Join us every Wednesday as we document the birds using habitat in our parks throughout the year. Extra binoculars are available. Some experience with birding will help, but is not necessary. Each bird walk will last approximately 1.5-2 hrs. The full schedule with locations and times are below.
We rotate through 4 different parks each month, with a special visit to a different park if there is a 5th Wednesday. The data we collect is entered into eBird and will be publicly available to scientists, birders, and park users. These parks are birding hotspots on eBird – follow the links below to learn more!
- 1st Wednesday: Bear Creek Nature Park
- 2nd Wednesday: Cranberry Lake Park
- 3rd Wednesday: Watershed Ridge Prk
- 4th Wednesday:
- January – Draper Twin Lake Park
- Feb to May – Stony Creek Ravine Nature Park
- (5th Wednesday: See schedule below)
Check out the slideshow below for the great photos of birds that Park Steward Cam Mannino has seen – mostly at Bear Creek Nature Park!
Bird Walks
January 2023
| Event | Location | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bird Walk | Bear Creek Nature Park | Jan 4 | 8:30 am |
| Bird Walk | Cranberry Lake Park | Jan 11 | 8:30 am |
| Bird Walk | Watershed Ridge Park | Jan 18 | 8:30 am |
| Bird Walk | Draper Twin Lake Park | Jan 25 | 8:30 am |
February 2023
| Event | Location | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bird Walk | Bear Creek Nature Park | Feb 1 | 8:30 am |
| Bird Walk | Cranberry Lake Park | Feb 8 | 8:30 am |
| Bird Walk | Watershed Ridge Park | Feb 15 | 8:30 am |
| Bird Walk | Stony Creek Ravine Nature Park | Feb 22 | 8:30 am |
March 2023
| Event | Location | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bird Walk | Bear Creek Nature Park | Mar 1 | 8:30 am |
| Bird Walk | Cranberry Lake Park | Mar 8 | 8:30 am |
| Bird Walk | Watershed Ridge Park | Mar 15 | 8:30 am |
| Bird Walk | Stony Creek Ravine Nature Park | Mar 22 | 8:30 am |
| Bird Walk | Charles Ilsley Park | Mar 29 | 8:30 am |
April 2023
| Event | Location | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bird Walk | Bear Creek Nature Park | Apr 5 | 8:30 am |
| Bird Walk | Cranberry Lake Park | Apr 12 | 8:30 am |
| Bird Walk | Watershed Ridge Park | Apr 19 | 8:30 am |
| Bird Walk | Stony Creek Ravine Nature Park | Apr 26 | 8:30 am |
May 2023
| Event | Location | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bird Walk | Bear Creek Nature Park | May 3 | 8:30 am |
| Bird Walk | Cranberry Lake Park | May 10 | 8:30 am |
| Bird Walk | Watershed Ridge Park | May 17 | 8:30 am |
| Bird Walk | Stony Creek Ravine Nature Park | May 24 | 8:30 am |
| Bird Walk | Charles Ilsley Park | May 31 | 8:30 am |
Baltimore Oriole at the hummingbird feeder. Photo by Cam Mannino. 
Blue Jay looking inside. Photo by Cam Mannino. 
Cedar waxwing (Bombycillia cedrorum) 
The elegant male Rose-Breasted Grosbeak. Photo by Cam Mannino. 
Red-tail Hawk in flight. Photo by Cam Mannino. 
Yellow-rumped Warbler. Photo by Cam Mannino. 
Green Heron spotting something. Photo by Cam Mannino. 
Two tree swallows on a house. Photo by Cam Mannino 
Northern Flicker drumming on a tree. Photo by Cam Mannino. 
Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis) at Bear Creek Marsh 
Gray catbird. Photo by Cam Mannino 
A male Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) delivers a caterpillar to a nesting box at Ilsley Park 
The Yellow Warbler generally finds a mate and raises young in Bear Creek. 
Spring on the Hickory Lane 
The Scarlet Tanager that I evidently heard but didn’t see. This is a photo from Bear Creek in previous years. 
A female Bluebird with her characterisitc gray head. 
A large flock of migrating Tundra Swans called over Cranberry Lake Park. (Photo by Bon Bonin) 
A Hermit Thrush passing through Cranberry Lake Park, heading south 
The White-throated Sparrow shows off the beautiful colors on patterns on its head. 
The hermit thrush shows off its throat and breast, highlighting the crisp dark-brown chocolate drops on a clean, white background that fade toward the belly. The warm reddish-brown tail also helps us identify this bird. 
Presumably the female waxwing on the nest after feeding her nestlings 
Rusty blackbird female at Bear Creek Nature Park in 2017. Note the pale eyes on these close relatives of the Grackle. 
A Killdeer apparently keeping an eye out for flying predators 
The Egret repositions the prey in its beak with a flick of the head. 
Sandhill Cranes negotiating the tractor ruts to reach the field for foraging 
A Lincoln’s Sparrow in one of its rare moments in the open! 
Cedar Waxwings on the lookout for flying insects near the marsh. 
A Blue-winged Warbler (Vermivora cyanoptera) found a bare branch at the forest edge. 
A male Tree Swallow keeping watch over his territory. 
A Bluebird pair on a nestbox with an insect in the female’s beak. 
The Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) at Ilsley was a bit more difficult to see than this one I once saw at Bear Creek Nature Park. 
A male Wood Duck calmly makes his way through the Water Meal plants on the surface of the parks western wetland. 
Paul got a lovely shot of a Red-tailed hawk whho appears to have lost a few feathers out of one wing, though it doesn’t seem to have hampered its flight. 
An Eastern Kingbird can be spotted at a distance by its upright posture and white tail band. Photo by Paul Birtwhistle
Natural Areas Notebook 
Is there a bird walk tomorrow Oct 26? Weather report says it will rain.
Unless it’s raining hard or there is lightning, we typically hold the bird walks. Hope you can make it tomorrow, or another time!
is there a walk tomorrow, nov 24
No bird walk on November 24. We’ve wrapped up our walks for 2021 and will start again January 5, 2022
Hi Ben
I see that your bird walk calendar ends in August. Do you continue to have bird walks in September and October??
Hi Rochelle – we continue to have bird walks through mid November. I just updated the bird walks page. Thanks for your interest, and hope to see you on a walk!
Thank you. Plan to be there on day soon. When do you expect to see migrants that are passing through?
Rochelle
Yes, during fall migration we usually get lots of bird that we usually don’t see in the area that are just passing through.
Do do we need to register or just show up??
You can just show up for bird walks
Hi! Would you consider doing a bird walk with kids during the weekend???
Would love to do this with my kiddos.
Thank you!
Have you checked out the Oakland Audubon Young Birders Club? They’ve actually held some of their walks at Bear Creek Nature Park the last few years on Saturdays. They’re a great group and would be perfect for parents and kids that want to get into birding. Looks like they have some events coming up this winter – https://www.oaklandaudubon.org/young-birders.
I have gone on a few of the walks and enjoyed them. When will you start up again in January 2022?
Hi Pat! The bird walks take a break between Thanksgiving and the New Year. They will start again in 2022 on the first Wednesday of January. On January 5 we’ll be at Bear Creek Nature Park at 8:30 am. The schedule on the website will be updated in December.
Hey Ben, I’d like to join you as a first-timer on the 7th. Where in the park do you meet?
Hi Tom – it would be great to see you at a bird walk! The walk on July 7 will be at Bear Creek Nature Park. We meet at the Snell Road parking lot, 740 W. Snell Rd, Rochester, MI 48306. Hope to see you there!
Thanks!!!
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Is there any walks in December 2019? joe
Hi Joe – We take a break in December each year, but we will start up again the second Wednesday of January 2020 at Cranberry Lake Park, 8:30 am (the first Wednesday is New Year’s Day, so no walk that day).