Grand Traverse Audubon Club members enjoy birding together, meeting for nature-oriented programs or field trips, and participating in service projects related to the environment. We are concerned about the preservation of habitat for wildlife and natural areas for the enjoyment of all residents. We are a chapter of the Michigan Audubon Society.
Welcome! Our meetings are usually the 4th Thursday of the month at the Northwestern Michigan College's Great Lakes Campus, Room 211
August 23 at 8:00 a.m. - Our next regular meeting will be a potluck Breakfast and Birding at NMC's Appel Property on the Boardman River. If you would like to canoe or kayak the Boardman River after the event, contact John Mesch, 946-3624. Water and electricity, with lots of plugs, are available inside the cottage where we organize our buffet. We will eat inside or out depending on the weather. Decaf coffee will be provided. Bring your own paper or regular dishes, cups, silverware, and a dish to share. The Appel property offers riparian, woodland, and open shrub habitat, so a variety of birds are usually found. The Appel property is off River Road 
just over one mile from Keystone Road. From Garfield, take River Road west, about five miles. Watch for the Whispering Waters sign on the left (south) side of the road. Look for the Audubon sign and turn in over the railroad track. Go past a house and down the road to the parking area near the Appel cottage.
Come and join us and get ready for another fall season of great programs. Guests and prospective members are welcome too!
Busy Summer
So you think you are busy over the summer? How would you like to have a baby bird following you every minute, waving its wings and constantly begging for food? This is the season that is one of frenetic activity for the bird world. First, finding a mate and fending off all rivals to her and to the territory. Then laying eggs, sitting on them and guarding them from being eaten by predators. After that, the constant search for food and feeding the young. Even after the babies have fledged, the demands for food continue. Unlike human babies, it does not appear that the baby birds ever sleep during the day. Some species, like the Northern Cardinals, are very caring for their young despite the demands. Others, like the Brown-headed Cowbirds, just avoid the whole thing and lay their eggs in other bird's nests. Just like humans, there are a wide variety of parenting practices and if you are observant, you will enjoy watching the summer bird activity.
July 19 - Adopt-A-Highway and Adopt-A-Trail pickup. Meet at Windy Moraine trailhead. Sleeping Bear Dunes M-109 at 9:30 a.m.
July 26 - Trees and Shrubs of the Commons. Meet at Cuppa Joe in Building 50 at 9:00 a.m. Leader, Tom Ford (231) 922-9490.
Puzzles
Files