Washtenaw Bird and Nature Alliance

Special Member Meeting: Name Change Vote
2024-03-20 19:30 - 20:30 (America/Detroit) | Matthaei Botanical Gardens, 1800 N Dixboro Rd, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, United States
We have a very important meeting to share with you all. On March 20th, 2024 at Matthaei Botanical Gardens at 7:30 PM, we will vote in an up or down vote to ratify our newly selected name, Washtenaw Bird & Nature Alliance! Please plan to attend if you are a member, as of March 15th or join/renew by then. You may contact our membership chair, Diana Miller membership@washtenawbna.org to check your membership status if you are not sure. Only members can vote. According to our Constitution and By-laws, our votes to change the constitution must be in person, and fulfill a certain percentage of our members in attendance. Don’t miss the chance to help us make this historic change.
I want to give you all an idea of how we decided upon Washtenaw Bird & Nature Alliance. In October, at our in person meeting at Matthaei Botanical Gardens, members overwhelmingly voted to drop the name of Audubon from our organization. Members wanted to avoid names that sound exclusive like ‘society and club’ and people’s names like Audubon or Wilson. There is a movement afoot within sister organizations across the country, including some in our immediate vicinity, to use the name Bird Alliance. In fact Detroit Audubon recently adopted Detroit Bird Alliance as their new name. We sincerely hope National Audubon will reconsider their decision to keep Audubon, and believe that a consensus name among our sister organizations, like Bird Alliance, is a great way to move NAS in this direction. We took a poll of our members, which was sent out in October after the meeting, and over 150 WAS community members responded!! Thank you!! The most abundant name suggestions contained Bird Alliance. Next, we formed a subcommittee of interested community members and WAS Board members, who decided on 3 name alternatives from the suggestions of members, all incorporating the Bird Alliance moniker. Then in a recent vote of the WAS Board, we decided upon Washtenaw Bird & Nature Alliance. The word Audubon always meant more than birds to me and others, so we added Nature to our new proposed name to encompass all we do. Ever been to a Butterfly Walk, Moth Night, Museum Insect or Herbarium tour or one of our Nature Walks? We are Birds AND Nature.
Please plan to join us at Matthaei at our March 20th, 7:30 PM meeting to ratify our new name!! I promise to bake another BIG cake and we can all have a festive naming party of special significance!
I am looking forward to seeing you all at the naming party!
Good birding,
Juliet Berger, President
Washtenaw Audubon Society

Birding Costa Rica, with Len Sander
2024-04-17 18:00 - 19:30 | Ann Arbor District Library: Downtown, 343 South Fifth Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Please note new location and time!
Join Len Sander for an informative program on birding in Costa Rica. This Central American country, despite its small size, has one of the greatest biodiversities in Latin America, with 948 bird species, including seven endemics and 73 near-endemics. Len Sander is professor emeritus of physics and complex systems at the University of Michigan, a keen birder, and an avid photographer.
This will be a hybrid in-person (at our new location, the downtown Ann Arbor District Library) and virtual meeting.
The link you the live stream can be found at least one hour before the event on AADL site here: https://aadl.org/node/625001

Birding in Guantanamo, Cuba: A Tale of Two Journeys
2024-05-15 18:00 - 19:30 | Ann Arbor District Library: Downtown, 343 South Fifth Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Join Jacco Gelderloos for a presentation on the birds and other wildlife of Cuba’s easternmost province during two trips in June 2022 and February 2024. This remote and under-birded area is ecologically rich and hosts many of the island’s endemic species, as well as a wide range of migrants. Jacco Gelderloos is a long-time WBNA member and Board member, World Traveler, Washtenaw Wingnut, Washtenaw Big Green Big Year rider, Ann Arbor CBC Complier, Washtenaw County Township birder, Ann Arbor NAP Breeding Bird Surveyor and produces our Newsletter bi-monthly, as our Newsletter editor, in his spare time.

A livestream of this event will be available at the AADL website approximately one hour prior to the start.

Birds Vocalizing (Who cooks for you?)
2024-06-19 18:00 - 19:30 | Ann Arbor District Library: Downtown, 343 South Fifth Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Join Don Chalfant for an interesting evening of his bird photographs, along with their songs and calls. Don is a longtime member of the Washtenaw Bird and Nature Alliance, a former president, and popular speaker and field trip leader. He set a number of past Washtenaw County Big Day records. Don cleverly spends the winter months at his other home in Florida.

A live stream of this event will be available at the AADL website approximately one hour prior to the start.

Annual Picnic and the Coveted Wingnut Award Ceremony
2024-08-11 12:30 - 15:30 | Dexter-Huron Metropark, 6535 Huron River Dr, Dexter, MI, 48130, United States
Join us for the Washtenaw Bird & Nature Alliance Annual Picnic! In addition to connecting with fellow bird and nature enthusiasts, we will present the 2023 Wingnut Award to the individual who identified the most bird species in Washtenaw County last year.
Bring a dish to share and drinks for yourself, and feel free to use the onsite grill. Although there is no electricity, we have our own picnic shelter for the entire group! Nearby, you’ll find restrooms and the Huron River to cool off. We’ll also discuss our community efforts over the past year. Everyone is welcome, so please join us!
There is a $10 per vehicle daily fee to enter. An annual pass is $40 ($29 for seniors). Free passes can be checked out via the Ann Arbor District Library through the Michigan Activity Pass Program.
Directions: Meet at Dexter-Huron Metropark, Shelter B (map here).

Birding South Africa, with Ram Ramamurthy
2024-09-18 18:00 - 20:00 | Matthaei Botanical Gardens, 1800 N Dixboro Rd, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, United States
Join Amurthur Ramamurthy on his trip to South Africa and Zimbabwe, which yielded 252 bird species, as well as a number of mammals. Among the birds seen, with many photographed, were Southern Ground Hornbill, Bateleur, Hooded Vulture, Kori Bustard, Secretary Bird, and Saddle-billed Stork, along with such mammals as lions, elephants, hyenas, hippos, baboons, and leopards, at Kruger National Park and Victoria Falls.
Location: Matthaei Botanical Gardens at 1800 N Dixboro Road
Remote Access Via Zoom:
Zoom Link
Meeting ID: 944 9479 9171
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Spring Warbler Migration in the Arb, with Michael Kielb
2025-01-15 18:00 - 20:00 | Ann Arbor District Library: Downtown, 343 South Fifth Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Michael Kielb has spent many years documenting the migration of warblers in the University of Michigan’s Nichols Arboretum, one of the best birding sites in Washtenaw County. He will share his experience with us in his program at 6:00 pm at the downtown Ann Arbor Library. Michael Kielb is an avid naturalist and retired biology faculty member at Eastern Michigan University, and the lead author of “The Birds of Washtenaw County, Michigan” published by the University of Michigan Press.
This meeting will be at the Ann Arbor District Library, Downtown Branch, 343 S 5th Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48104.
Washtenaw Bird & Nature Alliance has resumed in-person programs, although some of them will be viewable on YouTube as hybrid programs (or recordings), as well. Please check the website or Facebook before you come to the Downtown Ann Arbor Library for a program, as occasionally a program may be moved from in-person to Zoom only, for various reasons.
This program will be live streamed on YouTube at this link:
https://youtube.com/live/CNCpuZJvDc0?feature=share

WBNA Goes to Costa Rica: With Ben Lucking
2025-03-19 18:00 - 19:30 | MI
Join super guide and WBNA member Ben Lucking on a trip to Costa Rica, one of Central America’s most biologically diverse and bird rich countries. During a 10 day trip sponsored by WBNA, participants saw 430+ bird species, in addition to several mammals.
Ben Lucking leads tours for the Wings birding tour company, and has birded and photographed birds in many countries. This program is on Zoom only, there is no in-person meeting.
Zoom link:
https://umich.zoom.us/j/93815178050?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 938 1517 8050
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Annual Picnic and the Coveted Wingnut Award Ceremony
2025-08-10 12:00 - 15:00 | Dexter-Huron Metropark, 6535 Huron River Dr, Dexter, MI, 48130, United States
Join us for the Washtenaw Bird & Nature Alliance Annual Picnic! In addition to connecting with fellow bird and nature enthusiasts, we will present the 2024 Wingnut Award to the individual who identified the most bird species in Washtenaw County last year.
Bring a dish to share and drinks for yourself, and feel free to use the onsite grill. Although there is no electricity, we have our own picnic shelter for the entire group! Nearby, you’ll find restrooms and the Huron River to cool off. We’ll also discuss our community efforts over the past year. Everyone is welcome, so please join us!
There is a $10 per vehicle daily fee to enter. An annual pass is $40 for residents of Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw and Wayne counties ($29 for seniors). Free passes can be checked out via the Ann Arbor District Library through the Michigan Activity Pass Program.
Directions: Meet at Dexter-Huron Metropark, Shelter B (map here).

Visualizing Bird Song: Ram Ramamurthy
2025-09-17 18:00 - 19:00 | Ann Arbor District Library: Downtown, 343 South Fifth Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Please join Washtenaw Bird & Nature Alliance for a talk specifically focusing on the use of technology to visualize bird songs and calls. It is akin to translating what we hear into a version of “sheet music”. This talk will be an introduction to the area of Bioacoustics, the science of studying bird vocalizations. We will learn why birds sing, how birds sing, type of bird vocalizations, and birds’ ability to learn vocalizations. We will show how our recordings with smartphones can be transformed into “sheet music”!
A 2022 survey shows that 96 million of us enjoy watching birds, either in our backyard, at a local park or on a trail. Birds are everywhere, and watching birds gives a workout to our body and mind. Birding connects us to the environment, gives us an opportunity to sharpen our identification skills, and this enhances our mental wellbeing. Humans are fascinated with the diverse colors, the mystery of long-haul flights, and wide variations in bird song.
Speaker: Ram Ramamurthy
Location: Ann Arbor District Library – Downtown Branch
This program will be live streamed on YouTube at this link (click on the “LIVE” link appearing on our channel when the program is in session)
https://www.youtube.com/@washtenawbirdandnaturealliance

Celebrating 20 Years of Peregrine Falcons in Ann Arbor
2026-03-18 18:00 - 19:30 | Ann Arbor District Library: Downtown, 343 South Fifth Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Join former WBNA President and current Michigan Audubon and Kirtland’s Warbler Alliance board member Ray Stocking as he looks back on 20 years since the first post-delisting Peregrine Falcon sighting in Ann Arbor—one of Washtenaw County’s most uplifting wildlife comeback stories.
Ray will take us through the Peregrine’s dramatic journey in Michigan—from near extinction in the mid‑1900s due to DDT, to its inspiring rebound after the pesticide ban in the 1970s. He’ll share memories from that exciting March 2006 sighting that had local birders buzzing (and maybe a little overexcitement from the University of Michigan!), plus stories about the early struggles of these falcons trying to nest atop the Burton Memorial Tower on U‑M’s campus.
Thanks to the teamwork of WBNA, the Michigan DNR, the University of Michigan, and others, nest boxes placed across key campus buildings helped Peregrines reclaim the city skyline. It’s a true celebration of resilience, collaboration, and the enduring spirit of conservation.
This program will be live streamed on our YouTube channel (click on the “LIVE” link appearing on our channel when the program is in session).
Photo credit Barb Baldinger

Bird-Friendly Gardening and the Bird City Program
2026-05-20 18:00 - 19:30 | Ann Arbor District Library: Downtown, 343 South Fifth Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Kelsey Dehring, Parks Naturalist with Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission and Linda Smith of Michigan Audubon will join us for a joint discussion of gardening techniques for the home gardener to make their gardens more bird and pollinator friendly, and to explain about the International Bird City Network and how and why Bird City Michigan was launched.
Ann Arbor became an official Bird City in 2025.
Linda Smith is the Director of Partnerships for Michigan Audubon and leads Michigan Audubon’s Bird City Michigan initiative, helping communities across the state build grassroots networks that take meaningful action for birds and nature.
Kelsey Dehring is a Parks Naturalist with Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission. She runs the county’s Nest Box Monitoring and Archery Programs.
This program will be live streamed on our YouTube channel (click on the “LIVE” link appearing on our channel when the program is in session).

Annual Picnic and Wingnut Award Presentation
2026-09-12 09:30 - 15:00 | Dexter-Huron Metropark, 6535 Huron River Dr, Dexter, MI, 48130, United States
New this year: Migration bird walk before the picnic! Come for the walk or the picnic or both!
Join us for the Washtenaw Bird & Nature Alliance Annual Picnic! In addition to connecting with fellow bird and nature enthusiasts, we will present the 2024 Wingnut Award to the individual who identified the most bird species in Washtenaw County last year.
Bring a dish to share and drinks for yourself, and feel free to use the onsite grill. Although there is no electricity, we have our own picnic shelter for the entire group! Nearby, you’ll find restrooms and the Huron River to cool off. We’ll also discuss our community efforts over the past year. Everyone is welcome, so please join us!
There is a $10 per vehicle daily fee to enter. An annual pass is $40 for residents of Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw and Wayne counties ($29 for seniors). Free passes can be checked out via the Ann Arbor District Library through the Michigan Activity Pass Program.
9:30-11:30 AM: Migration bird walk
12:00 PM: Picnic and Wingnut Award ceremony
Directions: Meet at Dexter-Huron Metropark, Shelter B (map here).
