Detroit River cleanup date annouced

Early Riser Open House

On April 11th, 2009 Humbug Marsh will be open at 6 AM and close at 3 PM. Whether you would like to take photos, an early walk, or just sit on the deck and enjoy the morning-the marsh will be open. DETROIT RIVER CLEAN-UP Sponsored by Friends of the Detroit River SATURDAY,April 18th 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Many hands make light work- so instead of having a garlic mustard pull, we will be assisting the Friends of the Detroit River with their clean-up. Who? Small craft boat owners, volunteers, families, & friends - Anyone interested in helping to cleanup litter along the waterfronts. Why? A large-scale cleanup of the shores and small islands in the Lower Detroit River is being planned for this day. The goal is to pick up as much litter as possible that resides along the shores of the many dikes, islands, and bays in the lower river. What is needed? Volunteers with/or without small outboard boats Glove & boots - Dress for the weather and protection Extra lifejackets (if you have them) Where? Trenton Rotary Park - Foot of Harrison St., just off West Jefferson. Orientation meeting begins at 9:00 a.m. Trenton boat launch may be used for boats on trailers. Boats will be launched after orientation. A picnic lunch will be provided for all who participate. Anyone needing additional information or those who plan on bringing his/her boat to the event, please call 1-734-676-4626 after 4 PM. See our site at: www.detroitriver.org

Sincerely, Kristi Thiel Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge

DNR stewardship at an IBA and several other sites

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

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.

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.

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

26 April Whitefish Point IBA Recognition Ceremony

On Saturday April 26, 2008, Whitefish Point will be recognized as an Important Bird Area for its significant concentrations of migrant waterbirds. This event will take place at the annual Spring Fling banquet at 4:45 PM at the Paradise Community Center. Tickets, which cost $35/adult and $15/child, are required and limited in number, so please sign up soon. Visit wpbo.org for the sign up form. Several dignitaries have been invited, and there will be a short ceremony highlighting the IBA and its birds, followed by a ribbon-cutting and photo op.

Huge numbers of Red-necked Grebes fly by the point into Whitefish Bay each fall, using the open waters of Lake Superior as a migration corridor during this part of their journey. This represents as much as 25-45% of the estimated North American population, a huge concentration by any measure. Other significant species include Common Tern, loons, waterfowl of many species, and Bonaparte’s Gulls. Whitefish Point is not currently recognized as an IBA for its migrant songbirds and raptors, because these criteria have not yet been finalized. Whether the point meets thresholds for any of these species will be announced at a later date.

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.