November 2020 presentation: An ornithological tour of Cuba

For those of you who may have missed it, here's the video of our November 2020 presentation from Mike and Judy Florian. 

Thank you, Mike and Judy!

Grosse Pointe Audubon will next meet on Jan. 24. Until then, have a great holiday season, think positive and test negative.

October Presentation: Bird Friendly Building Design

Because of the pandemic, Grosse Pointe Audubon cannot hold in-person meetings. But we can use technology to make sure all our members can still participate. 

Our September speaker, Edward O'Malley, MD, told us how birds see and described the differences between bird vision and human vision. 

Our October speaker was Nick Liadis, a research fellow at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, on how we can improve building design to help prevent bird deaths. 

Join us for our next meeting on Nov. 16. That evening, Mike Florian will present a program on birding in Cuba.

Grosse Pointe Audubon's Fall Newsletter

Fall 2020 GP Audubon Newsletter by William Rapai on Scribd

Fall migration captured on Key West weather radar

 Fall migration is underway across North America. Birds are already on the move from Florida as captured in this Tweet on the evening of Sept. 1.

I suspect you know the difference between the migrating birds and the rain/storms. (Yes, weather tends to move from east to west in Florida this time of year.)

Meteorological fall has begun w/ bird migration activity picking up in the #FLKeys. KBYX detects these birds as deviate echoes moving south, while showers move westward w/ atmospheric flow. Birds are seen day & night, but the nocturnal exodus (at the end) is most spectacular. pic.twitter.com/lwYumfb9Lv

— William Churchill (@ChurchillWx) September 2, 2020

Roost rings!

Aug. 5, 2020

This came to us via Twitter this morning. It's pretty cool!

Birds on radar? Yep, we see them. These rings are large groups of birds waking up at dawn and flying away in all directions. We call this radar signature “roost rings.” Pretty cool... pic.twitter.com/dhfPNOkPAf

— Paul Gross (@PGLocal4) August 5, 2020

Grosse Pointe Audubon Winter 2020 Newsletter

Here's the Winter 2020 newsletter:

Winter 2020 Grosse Pointe Audubon Newsletter by BRapai2213 on Scribd

Winter Meeting Schedule

Grosse Pointe Audubon Winter 2020 Meeting Schedule

Jan. 27— An American Icon: Utah’s Red Rock Canyonlands
America’s red rock wilderness is the largest network of undesignated wilderness lands remaining in the lower 48 states. Today their wild character is threatened by oil and gas developments and damage from off-road vehicles. Clayton Daughenbaugh, conservation organizer with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, will tell us about efforts to ensure these wild places stay wild.

Feb. 24—Birding High Island
Mark O’Keefe and grandson Peter Moe will be presenting a program about spring birding in High Island, Texas. Mark and Peter have spent the last two Easter weekends in High Island getting an early start on spring migration. More than 2 billion birds migrate through the Texas Gulf Coast from mid March to late May. It's a great place to see all the birds species that will migrate to Michigan as well as some Southern and western specialties.

March 16—Preventing bird window deaths
Millions of birds in North America fatally strike windows each year. Strikes can occur on any building type--from single family homes to large towers. Nick Liadis, a research fellow at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, will tell us why birds strike windows and how we can design buildings to help birds safely navigate through cities.