Blackbrook Audubon Society

08/31/2026

08/30/2026

🐦 Explore the Other Side of Headlands

Most visitors know the dunes and lighthouse end of Headlands Beach—but the western end has its own distinct habitats and can produce an entirely different mix of birds.

Join one of our guided festival walks through the west beach area and around the park’s constructed wetland. A previous point-count project documented an impressive **113 species at the wetland**, demonstrating just how valuable this often-overlooked area can be.

Over the years, notable visitors have included Wilson’s and Red-necked Phalaropes, Stilt Sandpiper, Glossy Ibis, Least Bittern, Snowy Egret, Long-billed Dowitcher, and both Black-crowned and Yellow-crowned Night-Herons. Even Piping Plovers have occasionally appeared along the west beach.

These are historical sightings—not a list of birds expected during the festival—but they show the possibilities created by this distinctive combination of wetland, shoreline, and open-beach habitat. During fall migration, you never know what may stop by.

Choose one of our guided west-end walks:

🐦 Birding Western Headlands – Saturday — Saturday @ 7:30 AM – 9:30 AM
🐦 Headlands Naturalist Walk — Saturday @ 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
🐦 Birding Western Headlands – Sunday — Sunday @ 7:30 AM – 9:30 AM
🐦 West End Walkabout — Sunday @ 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Discover a side of Headlands you may have overlooked—and help us see what is using the wetland this fall.

🎟️ Space is available: https://friendsofheadlandsbeach.org/event/headlands-birding-festival-2026/

Photo credit: Stilt Sandpiper by Jim Cihula

08/15/2026

Much fuss is made about the warbler migration (they're coming in a few weeks!), but some warblers have been here all summer. The Common Yellowthroat is frequently found in wetlands and meadows, and they behave more like a meadow bird than one might expect of a warbler; they flit about, curiously monitoring their territory, scolding those who come too close. This one's posture is reminscent of a wren cocking its tail. But a warbler it is! The wonderfully colorful plumage is the key. Female Common Yellowthroats are naturally more inclined to mate with males who exhibit a larger black facial mask.

Common Yellowthroat, photo by Michael Schramm/USFWS

08/03/2026

About one-third of all bird species include seeds in their diets. Seeds are highly nutritious, but also hard, and enclosed by an indigestible husk. Some birds rely entirely on their gizzards, a muscular organ in the digestive tract, to crush and break down the husk of seeds. Songbirds such as finches remove the hard husk of seeds using precise movements of the beak and tongue. In a new study, researchers examined whether this behaviour is associated with changes in the brain. By comparing 92 species of songbirds, they found that species that dehusk seeds have enlarged sensory brain regions involved in processing touch from the beak and tongue, but not larger motor regions controlling movement. The strongest enlargement occurred in the part of the brain that receives sensory information from the tongue. These findings suggest that tactile feedback, rather than greater strength or motor control alone, was key to the evolution of skilled seed handling in birds.

Read the article in Proceedings B:
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2026.0628

08/01/2026

While we're grateful to the Avon Police Department for freeing a Great Horned Owl from a soccer net recently, https://www.facebook.com/avonohpolice/videos/great-work-by-officer-steve-vogel-and-officer-david-orlandojust-another-example-/2228742411283853/, this situation is a reminder that soccer nets need to be taken down when not in use, after games or practices. Also, a raptor who has become trapped in a net when chasing prey is not necessarily unscathed just because he flies away. The net could have cut off blood supply to a limb or part of the bird's body as he thrashes about, trying to free himself or while someone cuts the net off him. A bird freed from a soccer net needs to be taken to a wildlife rehab center such as Lake Erie Nature & Science Center (https://www.lensc.org/) or Lake Metroparks Wildlife Center (https://lakemetroparks.com/parks-trails/penitentiary-glen-reservation/kevin-p-clinton-wildlife-center). They have received birds injured in this way and can check for hidden, soft tissue damage that may not show up until later. Some of the tighter pieces of net can be left on the bird and removed by the rehab center.

07/31/2026

How far can a Canada Goose fly in a day?