GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Every morning, dozens of people pace the boardwalk at Huff Park. It's a place to get exercise, and a place to get away from the many stresses of every day life. But many people might not know that this popular park is also one of the best places to go birding in Grand Rapids.
"You don't have to go to some cool place across the country in order to fully embrace how interesting and diverse nature can be, right in our own backyards. That's why places like this are so important," said Spencer High, who serves as the vice president of the Grand Rapids Audubon Club.
The Audubon Club is teaming up with Friends of Grand Rapids Parks to offer an event called "Explore Your Parks: Discover Birds in Grand Rapids." It's happening on Saturday, September 23 from 8 to 11 a.m. at Huff Park.
High says fall migration is in full swing, which makes now a great time to get outdoors and look for birds.
"It's just a joy to be outdoors and bring others along and kind of share our experiences and birding but also kind of our knowledge as well," he said.
Along with guided bird tours, there will be games like "bird bingo" that offer participants a chance to win a prize. You can also learn more about what the parks in the City of Grand Rapids have to offer.
The event is open to people of all ages and experience levels. The Audubon Club will have binoculars that people can borrow to get the full experience of birding. Huff Park is also an accessible park with trails that people of any ability level can enjoy.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Michigan in early 2020, the Audubon Club has seen an uptick in membership and people getting into birding in general.
"I think we added 55 new members last year, which for a club our size is huge. It's really exciting for us. We're getting birders of all different skill level, and familiarity with the topics. We're getting more families, some younger folks, and people who have never done it before. So, we're really excited about that," said club president Tricia Boot.
"The joy of this is getting to pair some of those newer birders with our long-term birders who have this expertise and experience, and so kind of that knowledge share. And then the enthusiasm with the newer birders just makes for a really great group."
If you can't make it Saturday, the Audubon Club also offers monthly programs and regular field trips including free Thursday morning walks at Millennium Park in Walker. For members, there are monthly meetings which include educational programming. If you'd like to learn more, you can visit their Facebook page.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.