May 16, 2024
Potluck Picnic
Muskegon State Park
Our annual potluck picnic supper, meeting, and bird walk will begin at 6:00 p.m. and end before dark on Thursday, May 16, 2024. Please bring a dish-to-pass, your own tableware, and your own beverage to the usual location (a pavilion to the right of the guard shack at the Snug Harbor parking lot of Muskegon State Park). Your vehicle should have a Michigan State Parks Recreation Passport license plate.
During the brief meeting after the meal we'll have an update on the progress of the George Wickstrom Trail and an election of officers for 2024-2025. Anyone interested in being next year's president, vice-president, secretary or treasurer should let Beth know.
We'll conclude our evening with a short bird walk around the area including nearby portions of the Lost Lake Trail. We hope to see you there!
May 18, 2024
Annual Big Day Count
Diehards will meet before 5:00 a.m., Saturday, May 18, 2024, at the outer gate of Lane's Landing just beyond where Maple Island Road crosses Mosquito Creek a mile north of the entrance to the Muskegon County Resource Recovery Center (MCRRC). Be careful pulling into and out of this driveway at the bottom of the hill as traffic on Maple Island Road can be fast!
Shortly after 5:00 the group will drive the mile to the inner gate, stopping occasionally to listen for night birds. When it's light enough to see, they will walk the mile north to the Muskegon River and back. Then they will drive north on Maple Island Road less than two miles to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources headquarters (driveway on the left) for birding along the Maple River.
Lunch as usual will be brown-bag on the porch of the headquarters building. During the afternoon the group will bird the MCRRC properties by car and perhaps some other locations depending on what bird species are still needed.
After a quick supper at the North Muskegon McDonald's, they will bird the nearby Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve before driving west to Snug Harbor at Muskegon State Park and concluding their day along the north wall of the Muskegon Channel.
You are welcome to join or leave this group anytime and anywhere along the way!
