Michigan is home to one of the world's rarest birds...the Kirtland's warbler. This small, energetic bird was one of the first to be listed as endangered after the Endangered Species Act of 1973 was passed by Congress. One reason this bird is endangered is the extremely limited area in which it nests--young jack pine forests growing on a special type of sandy soil in northern lower Michigan. Most of these nesting areas are in Crawford, Oscoda, and Ogemaw counties. The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S Forest Service, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and Michigan Audubon Society are working together to save this endangered bird from extinction. Free guided tours to Kirtland's warbler nesting areas depart from the US Forest Service Office in Mio, Michigan and from the Holiday Inn in Grayling, Michigan. [Note: Crawford, Oscoda, and Ogemaw counties are in north-central lower Michigan. BMB] from the USDA Forest Service Kirtland's Warbler web page http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/hmnf/pages/kirtland.htm ----- See information from Glenn Palmgren at the bottom regarding looking for Kirtland's Warbler on your own. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The drive from Ann Arbor to Mio is about 3 hr 30 min. Take U.S. 23 to Flint. Continue north on I-75. You'll go past Saginaw, Bay City, Pinconning, Standish, and Sterling. A few miles past the turnoff to Sterling you'll come to M-33. Get off there and take M-33 straight north to Mio (35 miles). The total drive from Ann Arbor is 176 miles. BMB ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is a list of motels in Mio--quite a few for a town of population 1,900. Thanks to Dea Armstrong for providing this compilation. AuSable Valley Inn, 470 S Mt Tom Rd, Mio, MI 48647, 517-826-1737 Four Seasons Motel, 110 Nolan St, Mio, MI 48647, 517-826-6400 Holiday Motor In, 11 N Mount Tom Rd, Mio, MI 48647, 517-826-3743 McKinley Corner Inn, 4680 McKinley Rd, Mio, MI 48647, 517-848-7255 Mio Motel, 415 N Morenci Ave, Mio, MI 48647, 989-826-3248 Mio Pine Acres Campground, 1215 W 8th St, Mio, MI 48647, 517-826-5590 Mio Song Bird Motel, 320 S Morenci Ave, Mio, MI 48647, 989-826-5547 North Star Resort, 1330 S Mount Tom Rd, Mio, MI 48647, 517-826-3278 Northern View Motel, 75 E Cherry Creek Rd, Mio, MI 48647, 517-826-3830 Pinewood Motel, 142 N M 33, Mio, MI 48647, 517-826-3704 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The following is from Alan Bean's web page at http://www-personal.umich.edu/~abean/birding/ (as of 5-20-02). See Alan's web page for a number of useful links. Birding in Crawford County, Michigan [The Kirtland's Warbler] -------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to the Grayling and Crawford County Region! If you're thinking about visiting and birding in northern lower Michigan in the near future, then Grayling and the Crawford County area is the place to go! I hope to highlight some of the more interesting and unique birding opportunities available here, and if you're willing, I'll tell you about some of my own adventures and notes. This site is rather small, but given time it will grow! Stick around, I'm sure you will find something to enjoy! And if you are interested in more birding sites, then be sure to check out the bird-related Web Ring links at the bottom of this page. Visit Northern Michigan Birding Be sure to visit Northern Michigan Birding (http://www.northbirding.com), Keith Saylor's wonderful birding site dedicated to birders in northern and central Michigan. There, you will find an exclusive message board where you can read and post everything related to birds and habitats specific to this part of Michigan. Then, once you're finished checking the message board, click on over to the NMB Bird Identification Training Center to quiz yourself on everything from shorebirds to warblers. Go to the NMB Registry so that you can register your name and e-mail address to receive the latest NMB news and updates. Keith's site is excellent and a great resource for anyone interested in finding birds in northern Michigan! A Celebration of Nature! On Saturday, May 22, the 1999 Kirtland's Warbler Festival is coming to the campus of Kirtland Community Collge! Located 8 miles north of St. Helen at 10775 N. St. Helen Road in Roscommon County, visitors will be treated to guests such as wildlife photographer Carl R. Sams II and Michael Glenn Monroe, the 1997 Michigan Duck Stamp winner. The festival celebrates the return of the Kirtland's warbler from the Bahamas to the its nesting site here in the Jack Pine Country of northern Michigan! Admission is free and includes wildlife presentations, tours, photograph exhibits, children's activities, a juried fine arts exhibit, and more! Fun for the whole family! For more info, call (517) 275- 5121, extension 347. Source: The Jack-Pine Warbler, volume 76, number 2, p. 4. Edited by David Worthington, published by the Michigan Audubon Society. Free Guided Tours to Kirtland's Warbler Nesting Areas From mid-May to early July, you can take a free guided tour of the Kirtlands' warbler nesting area located either in Grayling or Mio. Tours to the nesting areas depart from the Grayling Holiday Inn and the U.S. Forest Service District Ranger Office in Mio and may not be offered every day of the week. Kirtland's Warblers at a Record High! According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Michigan's 1998 population of the endangered Kirtland's warbler is the highest recorded since the first census was done in 1951. Biologists, volunteers, and researchers counted 805 singing males during the official 1998 census period completed in mid-June, compared to 733 in 1997 and to the previous high of 766 in 1995. Low numbers were counted in 1987 and 1974, when only 167 singing males were found. The census was started in 1951, repeated in 1961, and has been done annually since 1971. Wildlife bilogists and foresters from state and federal agencies conduct a combination of clearcutting, burning, seeding, and replanting to mimic the effects of wildfire in regenerating young Jack Pine stands, the warbler's breeding habitat. "The number of Kirtland's warblers counted in areas specifically planted for warbler nesting habitat has continued to increase over the past several years; planted areas had over 76 percent of the population this year," said Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist Jerry Weinrich of the Roscommon Lower Peninsula Field Headquarters. "Additional new habitat will become available each year for the next several years, so there is reason to be optimistic that the warblers will continue to increase over the next few years." Source: Ornithological Newsletter, August 1998, edited by Cheryl L. Trine, published by the American Ornithologists' Union. ---------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Glenn R. Palmgren" To: "BIRDCHAT" , "UM Birders" , Subject: The Kirtland's Warbler FAQ Date sent: Tue, 6 Apr 1999 14:38:53 -0400 Due to recent postings on various birding email groups, I think it is the time of year again to answer some common questions about Kirtland's Warbler. Kirtland's Warbler arrives on its breeding grounds in northern Lower Michigan in mid-May (usually between May 15 and 20). The best way to see it is on the guided tours given by either the US Forest Service out of Mio or the US Fish & Wildlife Service out of Grayling. The Mio tours for 1999 will run from May 15 through July 2 on Wednesday - Sunday mornings at 7am (no tours on Mondays or Tuesdays). The tours leave from the Mio Forest Service Ranger Station (on M-33 just south of the AuSable River), and cost $5.00 per person. The Grayling tours for 1999 (free of charge) will start daily at 7am from May 15 through July 4 at the Holiday Inn in downtown Grayling. After late June or early July, it becomes much more difficult to find KWs because they don't sing nearly as much as earlier in the year. A web page has been set up by the Forest Service with general information about Kirtland's warbler conservation and specific information about their tours: http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/hmnf/pages/kirtland.htm [above URL updated and current, 5-29-2002 // BMB] There are many places along roadsides where the warblers can be heard and seen. Look for patchy jack pine stands with trees 8-16 feet tall in the vicinity of Mio or Grayling. You can stop on the roads (if there's no traffic, of course) but it is illegal to enter the breeding areas or even walk off the roadsides in those areas; there are signs posted on the roadsides to remind you. From past experience working in these forests, I would say that in spring in appropriate habitat you are almost guaranteed seeing or hearing Kirtland's warbler, clay-colored, vesper, Lincoln's, song, field, chipping, and other sparrows, brown thrasher, hermit thrush, nashville & yellow-rumped warblers, american crow, black- capped chickadee, brown-headed cowbird, flicker, downy woodpecker, red-breasted nuthatch, and blue jay. Other good possibilities (but a little less common) include upland sandpiper, both cuckoos, common nighthawk, and other warblers in migration. Black-backed woodpeckers can sometimes be found in very recent burns, but usually abandon an area 1-2 years after a burn. It may be possible to find these birds by yourself from the roadsides if you spend a lot of time driving around, but it is much easier if you go on the tours. Good luck! ----------------------------------------------------------------- - Glenn Palmgren School of Natural Resources Graduate Student - Forest Ecology & Environment palmgren@umich.edu University of Michigan http://www-personal.umich.edu/~palmgren/ Ann Arbor, MI 48109 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Jack Pine Wildlife Viewing Tours http://theenchantedforest.com/Wildlife_Viewing/Jack_Pine_Wildlife_Viewing_Tou/jack_pine_wildlife_viewing_tou.html ---------------------------------------------------------------- Karen Markey - motels and tours Date sent: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 07:27:07 -0400 To: birders@umich.edu From: Karen Markey Subject: [birders] Kirtland Warbler tour protocol at Mio, Michigan I've taken the Kirtland's tour in Mio several times over the years. This is the second year I'll dedicate a whole week at Mio as a Kirtland's Warbler census volunteer. For the Mio tour, I usuallly drive to Mio in the late afternoon. It is a guaranteed 3-hour drive from my home on the northeast side of Ann Arbor to Mio. I stay at the Mio Motel, phone 989-826-3248. One night's stay is usually between $50 and $60. It is a very nice motel, clean, small refrigerator, microwave, leather couch even!, cable television with The Weather Channel and more, etc. A medium-sized Glenn's grocery store is adjacent the Mio Motel in case you need food or supplies. A very nice diner is right across the street in case you need a meal; I believe the diner opens at 6:30 am which may not give you enough time to meet your 7 am tour. (Other motels are the Holiday Motor Inn, 989-826-3743, and the AuSable Valley Motel, 989-826-1737, which is relatively new and has a pool.) The U.S. Forest Service Station is directly across the street from the Mio Motel. You go to the Station at 7 am, get a short verbal description from a ranger and watch a film about the warbler and the Forest Service's efforts to increase and maintain its numbers and save its habitat. Then you get into your own car and follow the ranger to a place where a male Kirtland's Warbler is singing. You listen and look and finally see the bird (most of the time). The tour should be over no later than 10 am, usually earlier. The benefit of taking the tour is that the guide knows where male Kirtlands are singing and will let you walk into the forest. If you are alone, you CANNOT walk into the forest on your own. It is posted and there are penalties for trespassing on National Forest posted property. If you are on your own, you must park on the road and struggle to see the birds on your own. If you don't see a bird at the 7 am Mio tour, some folks drive to Grayling for the late-morning tour there. I've not taken the Grayling tour but it is a possibility in the event that your Mio tour is unsatisfactory. The earlier in the season that you take a Kirtland's tour (late May, very early June), the more likely you are to get an experienced U.S. Forest Service ranger as a guide instead of a brand new, usually very young, summer intern who may or may not know the bird, its song, or how to handle a group of people. If you go on a weekday tour, the more likely you are to join a small, manageable group of birders. One year, I was the ONLY person on the tour. The ranger and I endured an incredible thunderstorm and my reward was five stunning singing Kirtland Warblers viewed through the ranger's scope. What a treat! Last year as a census volunteer, I heard about 110 Kirtlands, saw about 11. Those are pretty amazing numbers when you realize that the 2003 census counted about 1,100 singing male Kirtlands last year. Hearing 5% of a species is an amazing feat (assuming one male for every female). -- Karen Markey Professor School of Information, 304 West Hall, 550 E. Univ. Ave. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1092 USA Voice: 1-734-763-3581; Fax: 1-734-764-2475 Email: ylime@umich.edu Web site: http://www.si.umich.edu/~ylime/index.html ------------------------------------------------------------------ Karen Markey - more on tours I cut and pasted the information below from the "Huron-Manistee National Forests" web page on Kirtland's Warbler. Check this web page for more information (http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/hmnf/pages/kirtland.htm): Mio: Tours offered by the US Forest Service depart from the Mio Ranger Station in Mio. Tours start on May 15 and the last tour for the year will be conducted on July 2. The tours are conducted daily during this period; tours are not offered on Memorial Day, May 31. Tours start promptly at 7:00 am each day. The Forest Service tour costs $5.00 per person under the Recreation Fee Demonstration Program.Eighty percent of these funds stay on the Forest to help cover the cost associated with the tours. Grayling: The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service will conduct guided tours from May 15 through July 4, 2004 departing from the Holiday Inn in Grayling, Michigan.The tours are offered daily at 7:00 a.m. and at 11:00 a.m. and are free of charge. PS. By the second week in June, the bugs can be rather bothersome. Be prepared with sprays, hats, long sleeves, etc. -- Karen Markey Professor School of Information, 304 West Hall, 550 E. Univ. Ave. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1092 USA Voice: 1-734-763-3581; Fax: 1-734-764-2475 Email: ylime@umich.edu Web site: http://www.si.umich.edu/~ylime/index.html ------------------------------------------------------------------ From: billmurphy8@home.com To: "Bruce M. Bowman" Subject: Re: question about Mio Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2001 20:30:57 -0500 Bruce, >A friend asked me where to stay in Mio. All they need is cheap and clean. Mio Motel? Songbird Motel? AuSable Inn?< I've enjoyed staying at both the Mio Motel and the Four Seasons Motel. The Mio Motel is fancier and closer to McDonald's (which opens at 6:00 a.m..) and to Kristi's Bakery across the street (good bagels / muffins and many varieties of coffee, also opens early). I don't know the rates at the Mio Motel. Three of us split a room at the Four Seasons Motel two weeks ago and it came to $20/night per person. Two bedrooms and a bed in the combination kitchen/living room. Not fancy but perhaps relatively inexpensive. It's about a mile west of the Mio/McDonald's section of Mio. I think that if I lived in Michigan I'd be up that way most weekends. All the best, --Bill ----------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2001 00:02:57 -0400 From: Glenn R. Palmgren To: Deaver Daves Armstrong Subject: RE: Finally, I am going to Mio... Hi Dea, [...] By the way, the restaurant next to the USFS office has very good food. If I remember correctly, I think it's called the AuSable River Restaurant. Most of the other restaurants in town are also good, especially the pizza place across from the A&W. There is also a new McDonalds that wasn't there when I lived there. Best of luck. If you see Phil Huber (Wildlife biologist in the USFS Mio office) while you're up there, tell him I said hi. Good birding! Glenn ----------------------------------------------------------------- Date sent: Wed, 27 Jun 2001 10:43:46 -0400 Subject: FW: Kirtland's Warbler population highest ever recorded From: Crystal Keller To: birders@umich.edu Send reply to: Crystal Keller From: Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2001 To: DNRWIRE@listserv.state.mi.us Subject: KIRTLAND'S WARBLERS POPULATION HIGHEST EVER RECORDED FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, 27 JUNE 01 CONTACTS: Jerry Weinrich, 517-275-5151 Pat Lederle, 517-373-1263 KIRTLAND'S WARBLERS POPULATION HIGHEST EVER RECORDED LANSING--The Michigan Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service today announced Michigan's 2001 Kirtland's warbler count recorded 1,085 singing males, the highest count since the first census was taken in 1951. The 2001 count represents an increase of nearly 200 singing males over last year's count of 891. State and federal officials called the count a significant milestone toward the recovery of this federally-endangered species. "This is a tremendous achievement," stated Mike Decapita, USFWS biologist. "It wasn't that long ago in 1987 that we had a low population count of only 167 singing males." The lowest numbers were counted in 1974 and 1987, when only 167 singing males were found. The census has been performed annually since 1971. The birds are counted by biologists, researchers and volunteers on state, federal and private lands by listening for their songs. The songs can be heard more than one-quarter mile away, providing an accurate method to census the birds with minimum disturbance. Since only males sing, the minimum breeding population (males & females) is calculated as twice the count of singing males. "The Kirtland's warbler management program represents the best of scientific wildlife management at work," said Pat Lederle, Endangered Species Program Coordinator for the DNR. "The cooperation among DNR biologists and foresters, U.S. Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of Military Affairs in managing the jack pine barrens for warblers' nesting habitat is outstanding." In addition to providing warbler habitat and forest products, the jack pine system provides valuable habitat for a variety of plant species, songbirds and game animals. Maintaining the jack pine barrens is essential because Kirtland's warbler numbers are directly related to the amount of available nesting habitat. The Kirtland's warbler nests have been found only in jack pine stands located in northern Michigan. The warbler is a ground nester and selects stands of trees about 4 to 20 years old with live branches that extend to the ground. Historically, these stands of young jack pine were created by natural wildfires that frequently swept through northern Michigan. Modern fire suppression programs altered this natural process, reducing Kirtland's warbler habitat. To mimic the affects of wildfire, state and federal wildlife biologists and foresters now conduct a combination of clearcutting, burning, seeding and replanting on about 150,000 acres. Only through continuation of these activities can the bird's survival into the future be ensured. At least 1,500 acres of jack pine trees were seeded on state and federal lands this spring, and 1,000 additional acres will be planted this fall. These new plantations will provide habitat for warblers in six to 10 years. The number of singing males found in 9 northern Lower Peninsula counties were: Alcona 132, Clare 11, Crawford 266, Iosco 50, Kalkaska 20, Ogemaw 385, Oscoda 190, Otsego 9, and Roscommon 14. A total of 8 singing males were found in three Upper Peninsula counties: Delta 4, Marquette 2 and Schoolcraft 2. Females were observed with the males, indicating continuing nesting activity in the Upper Peninsula. The production of young has been confirmed in the Upper Peninsula each year since 1996. No singing males have been reported this year in Wisconsin or Ontario. For more information on the Kirtland's warbler, contact the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Bureau, Natural Heritage Program, Box 30180, Lansing, MI 48909-7680. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Date sent: Fri, 30 Mar 2001 17:08:26 -0500 From: Steve Santner To: birders@umich.edu Subject: Re: birding in michigan The easiest way is to go on one of the tours. The tour guides know which males are most cooperative in sitting up so you can get a look at it. There are two different tours. One leaves daily from the Holiday Inn in Grayling at 7:00 and 11:00 AM. Birds are on territory from mid/late May through late June (and probably July also but the level of singing falls rapidly after about June 25th). This tour is free. The other starts from the US Forest Service office in Mio. They go daily from May 15 to July 1 (except Memorial Day - May 28). These tours cost $5.00/person. If you don't want to go on the tours you may be able to find singing males in Oscoda or Crawford Counties but most of their habitat is managed and you can't enter into these Jack Pine areas. You also cannot use tapes to draw them in. In fact, there are large fines for doing anything to "disturb" these birds. Steve Santner