GRAND RAPIDS — May is a great time of year to look for migrating birds, especially warblers.
Bryan French works for the Forest History Center in Grand Rapids, and he will be leading "Warbler Walks," at 7 a.m. every Wednesday and Saturday during the month of May. French was a recent guest on the KAXE Morning Show.
"When we're looking for signs of spring, the warblers are the ones we really look for," French said.
There are 15-20 species of warblers that you might see in the woods near the Forest History Center. Yellow is a common color in warblers, but you can also see shades of orange, green and blue.
Warblers have spent the winter in the southern United States, Central America and South America. They travel north in order to have less competition for nesting.
French said, "They're kind of smart because they time it to all the insects coming back, and so right as we start to notice mosquitoes and all the other things that we don't really want to see anymore, that's when the warblers show up and they're like, 'Ohh, I love the mosquitoes!'"
Walks will take place at 7 a.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Meet at the Forest History Center parking lot. There will be binoculars available to borrow, or you may bring your own. Dress for the weather. Walks will occur rain or shine, unless there is lightning. Plan on walking one to two miles at a leisurely pace over two hours on mostly level terrain.
"We'll be walking along and then someone will hear a bird, and then we'll pause and then we'll just listen and we'll look and we'll see if we can find it."
At the end of each walk, French will tally up what birds were seen and submit a report to Cornell Lab's eBird, a collaborative project managed by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.
Walks are free, but membership to the Minnesota Historical Society is encouraged.
What birds have you been seeing? Let us know!
