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Michigan has some of the best wildlife viewing opportunities around. This quarterly newsletter will give you some tips on how to get involved, what to watch for, where to go and the great wildlife conservation work going on across the state. Enjoy!
 Hiding in plain sight, piping plovers are small, well-camouflaged birds that spend their summers scurrying along the shorelines of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and other nearby beaches in the Great Lakes region. These sandy-gray colored birds with skinny, orange legs are an endangered species in Michigan, only nesting in a few locations every summer. Learn more about piping plovers and how you can help conserve the species in the latest "Wildtalk" podcast episode.
 In May, 35 birders gathered to enjoy a morning in the outdoors and watch for birds at Portage Marsh Wildlife Management Area in Escanaba. The group explored the Delta County area’s 1-mile loop trail that travels along the historic dike system in Portage Marsh and the Lake Michigan shoreline, and spotted 54 species, including a trumpeter swan and yellow-headed black bird. Over the next few months, Portage Marsh Wildlife Management Area will continue to be a birding hotspot as fall migration will draw in a variety of waterfowl, shorebirds and songbirds. To check out the bird diversity within the coastal wetland, visit the Portage Marsh eBird page.
 Some of the best places to view wetland critters and the spectacle of bird migration are Michigan’s Wetland Wonders. Nearly all areas double as Audubon Important Bird Areas, and several are eBird hotspots. Get out to explore these off-the-beaten-path Wetland Wonders before waterfowl season kicks off in September!
MI Birds, a public outreach and education program from Audubon Great Lakes and the Michigan DNR, works to bring together birders and other wildlife enthusiasts to visit and experience Michigan’s public lands and waters through programming, volunteer engagement and educational outreach.
Read more about how MI Birds is building connections to conserve public lands ►
 Saw a turkey? Tell us about it! This is Michigan’s first year participating in a multistate turkey brood survey. The survey will run through Aug. 31, and data will provide valuable information on turkey populations in our state. There are only a few weeks left, so don’t delay and submit your sightings!
This summer, MI Birds ambassadors, dedicated volunteers for Michigan conservation, joined Detroit Audubon to host an education table on the connection between birds and fish at Friends of the St. Clair River’s annual Blue Water Sturgeon Festival. What do birds and fish have in common? Learn about it here.
While enjoying your morning cup of coffee or tea, you may have noticed that morning birdsong has quieted compared to May and June. Learn more about this change in bird behavior in late summer ►
Shorebird migration has begun across Michigan! Learn how to identify some of our most common migratory shorebirds and where to find them ►
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