Midwest Friends of Wildlife

06/07/2026

Thank you to all our friends who came out to our free 'Shortcut to Mushrooms' foraging workshop! We found crown-tipped corals, boletes, and a huge flush of golden oysters!

Golden Oysters were originally brought to North America in kits for people who wanted to grow their own delicious mushrooms at home, but they quickly spread to the wild. As a non-native species, they outcompete native fungi and aggressively decompose downed logs and injured trees, eliminating habitat many native wildlife rely on. The good news is that they are delicious, high in antioxidants and vitamins like niacin (B3), and are known to support immune and digestive health. This log, which had three grocery bags worth of mushrooms, will likely be covered again in a few weeks and completely consumed in a year or two.

We have one more foraging event coming up Saturday, June 20th, which will be our last one until autumn. We hope to see you there!

https://www.midwestfowl.org/event-details/a-shortcut-to-mushrooms-2

05/31/2026

*Please share! ☺️

Doing anything tonight? Wanna avoid cooking and just hang out with us and other wildlife enthusiasts over food and beer? We've got you covered!

TONIGHT at 5 p.m. is our monthly crockpot cookoff at Brewery Outré! This is a casual event - bring a dish to enter if you'd like, or just $10 to sample all the dishes and vote on your favorite. Winner takes home half the proceeds, and the rest go directly to our wildlife conservation work!

No sign-up needed. We hope to see you there! 🍻

https://www.midwestfowl.org/event-details/crocks-for-conservation-2026-05-31-17-00

05/25/2026

Finally the East side of Michigan gets some love! We'll be holding another low-cost Venomous Handling Essentials training at the Howell Nature Center on July 25-26!

These hands-on certification workshops provide all the essential skills necessary to safely work with venomous reptiles across a variety of disciplines - including zookeepers, veterinarians, first responders, wildlife biologists, and any interested member of the public - all while working with native venomous ambassador animals. Build your CV, network with other passionate professionals, and learn a marketable skillset not commonly available elsewhere!

www.midwestfowl.org/event-details/venomous-handling-essentials-2

05/21/2026

To everyone who has volunteered, labored, and given their time and resources to this very important work, thank you so much!

You can sign up for the last of our surveys here: https://forms.gle/BqaokwX5zXrjqeNC9

Sauga Film
Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy
Kalamazoo Nature Center

05/20/2026

Sunday’s Frog and Toad Philharmoic at Kleinstuck Preserve did not disappoint! The orchestra was deafening! We heard mostly Gray Tree Frogs and Spring Peepers but if you listen really closely you’ll hear the throaty chuckle of a Green Frog or two.

05/16/2026

We’ve been watching the weather radar and have made the devastating decision to cancel our Warbler Walk this morning 😔

The silver lining, though, is that this bodes incredibly well for the Frog and Toad Philharmonic scheduled at 8:30pm tonight at Kleinstuck! Hope to see you there 🐸

05/15/2026

Graduation season is almost here, and not just for high schoolers and college kids. Come to KNC's first ever Turtle Graduation Party on Saturday, June 6.

All winter long, rescued baby turtles have been growing strong at the Michigan Amphibian and Reptile Sanctuary. Come meet this year’s graduating class of native turtles and learn more about the incredible work being done to help our cold-blooded friends. Click here to register: https://naturecenter.org/events/turtle-graduation-party/

05/15/2026

05/15/2026

We have TWO amazing events happening tomorrow, Saturday, May 16th! Beginning at 8am we will be traipsing out on a Warbler Walk to enjoy all the recently migrated warblers we’ve received this week and then at 8:30pm we will be basking in the Frog and Toad Philharmonic - nature’s own orchestra! Both events will be at Kleinstuck Preserve with recommended parking and meetup in the Sawall/this is a bookstore shopping plaza and a short walk down to the preserve. Hope to see you there!

05/13/2026

This is for the girls 💖

Female birds are often overlooked and called names like “drab” and “plain” while the males are considered the “prettier” s*x but you wouldn’t want to be flashy and bright if you’re trying to lay low and incubate eggs in your nest, would you?! Not only does more cryptic plumage help female birds blend in to their surroundings, but those bright colors are energetically costly and tbh, who can be bothered? Instead of investing in all those loud feather colors, female birds spend their precious energy on things that actually matter - producing eggs, incubating, and feeding young - you know, just perpetuating the species or whatever 🙄

Seriously though, female birds historically haven’t been given as much attention as the males but studies on female birds have revealed fascinating and complex behaviors like female song, s*x-specific cognition, and mate choice.

Have you seen some female birds like the Chestnut-sided Warbler pictured here??