I’m sure you’ve got that friend on social media that always posts cool pictures of crazy plants, unusual birds, beautiful butterflies, and secretive mammals. “How do they see all that cool stuff?” you ask yourself. I’m about to tell you the secret (sorry ultra-cool Facebook nature nerds): you just have to be out there observing.

It’s the classic tale of being in the right place at the right time. If you’re never outside exploring nature and participating in nature, you’ll never in the right place. Think back to the last time you visited a National Park. You probably saw a lot of cool wildlife, birds, and plants. But was it because you were in a special place, or just because you were outside?

The stats from our weekly bird walks don’t lie: there are cool birds in Oakland Township. From February to March we watched the earth emerge from snow, and saw the red-winged blackbirds, grackles, sandhill cranes, and other early migrants follow in the first wave of spring migration (check out BirdCasts to see what birds might be coming next).

February Bird Walk Summary

March Bird Walk Summary  (only 3 dates because of rain on March 25)

Do you see the sandhill cranes? Corner of Buell and Lake George, March 26, 2015. Click the image to view a larger version.

Don’t miss out on the rest of spring migration! Our weekly bird walks will continue in April. We’ll meet at 7:30 am every Wednesday morning. Next week we’ll be at Bear Creek Nature Park. The following weeks we’ll visit Cranberry Lake Park, Lost Lake Nature Park, and Draper Twin Lake Park, and Gallagher Creek Park. April is a very exciting month for spring bird migration.

Hope to see you out there!

Olaf says, “Yay, winter is almost gone!” Actually, it’s officially spring. See you next year Olaf (and don’t come back too soon).