Best Birding in Leelanau County
[ Click any bird image to see full size photo ]
This park is divided into two sections, one at the tip of the peninsula and another, larger area four miles south. Between these two sections are private properties, as well as Lighthouse West, a Leelanau Conservancy Natural Area. The northern area is likely the best migrant staging area in spring if the weather isn't right for the birds to overfly Lake Michigan.
The southern section of the park is accessed by taking Densmore Road (immediately north of Woolsey Memorial Airport) to the parking lot. A number of well-marked hiking trails meander through wooded wetlands, northern hardwood forests and out to the dunes along Lake Michigan shoreline. Canopy nesters like scarlet tanager and Blackburnian warbler can be found here. Visit the Leelanau State Park website for more information. Entrance fees are required for both sites.Leelanau Conservancy Natural Areas:
Lighthouse West: This property is separated by the Lighthouse Point section of Leelanau State Park by a private property, and is also an excellent spring migrant traps. Check out the wooded areas in mid-May for migrating songbirds. Rocky shorelines occasionally host shorebirds, and shallow waters can be good for waterfowl. Be aware that property separating the park and Conservancy land, including the beach, is private and closed to the public. Please do not trespass.
Kehl Lake Natural Area: The open area adjacent to the parking lot is good for eastern kingbirds, tree swallows, eastern bluebirds, chipping sparrows and other birds of open and semi-open habitat. The trail to the lake is good for migrating and nesting woodland species, including warblers. Loons, herons and kingfishers are common on and around the lake.Cedar River Natural Area: Accessible only by boat, this is a good area for loons, herons and rails. Wetland species such as common yellowthroats and yellow warblers nest here.
For more information about these and other Conservancy natural areas, visit the Leelanau Conservancy website.
Saving Birds Thru Habitat:
This nonprofit conservation organization owns three acres of mixed habitat and is adjacent to a private effort on behalf of declining birds - Charter Sanctuary. Although the sanctuary is only open for public tours on a few spring dates (check the Calendar on the Saving Birds Thru Habitat website), Saving Birds Thru Habitat's property is open to visitors from early May through the end of October. There is a woodland walk, a demonstration prairie garden and a water feature. The 35-acre prairie installation on Charter Sanctuary is immediately adjacent to Saving Birds Thru Habitat property and can be birded from there. Special private tours of Charter Sanctuary, which has hosted more than sixty nesting species, are available by appointment for a fee.Veronica Valley County Park:
Once a golf course, now a county park, Veronica Valley is a good place to look for shrub-scrub species such as yellow warbler, gray catbird, eastern kingbird and brown thrasher, among others. The County Parks Department has plans for improvement of this property; these improvements should lead to increases in both the numbers of species and the numbers of individuals over time. This park is south of Lake Leelanau on County Road 642 (South Lake Leelanau Drive).
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore:
The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Park is, at more than 71,000 acres, the largest publicly accessible property in Leelanau County. A wide variety of habitat types, including wetland, woodland, shoreline and upland meadow, have attracted nearly 250 bird species. Among them are nesting piping plovers (at the mouth of the Platte River) and prairie warblers (in dune areas with scattered white pines and low, thick cover). Otter Creek is very good during migration (park at the end of Esch Road.)
Visit the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Park website for more information about birding in this beautiful national park. Pictured birds and photo credits top to bottom:
Blackburnian Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Both Photos by: Robert Epstein
Ovenbird
Green Heron
Both Photos by: Jeff Kingery
Bobolink
Photo by: Dianne Sauders
Piping Plover - Adult
Piping Plover - Chick
Both Photos by: U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
