Waterloo Recreation Area, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Sunday, March 22, 2009, Pinckney Recreation Area, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday, March 28, 2009, Brighton Recreation Area, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Saturday, March 28, 2009, Highland Recreation Area, Barn Course Field
Trial Area, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How:
For workday details, additional dates, to get directions, and to register:
http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10366_10871-162412--,00.html
or
www.michigan.gov/dnrvolunteers; click on "Calendar of Volunteer
Stewardship Workdays" under "Current Volunteer Opportunities".
Getting connected with the DNR Stewardship Network:
If you would like to receive an email from the DNR Stewardship Network
with information on up coming workdays or have questions, please email or
call Laurel Malvitz-Draper at 248-359-9057 or malvitzl@michigan.gov
Hope you can join us!
Laurel Malvitz-Draper
Natural Resource Steward
Stewardship Unit, Parks and Recreation Division
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
DNR stewardship at an IBA and several other sites
Monday, February 9, 2009
Satellite tagged Osprey journeys to Michigan
In November I received an email from N.C. Osprey researcher Rob Bierregaard (U.N.C. Charlotte) who is conducting satellite telemetry research on at least seven of these fascinating highly-migratory raptors. He informed me that one of his birds, a young male originally tagged in the nest at Martha's Vineyard, MA, had spent the summer of 2008 wandering the northeast, including the U.P. He was especially fond of Pellissier Lake near Marquette, and was on its way to his neotropical wintering grounds via N.C. as of November 2008.
You can track the incredible journeys of this bird, named Meadow, here. This is yet another example of the astounding, often unpredictable journeys made by migratory birds.
You can track the incredible journeys of this bird, named Meadow, here. This is yet another example of the astounding, often unpredictable journeys made by migratory birds.
Monday, January 12, 2009
9 Michigan IBAs prioritized as globally significant!
We are proud to announce that the National IBA Technical Committee has approved nine Michigan IBAs as globally-significant sites! This means that each site plays a very important role globally in supporting one or more species recognized as globally vulnerable or threatened by the IUCN. The sites are [species triggering the designation in brackets]:
1) Kirtland's Warbler Management Units and Guide's Rest [Kirtland's Warbler]
2) Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (inc. N. Manitou Id.) [Piping Plover]
3) coastal Saginaw Bay (Nayanquing Pt. to Wildfowl Bay) [Tundra Swan]
4) lower Detroit River [Canvasback]
5) Allegan State Game Area & Kalamazoo River [Cerulean Warbler]
6) Barry State Game Area, Yankee Springs Recereation Area & Perry Trust [Cerulean Warbler]
7) Fort Custer Training Center and Recreation Area [Cerulean Warbler]
8) Watrerloo Recreation Area [Cerulean Warbler]
9) White River (Manistee National Forest) [Cerulean Warbler]
For more information on any of these sites please see our online database of Michigan's IBAs.
1) Kirtland's Warbler Management Units and Guide's Rest [Kirtland's Warbler]
2) Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (inc. N. Manitou Id.) [Piping Plover]
3) coastal Saginaw Bay (Nayanquing Pt. to Wildfowl Bay) [Tundra Swan]
4) lower Detroit River [Canvasback]
5) Allegan State Game Area & Kalamazoo River [Cerulean Warbler]
6) Barry State Game Area, Yankee Springs Recereation Area & Perry Trust [Cerulean Warbler]
7) Fort Custer Training Center and Recreation Area [Cerulean Warbler]
8) Watrerloo Recreation Area [Cerulean Warbler]
9) White River (Manistee National Forest) [Cerulean Warbler]
For more information on any of these sites please see our online database of Michigan's IBAs.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Whitefish Point IBA Recognition Ceremony Held
On Saturday April 26 Whitefish Point was ceremonially-recognized as an IBA at the annual Spring Fling banquet. This site and the surrounding waters of Whitefish Bay are home to a vast number of migrant waterbirds, including approximately 25-45% of the North American population of Red-necked Grebes annually. Common Terns, and many species of waterfowl and waterbirds depend on this corridor for successfully completing their annual cycles, and for these reasons the site was named an IBA.
Thanks to Mike Sefton for sending us the following photos (and giving us permission to post them here!)
IBA Coordinator Caleb Putnam addresses the crowd. ©Mike Sefton 2008
Left to right: Tracy Casselman (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service), Terry Begnoche (Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society), Caleb Putnam, Marc Snyder (WPBO board), Jack Lapinski (MI Audubon president), Les Homan (Michigan Department of Natural Resources) ©Mike Sefton 2008
Thanks to Mike Sefton for sending us the following photos (and giving us permission to post them here!)
IBA Coordinator Caleb Putnam addresses the crowd. ©Mike Sefton 2008 
Left to right: Tracy Casselman (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service), Terry Begnoche (Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society), Caleb Putnam, Marc Snyder (WPBO board), Jack Lapinski (MI Audubon president), Les Homan (Michigan Department of Natural Resources) ©Mike Sefton 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
26 April Whitefish Point IBA Recognition Ceremony
On
Huge numbers of Red-necked Grebes fly by the point into
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Wind power is up and running in Michigan!
As I have stated before, Audubon wholeheartedly supports alternative energy as a means of preventing the long-term effects of global warming on birds and other wildlife. That said, one promising form of alternative energy, wind energy, is not without its harmful effects, particularly bird and bat mortality.
Audubon was recently contacted by the clerk of Lake Township, Huron County, to advise its planning commission on how to write a good ordinance for the siting of wind turbines. On March 26, 2008, Tom Funke (director of conservation for Michigan Audubon Society) and I presented at a publicly-attended planning commission meeting which was attended by DTE Energy officials and elected officials of the township. On the way, we decided to stop at Michigan's first large wind farm, the Harvest Wind Farm, operated by John Deere, Inc. This windfarm, we had heard, was located between the small towns of Pigeon and Elkton in Huron County near the tip of the thumb:
We had asked for directions for finding the windfarm, so imagine our surprise when we saw this from a distance of 8 miles:
There would be no problem locating this windfarm. From 3 miles away it was becoming apparent how large these turbines were:
Up close, these machines were huge and impressive. There was a strange sensation of near awe at the spectacle of it. There are 32 turbines spread out over an area of perhaps 10 square miles, each approximately 350-400 feet tall at the highest, with deceivingly fast blades which appeared to be spinning rather slowly at first glance.
The size of the housing was nearly that of a small bus:
It may not yet be widely known, but wind power is no longer a thing of the future. It is a force of the present. Indeed, Governor Granholm's strong push for increased alternative energy in Michigan is well underway, with several more projects in the planning stages. The challenge as we move forward, including potential projects such as this one by DTE Energy in the thumb, is to do our best to prevent large mortality events at all wind farm sites. There are very few data to tell us how many birds will be affected by any given windfarm, so it is essential that sites be monitored for at least 3 years in advance of construction, and several years following construction. If large mortality events are noted, some effort must be put forth to mitigate the problem. The details of such mitigation are, in part, what local officials can consider as part of their ordinance.
Existing voluntary guidelines have already been put forth by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth, the American Wind Energy Association, and the National Wind Coordinating Collaborative. The Fish and Wildlife Service calls for no turbines within 3 miles of the lakeshore and at least 5 miles from any known active Bald Eagle nest. Although the numbers may be somewhat arbitrary, we do agree that shorelines often attract large concentrations of migrant and wintering waterbirds, raptors, songbirds, and other species, and should be avoided where possible.
In the case of Lake Township, the entire township is located within 3 miles of the shoreline, which borders the Coastal Saginaw Bay IBA. This IBA supports up to 4% of the known population of the Tundra Swan during spring and fall migration, as well as large numbers of ducks and migrating raptors. We simply do not yet know how vulnerable these groups of birds would be to wind development at this location. To follow this developing story check the Lake Township wind page.
Audubon was recently contacted by the clerk of Lake Township, Huron County, to advise its planning commission on how to write a good ordinance for the siting of wind turbines. On March 26, 2008, Tom Funke (director of conservation for Michigan Audubon Society) and I presented at a publicly-attended planning commission meeting which was attended by DTE Energy officials and elected officials of the township. On the way, we decided to stop at Michigan's first large wind farm, the Harvest Wind Farm, operated by John Deere, Inc. This windfarm, we had heard, was located between the small towns of Pigeon and Elkton in Huron County near the tip of the thumb:
We had asked for directions for finding the windfarm, so imagine our surprise when we saw this from a distance of 8 miles:
There would be no problem locating this windfarm. From 3 miles away it was becoming apparent how large these turbines were:
Up close, these machines were huge and impressive. There was a strange sensation of near awe at the spectacle of it. There are 32 turbines spread out over an area of perhaps 10 square miles, each approximately 350-400 feet tall at the highest, with deceivingly fast blades which appeared to be spinning rather slowly at first glance.
The size of the housing was nearly that of a small bus:
It may not yet be widely known, but wind power is no longer a thing of the future. It is a force of the present. Indeed, Governor Granholm's strong push for increased alternative energy in Michigan is well underway, with several more projects in the planning stages. The challenge as we move forward, including potential projects such as this one by DTE Energy in the thumb, is to do our best to prevent large mortality events at all wind farm sites. There are very few data to tell us how many birds will be affected by any given windfarm, so it is essential that sites be monitored for at least 3 years in advance of construction, and several years following construction. If large mortality events are noted, some effort must be put forth to mitigate the problem. The details of such mitigation are, in part, what local officials can consider as part of their ordinance.Existing voluntary guidelines have already been put forth by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth, the American Wind Energy Association, and the National Wind Coordinating Collaborative. The Fish and Wildlife Service calls for no turbines within 3 miles of the lakeshore and at least 5 miles from any known active Bald Eagle nest. Although the numbers may be somewhat arbitrary, we do agree that shorelines often attract large concentrations of migrant and wintering waterbirds, raptors, songbirds, and other species, and should be avoided where possible.
In the case of Lake Township, the entire township is located within 3 miles of the shoreline, which borders the Coastal Saginaw Bay IBA. This IBA supports up to 4% of the known population of the Tundra Swan during spring and fall migration, as well as large numbers of ducks and migrating raptors. We simply do not yet know how vulnerable these groups of birds would be to wind development at this location. To follow this developing story check the Lake Township wind page.
Friday, February 15, 2008
On bird data and the DNR
Most birders collect data, at least at a basic level. It may be limited to a daily checklist, or it may consists of counts of each species organized by location, weather, viewing conditions, other observers, and other details. This information, particularly that in the latter category, has great value beyond just calculating life lists, and many of us don't fully appreciate this fact.
The IBA program requires solid bird data for the identification of all IBAs, for example. This information comes from all kinds of sources (scientific literature, publications, birder data, eBird, etc.) and requires lots of time and effort to locate and compile. This time commitment is a limiting feature for many conservation organizations, including government agencies.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources, for example, relies on the Natural Heritage Database maintained by the Michigan Natural Features Inventory (MNFI) for guiding its management decisions. If they are going to know about a rare species they need to protect, this is where they'll find out about it. As it turns out, they just do not have time to query other sources of information. You may assume that because you entered your observations into eBird and the Michigan Audubon Seasonal Survey compiler that the DNR would have full access to it, but it's not currently true!
There are many reasons why these and other biological databases do not share data freely. But my point here is that we really need to make sure our observations of Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern species (and not just birds!) are submitted to the right places and are thus utilized to the fullest extent. In the case of the DNR, please download the appropriate MNFI form and see to it that it is submitted. It may be extra work on our part, but this will go a long way to guiding good conservation in our state!
The IBA program requires solid bird data for the identification of all IBAs, for example. This information comes from all kinds of sources (scientific literature, publications, birder data, eBird, etc.) and requires lots of time and effort to locate and compile. This time commitment is a limiting feature for many conservation organizations, including government agencies.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources, for example, relies on the Natural Heritage Database maintained by the Michigan Natural Features Inventory (MNFI) for guiding its management decisions. If they are going to know about a rare species they need to protect, this is where they'll find out about it. As it turns out, they just do not have time to query other sources of information. You may assume that because you entered your observations into eBird and the Michigan Audubon Seasonal Survey compiler that the DNR would have full access to it, but it's not currently true!
There are many reasons why these and other biological databases do not share data freely. But my point here is that we really need to make sure our observations of Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern species (and not just birds!) are submitted to the right places and are thus utilized to the fullest extent. In the case of the DNR, please download the appropriate MNFI form and see to it that it is submitted. It may be extra work on our part, but this will go a long way to guiding good conservation in our state!
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