The Muskegon Birding Connection

10/13/2026

What a beautiful fall evening for a bird walk ☀️🍂🐦 Thank you to everyone who came out! It’s such a special thing to see people come together and meet one another, and enjoy birds together!

Highlights of the walk this evening included multiple sparrow species (white-crowned, white-throated, chipping, and juncos), chickadees, ruby-crowned kinglets, and a family of eastern bluebirds!

Thanks again for all of your continued support. We love that you love birds! 🦉

10/12/2026

BIRD WALK TOMORROW EVENING! 🍂🍁 Join us tomorrow, Tuesday October 13th, from 5-6:30pm at the Muskegon County Meinert Park Pines Campground for an evening of birding! Meinert Park sits near the shores of Lake Michigan in Montague and is a great birding destination. Muskegon Birding Connection president and photographer Jason Carlson will lead the bird walk through the campground and the day park.

This bird walk is free and open to everyone - just show up ready to see and learn about birds! We are watching the weather and will post any updates if needed.

See you tomorrow!

10/10/2026

Happy World Migratory Bird Day! 🐦‍⬛🐦📸

“The theme for World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) 2026, "Every Bird Counts - Your Observation Matter" highlights the role of public participation in collecting data on migratory bird populations and their habitats and factors that impact their populations and contribute to our knowledge about how to protect them. Community science, ranging from backyard bird counts to large-scale coordinated surveys/schemes, provide information on species distribution, abundance trends, migration timing, and breeding success. This data is important to identify conservation priorities, and inform effective conservation action plans and strategies. By engaging individuals and communities in monitoring efforts, we not only gather scientific data but also build a deeper connection to nature, raise awareness about the challenges migratory birds face, and inspire direct conservation action.”

Today just happens to coincide with the October Big Day, where you are encouraged to go birding and record your observations in eBird! Muskegon, take advantage of this beautiful warm sunny afternoon and go find all the birds! Maybe you will even spot some migratory species!

Photos by Tori Martel

10/09/2026

The leaves are changing colors, the air is crispy, the apple c***r is flowing, and it’s Feathered Friday! Chances are, if you’ve stepped outside recently and heard a sharp, high-pitched call note, you’ve likely heard today’s featured bird - the white-throated sparrow! 🍁🤎

These larger, plump sparrows are aptly named after their white throat patch. They are currently migrating south and make frequent stops at bird feeders, so keep them filled with seed!

Happy Friday! Don’t forget about the Dune Harbor Park bird walk at 5pm today!

10/08/2026

It’s spooky season! 🍁👻 The birds may be migrating south but that just means we have many migratory visitors, along with winter residents moving in now! Mark your calendars for October bird fun with us!

10/06/2026

Join us this Friday evening, October 9th, for a fall bird walk! 🍂 Local birder Jennifer Reck will be leading a bird walk at Dune Harbor Park in Norton Shores. Meet up in the Lincoln Street parking lot at 5pm. **Muskegon County Parks have waived parking fees for this event!** The walk will wrap up by 6:30pm. The event is open to everyone!

Dress warm! It will be a beautiful evening to go birding and look for migratory species passing through. See you on Friday!

10/03/2026

Lights out for the birds! Also.. could be some good birding today! 👀

About 400-600M birds are predicted to migrate across the U.S. each night this weekend!

Lights at night can be very disorienting to birds during their long fall migration. To help prevent deadly bird collisions, turn off or dim unnecessary lights!

Graphic: CornellLab, BirdCast

09/26/2026

We had a beautiful evening at the “Happy Hour with the Birds” bird walk, hosted by the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve and lead by MBC member Tori Martel. Thank you to all who came out! Birds were present although a little bit slow (they were poppin earlier in the day!). Highlights included multiple warbler species like a black-throated green warbler and chestnut-sided warblers, a Philadelphia vireo, multiple red-eyed vireos, and for those that stuck around a bit later.. we had 2 black-crowned night herons fly past us!

Cheers to the birds!! 🐦☀️

09/25/2026

We made it through the week and now it’s time for Feathered Friday! Today’s featured bird is the undeniably cute black-capped chickadee 🖤🤍 This familiar, widespread songbird is loved by many since they are regular visitors to most bird feeders and easily recognized. Their famous “chick-a-dee-dee-dee” call is one of the bird calls that most people probably know.

Black-capped chickadees may be tiny but they are hearty! In the winter, they are able to lower their body temperature overnight and enter a state of regulated hypothermia to help conserve fat preserves. Their feather density also increases to help trap in warmth, and they have special circulation in their legs to reduce heat loss! These birds are pretty amazing!

Do black-capped chickadees visit your bird feeders! Let us know in the comments!

09/22/2026

Be sure to visit Motu Lakeshore W**e Bar this Thursday evening for their bird event! If you enjoy birds in any aspect (which you probably do if you follow our page 🙂), stop by this local business and meet fellow bird enthusiasts and listen to guest speakers Cynthia Maas and Chris Hodges!

Get Ready for “Bird Connections & Cocktails”
🦅🍸

Join Kent County Audubon Society Presidents Cynthia Maas & Chris Hodges and Muskegon Bird Watching Connections for a special presentation. 🦢🪿

Bird Watchers, Bird Enthusiasts, Photographers of Birds are welcome to join and showcase your work! 🦆🍻🪶🦉

Thursday September 24, 2026 from 5:30pm-7:30pm

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