Join Senior Naturalist Dan Best for special birding opportunities
Always the second Saturday in May in the U.S., International Migratory Bird Day gives Geauga Park District a great hook to provide unique birding opportunities along the Cuyahoga River of Eldon Russell Park in Troy Township.
In two weeks, Senior Naturalist Dan Best’s goal tends to be 50 species, including sandpipers, vireos, flycatchers, cuckoos, thrushes, orioles, tanagers, grosbeaks, buntings and colorful warblers such as “the Jewel of the Cuyahoga,” the famed Prothonotary Warbler.
On International Migratory Bird Day itself, Saturday, May 11, celebrate the return of migratory songbirds from the Latin American Tropics by joining the Boating Birder’s Songbird Search from 9 to 11 a.m.
Registration for this program is required between May 4 and 10 or 440-286-9516. Bring your own canoe or kayak; a limited number of park canoes will be available for use by those ages 7 and up, permitting one 10-year-old or older to paddle and only one 7 to 12-year-old in the middle.
Then a week to the day, on Saturday, May 18, birders novice and advanced can also help count during a Riverside Bird Walk from 9 to 11 a.m.
Circumstances permitting, walkers will also help Dan net Prothonotary Warblers for banding purposes, providing an in-hand look at this golden beauty.
Registration is not required for the walk. With questions, call 440-286-9516.
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