As a birder, the environment is everything. I am in it all the time! From lush forests and sandy beaches to urban parks and little pocket ponds.

I started to feel the urge to do conservation work a couple of years ago. I began my trek by taking classes at the local community college to try and earn a degree in Environmental Technology to switch careers to something that I would enjoy for the latter part of my working life. The math portion of the degree proved to be fine but the sciences were quite daunting.

I ended up finding a conservation group here in Michigan called the Michigan United Conservation Club (or MUCC). https://mucc.org/about/ They partner with the Michigan DNR in my home state doing restoration work in our state game areas. They do a lot of great things here in Michigan keeping our conservation areas ready and accessible to hunters, anglers and trappers…..and to birders! By protecting and enhancing wild areas in the DNR areas wildlife flourishes!

This past Saturday I volunteered at Maple River State Game Area installing and refurbishing Wood Duck boxes to get them ready for the nesting season. This state game area covers just under 10,000 acres and is the breeding home to many species of birds including the aforementioned wood duck.

There are two reasons why I am enjoying doing the volunteer work with the MUCC.

Number one is I really do enjoy cleaning up and restoring the environment areas in my state. It helps to protect local species from the invasive ones, both aviary and plant based life forms. And number two (and maybe more importantly), it gives me an opportunity to bird in places I normally wouldn’t have the opportunity to get to without a designed trip planned.

The birding in the winter here in Michigan can sometimes be quite the challenge. After the first 80 species of the year, you really have to work for more until the migration is in full throttle.

The birds of prey are very prevalent at Maple River State Game. I saw at least 4 Northern Harriers hunting the grasslands. 3 American Bald Eagles. And a rare for Michigan, Golden Eagle, among other normal occurring birds.

In the end, it was a very good day. I helped with the conservation, and I had the opportunity to see a couple of species of birds that I haven’t seen yet this year.

BIRDS SEEN THIS TRIP:

Northern Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, American Bald Eagle, Golden Eagle(1st of year), Wild Turkey, Rough-Legged Hawk(1st state sighting this year), American Kestral, American Goldfinch, Sandhill Crane, Red-bellied Woodpecker, American Crow, Rock Pigeon, Horned Lark, Eastern Bluebird, Mourning Dove, American Tree Sparrow, Canada Goose, European Starling