The Washtenaw Audubon Society is deeply saddened at the news of "our" Trumpeter Swans out in Western Washtenaw County on August 1st.  These birds were admired for several years by the community as they raised their young year after year.  Anyone who has driven by the Scio Church and Parker Rd intersection while the father patiently sat by the side of the road and the mother sat on her eggs knows how special these birds were to the community.  And the joy of seeing them more recently with their cygnets makes this all the more painful.

We would like to acknowledge several people and organizations who were involved in this matter for their selfless efforts to help the birds who did survive the attack:

Bird Center of Washtenaw County - Carol Akerlof (http://www.birdcenterwashtenaw.org/index.html)
Howell Nature Center - Maxine Biwar (http://www.howellnaturecenter.org/animals/wildliferehab.htm)
Ann Arbor Animal Hospital - Dr. Robin Webster (http://www.annarboranimalhospital.com/)
Humane Society of Washtenaw County - Unknown volunteers (http://hshv.convio.net/site/PageNavigator/donation_new)
Washtenaw Audubon Society - Sherri Smith (www.Washtenawaudubon.org)
Mallard Marsh - Carole Dangler (7447 Stony Creek Rd./Ypsilanti, MI/48197)

Please consider making a donating to any of these organizations for their heroic efforts and/or just sending them a note of thanks for what they did.  Once the cause of death is determined, Washtenaw Audubon Society will take up the issue regarding a reward and any necessary steps moving forward.  For now, let's help out those who so passionately did everything they could to help the surviving birds.

Welcome back to the new season for Washtenaw Audubon.  Our monthly programs will start again on September 16th, and then every third Wednesday through November.  There is no December program because of the Christmas Bird Count, but the programs will continue again January through June of 2010.  Please consider joining us for these free events - all are welcomed and membership is not required.

Please join us for this free, hour long multi-media presentation by Washtenaw Audubon Society board member and City Ornithologist Dea Armstrong who will show you how you can easily move beyond the backyard world of birdwatching. Dea will provide information on where, when and how to look for birds in our area. Please call ahead if possible (734-665-7247) as space is limited.

When: 7:00 pm on Thursday, October 15th

Location: Wild Birds Unlimited
2208 S Main St
Ann Arbor, MI 48103-6935
(734) 665-7427

Note that the usual entrance and parking lot at the Botanical Gardens will be closed for maintenance on October 21 .  Do not use the steps at the main entrance, and do not use the front doors as those areas will be freshly painted.  Use the west parking lot and west entrance and walk down the hall to the auditorium.

The fourth annual central regional meeting of Michigan Audubon will be held on November 14 from 9:45 a.m.-2:00 p.m. at the Dahlem Environmental Center, 7117 S. Jackson Rd., Jackson.  This event brings together members from Brigham Audubon, Capitol Area Audubon, Jackson Audubon, Mid-Michigan Audubon and Washtenaw Audubon.  The focus of this meeting will be to assist in using electronic means to reach people, member recruitment and sharing opportunities between chapters.  Bring a bag lunch and meet old friends and meet new ones.  Everyone is welcome.  For more information contact Michigan Audubon 517-886-9144 or John Baumgartner (jeb1015@comcast.net).

We've just added a web link to the Ann Arbor Natural Area Preservation bird page. Go there to find out about bird-related activities put on by the City of Ann Arbor, including Breeding Bird Survey information and a City of Ann Arbor bird checklist.  Check it out at by clicking here.

This year, the Midwest Crane Count will be conducted on: Saturday, April 17, 2010 from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.

The Annual Midwest Crane Count is a tradition dating back to 1976. It is one of the largest citizen-based inventories in the world. One of the primary purposes of the Crane Count is to allow The International Crane Foundation (ICF) to monitor the abundance and distribution of cranes in the Upper-Midwest of the United States.
 
Get involved with Crane Count! Volunteers are the most important part of this unique program. You can play an integral role in helping ICF study Sandhill Cranes (and maybe even a Whooping Crane!)! Join over 3,000 volunteer counters throughout the Upper Midwest on April 17th to count cranes and witness the awakening of dawn.

If you are interested in participating this year, please contact Anya Dale (anyaaudubon@gmail.com) to select a site that is nearby and/or interesting to you for the morning of the count!

Millions of migratory birds die each year due to collisions with buildings. Because most songbirds migrate at night, lights from the urban areas and these buildings can disrupt the birds’ navigation system. The birds are attracted to the light and can become confused by it. Sometimes they crash into the lit buildings; other times, the lights disorient the birds and cause them to circle around and around, until they ultimately perish from exhaustion. Project Safe Passage and the Washtenaw Audubon Society asks residents, owners and managers of buildings that are five stories or higher to help birds survive by turning off lights (or drawing curtains/ blinds) above the fourth floor between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. every night during Spring between March 15th and May 31st.

Dea Armstrong  of the Washtenaw Audubon Society will present a basics of birdwatching class, Birding 101 just in time for the busy migration season in May! This approximately 1 hour, multimedia class will provide you with the information you need to move from simply liking birds to really taking time to observe them.  The fun starts on Thursday, April 29 at 7:00pm at the REI Store in Ann Arbor, 970 West Eisenhower Parkway.

You can now join Washtenaw Audubon or renew your membership using PayPal and a credit card.  A PayPal account is NOT required to be able to do this. It's quick, it's easy.  See our Membership Page for more information.  

Join Eastern Michigan University professor, Cara Shillington, PhD, for Washtenaw Audubon's first-ever spider walk! Dr. Shillington will show us the fascinating arachnids found right here in Ann Arbor, MI.

Location: Matthaei Botanical Gardens,  July 17 2010 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Join Dea Armstrong for a free bird wathcing trip to the former landfill in SE Ann Arbor This Saturday, June 5th at 7:30 AM.  This all-ages event is a great walk for beginning birders. Join Dea as she leads a walk to look for early summer birds. We'll walk some of the grassy fields that were once landfill and get great views of the city as well. Bring binoculars if you have them but they are not necessary.

Meet in the small parking lot inside (on the right) the main Platt Road entrance just south of Ellsworth.The main entrance is well marked with a stone wall and is south of the dog park.

Follow 18-year old Andy Johnson's blog as he spends his summer in Churchill, Manitoba monitoring the Hudsonian Godwit population.  http://birdingetcetera.blogspot.com/