Spring Fling 2010, April 23 – 25
Whitefish Point, Michigan
Spring Migration at its finest
How many places in the world can you see a Snowy Owl and an American Avocet sharing the same stretch of beach? Whitefish Point is one of those places. Spring Fling 2009 attendees were treated to this rare sighting. Magnificent overflights of raptors–Golden Eagles, Peregrine Falcons, Sharp-shinned Hawks, and Long-eared Owls (to name a few)–complemented the start of the passerine and waterbird migrations. The Whitefish Point Bird Observatory’s Saturday evening banquet emphasized the need for continued financial support of the Observatory, and featured a keynote presentation on warblers.
Spring Fling 2010 kicks off the fourth decade of avian research at Whitefish Point.
The Observatory welcomes recreational bird watchers from around the world to Whitefish Point during Spring Fling 2010 weekend, April 23 – 25. Birders can expect excellent birding along with opportunities to learn more about avian migration and conservation in the Great Lakes. Attendees will learn from fellow birders, field trip leaders, and guest speakers.
Planning – Information for traveling to Spring Fling 2010
Keynote Speaker Announced for Spring Fling 2010
Norman Smith, Director
Blue Hills Trailside Museum & Norman Smith Environmental Education Center
Norman Smith - Keynote Speaker for Spring Fling 2010
Norman Smith is a self-taught naturalist who has worked for the Massachusetts Audubon Society since 1974. His current position is Director of Blue Hills Trailside Museum and Norman Smith Environmental Education Center in Milton, Massachusetts.
Norman has studied birds of prey for over 35 years, including rehabilitating the injured and successfully fostering over 1,000 orphaned hawk and owl chicks into adoptive nests. His ongoing long-term projects include trapping and banding migrating hawks and owls in the Blue Hills Reservation, banding nestling hawks and owls, and doing research on snowy owls and other raptors wintering at Boston’s Logan International Airport. He has also traveled to Alaska to study snowy owls in their native tundra habitat. His research work has been published in National Geographic, National Wildlife, Ranger Rick, Yankee, Massachusetts Wildlife, Bird Observer, Birding, Sanctuary, Geo, Nature, Grolier Encyclopedia, Owls of the Northern Hemisphere and Owls of the World.
His mission is to use the information gathered from his research to stimulate a passion in everyone he meets to help us better understand, appreciate and care for this world in which we live.
