Leelanau County was once a temporary stop on the line for many species of migratory songbirds, but due to the loss of suitable habitats on the peninsula, some of them are being seen more infrequently lately.
The Omena-based nonprofit Saving Birds Thru Habitat aims to improve local ecosystems, both directly through their own planting initiatives and indirectly through education, to attract birds and pollinators back.
“We’re in danger of losing migratory songbirds,” said Saving Birds President Mike Brest. “Every year, they undergo massive pilgrimages from South America for the insect population explosions in northern Michigan. Human well-being is now at risk, too. Our survival and long-term wellbeing depend on a healthy environment.”
According to the latest Saving Birds newsletter, organizational leadership is currently “practic(ing) what we preach” by installing native plants at the Habitat Discovery Center, the organization’s home, at 5050 N. Putnam Rd. in Omena.
Brest said that they have installed over 700 native plants so far. He said that the organization is hosting volunteer days on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 1:30 to 5 p.m. through August. Anyone who wants to get involved and learn about the environment can visit at these times, with no need to register beforehand.
“I’ve invited people to come by and help with the replanting and repotting of seedlings,” Brest said. “If you want to come out and learn about what we’re doing, we’ll be there Saturdays and Wednesdays. You’ll learn techniques for remediating degraded sites with alien species and compacted, low nutrient soil.”
Replanting at the Habitat Discovery Center is being funded by a grant from the Barton and Gail Ingraham Foundation. With the passing of Gail Ingraham on Christmas Eve in 2021, the couple left behind almost $3 million for charities and other organizations. Some of these new plants – including long leaved bluets, birdsfoot violet, and field chickweed — have already bloomed.
By the end of the summer, Saving Birds hopes to create several gardens that demonstrate appropriate habitats for northern Michigan, and have enough plants left over for volunteers to take some home and start their own projects.
Brest and his wife Kathie Albright announced in a recent newsletter that they seek to “rebuild and renew the organization” after it took a hit from the COVID-19 pandemic and its cofounder, Kay Charter, retired earlier this year.
Charter established Saving Birds in 2001 with her late husband, Jim. They sold their “forever home” in Omena eight years earlier and moved to a 47-acre property, where they began restoring native plant species to the area. Both projects seek to recreate the ecosystems that brought migratory birds to northern Michigan in the first place.
Kay and Jim Charter later deeded two acres of their property to be the Habitat Discovery Center. Kay’s enthusiasm and knowledge about the environment helped Saving Birds to continue for over 20 years into the present day. In January, however, Charter decided she was ready to retire as the organization’s executive director.
“I want to thank all of you who have provided generous financial assistance and efforts for projects on the grounds,” Charter wrote in a letter announcing her retirement. “Although I am retiring, I will still be available to answer questions about details of birds’ lives.”
Although a new executive director hasn’t stepped in yet, Brest and Albright have agreed to guide Saving Birds through the remainder of this “transition year” as the organization’s president and treasurer, respectively.
Brest said that he’s been visiting Leelanau County since he was very young in 1956, and he and Albright also install native plants at their home in Lake Leelanau. He says he has been inspired to improve his relationship with the environment since he saw massive infrastructure projects during his childhood in southeast Michigan.
“I grew up in Detroit and we could ride bikes out to remote areas. In 1962, we rode out north of Birmingham, through dirt and woods, and suddenly came to a huge gap in the forest. It was 100 yards wide, and we were stunned. We speculated – were they putting in a military base?” Brest recalls. “They were actually putting in (Interstate Highway) 75. Back then, destroying that much of a forest was such a foreign concept.”
In the newsletter, Brest said that Saving Birds is not participating in this year’s BirdFest while they “(get) the house in order,” including the garden project at the organization’s home in Omena.
