2021 Coffee with the Birds
Mug Club Photo Contest VIDEO
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Enjoy this slideshow video of the 71 entries for the 2021 Coffee with the Birds Mug Club Photo Contest. All photos were taken between 11/1/20 and 10/31/21 in Ottawa County Michigan. The winner will be featured on the 2022 Mug Club Member mug! Read below for more details on how you can get your own membership and mug!
 Click image above to view video.
Thank you to everyone who entered the 2021 Photo Contest! We received many excellent entries and our panel of judges had a difficult job selecting the winners. However, a winner has been selected and the 2022 mugs have been ordered! You'll have to read below to see when the winner will be revealed. In the meantime, enjoy this slide show video of all the entries put to music.
Photo Contest Winner & 2022 Mug Reveal Event
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This year we're revealing the Photo Contest winner & 2022 mug LIVE, ONLINE, before the first CwB Event on December 11th.
TUNE IN Tuesday, November 23rd at 7pm
View the event on the Ottawa County Parks social media sites listed below. Just click the link below to take you to the event.
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Purchasing Your 2022 Mug Club Membership & Mug
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Mug Club memberships (including the mug) will go on sale online and in person (at the Nature Center) on the following day, 11/24/21.
Find more information on the Mug Club and how to purchase your membership and mug click the link below.
Tues-Sat 9-5, Sun 12-5, Mon CLOSED.
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Livestream? In-Person? Both?
Last year we did CwB entirely as livestreamed events. This year we are transitioning back to in-person programs. We are still working on setting up a situation where we can do a hybrid "in-person" and "livestream" event. We do not have all the details ironed out yet but we will update you as we can. Thanks for your patience!
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Coffee with the Birds events
Enjoy a hot cup of coffee and some baked goodies as you watch the birds at the feeders and discuss various birding topics with a naturalist. Bring your bird questions, curiosities and stories, and don't forget your favorite mug!
There are 2 sessions of Feeder Watching to choose from (see below) and a Birding Tidbits "bite-sized" presentation on topics ranging from local birding information and bird identification to natural history and stories of birding adventures. Don't miss them as these short presentations are sure to be entertaining and informative.
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Schedule:
9:30 - 10:20 Feeder Watching Session 1
10:30 - 11:00: Birding Tidbits (Topics TBD)
11:10 - 12:00 Feeder Watching Session 2
- 12/11/21
- 1/15/22
- 2/12/22
- 3/12/22
*Put them on your calendar TODAY!
For more information and updates, visit the site below.
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 Owashtanong Islands Audubon Programs on YouTube
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Video Programs: Owashtanong Islands Audubon
The Owashtanong Islands Audubon in the Grand Haven/Spring Lake area has been posting videos of their programs on their YouTube channel. You'll find programs on Saltwater & Freshwater Pelagic birding, bird photography during COVID, bird conservation at John Ball Zoo, Understanding Groundwater in Ottawa County, spiders and even Sea Lampreys! Check it out!
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A pair of bald eagles was caught on video entangled on a Minnesota street
Article/Video: CBS Minnesota
Earlier this week, police in Plymouth, MN broke up a street fight of the most unusual kind. Two eagles decided to do battle near the intersection of 41st Avenue and Nathan Lane. It went on for quite a while and in front of a small crowd.
Photo Credit Plymouth Police Department
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See piping plovers on new Sleeping Bear Dunes tours in 2022
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Article: MLive
Starting in 2022, Sleeping Bear Tour Co., a private wilderness tours company within Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, will offer visitors the rare chance to observe and learn about endangered piping plovers in their wild Great Lakes habitat.
Photo by Curtis Dykstra
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Newly Recorded Condor ‘Virgin Birth’ Is Another Way Birds Are Like Reptiles
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Articles: Audubon & Indystar
Zoo researchers discovered that two female California Condors had reproduced without males, a phenomenon known as parthenogenesis.
Photo: Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
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Upcoming Community Science and Stewardship Opportunities in Michigan
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Article: Audubon Great Lakes
This season, you are invited to help protect the habitats that birds rely on and provide valuable information to scientists to guide meaningful conservation action! Check out three upcoming stewardship and community science opportunities hosted by MI Birds partners across Michigan, and find out how you can get involved.
Photo by Chris Sprik, 2020 Mug Club Photo Contest entry
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*If you have an interesting bird-related article or video to share, let us know!
Email it to us at naturecenter@miottawa.org and put "Bird News" in the subject line.
 Ottawa County Parks Upcoming BIRDING PROGRAMS:
Find more information and to register, use the link below. Registration encouraged but not required, unless otherwise indicated.
*LAST BIRD WALK OF THE SEASON*
11/17/21 - Hemlock Crossing Park 10am-12pm
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Recent Bird Outings Reports
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Purple Finch, Cooper's Hawk, Winter Wren, Eastern Bluebird
American Wigeon, Greater Scaup, Black Scoter, Long-tailed Ducks, Bonaparte's Gulls, Bald Eagle and ~175 White-winged Scoters!
Sandhill Cranes, Purple Finch, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Wood Ducks, Green-winged Teal.
11/6/21 - Waterfowl Watching Field Trip
Bonaparte's Gulls, Great Black Backed Gull, White-winged Scoter
White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Juncos, Yellow-rumped Warbler
Red-headed Woodpeckers, Common Goldeneye
Wood Duck, Green-winged Teal, Redhead, American Tree Sparrow
Snow Goose, Cackling Goose, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Canvasback, Ruddy Duck, Bufflehead, Lesser Scaup, Eared Grebe, Red Phalarope, Dunlin, Peregrine Falcon, Snow Bunting, American Pipit.
 Submit your sightings, photos and videos and I'll share them in these Newswire emails. See below for information on how to submit your sightings!
Eastern Bluebirds
Stu Visser Trail, Park Township
7-8 Bluebirds were finding bugs on a big Willow tree right along the main trail, midway between the lookout platform on the north end and the main bridge.
Barred Owl
We have one or two that we hear and see that live in the woods behind our house. We hear them call nearly every evening. This summer and fall my sightings have mostly been at dusk or else flying and haven't had a chance to get a good picture. But on this occasion, my husband was power-washing the deck and I was hauling some sticks back into the woods and I spotted this one. I think we woke he/she up and I was able to get some pictures of it looking rather indignant. I've seen one getting a drink from our bird bath at dusk which I wish I could get a picture of!
Lynn Rutan
Park Township
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 Barred Owl by Lynn Rutan
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LeConte’s Sparrow
Whilst doing yard work, I flushed a small brown bird when walking through the yard. I thought it might have been a wren but when I saw it through binoculars I noticed its orange buffy face. Caleigh and I spent a while trying to figure out what kind of sparrow it was since the Manning's had just been talking about seeing a Nelson's sparrow. It was really fun to observe it scurry through the grass like a chipmunk and catch 3 caterpillars.
Jeff Slaughter
West Olive Backyard
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 LeConte's Sparrow by Jeff Slaughter This *RARE* sighting is undoubtedly a transient migrant. This secretive sparrow prefers open grass and sedge wetlands, breeding in the Upper Peninsula and southern Canada to the west. It is (most often) extremely hard to get a look at! Jeff - you just had a once-in-a-lifetime experience for your backyard! Congrats!
HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR BIRD SHARE SIGHTINGS
Click on the "Google Forms" link below to fill out where, when and what birds you saw. As an additional option at the end of the form, you'll have opportunity to upload any bird photos or videos you'd like to share! Please limit photos/videos to 3 per monthly newsletter and they must be <10MB each. Thank you!
*NOTE: You must be signed into a Google account to upload files. If you don't have a Google account, email your submissions to naturecenter@miottawa.org with "Bird Share" in the subject line.
*Any information or photos shared will be used in future Birding Update Newswire! emails.
SOLICITING FOR BIRD BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS!
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I've had birders offer suggestions for some good bird-related books to read. So as an extension of "Bird Share" I'm soliciting everyone for any bird-related book that you'd like to recommend others to read. I'll compile the list and share it sometime in the New Year.
Click the link below participate!
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 Links to Share
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One-stop-shop for bird identification resources, bird videos, Coffee with the Birds, local bird clubs & many more useful birding websites and resources.
Use this link to sign up for this Newswire! email or share it with other who may enjoy it too.
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