Blackbrook Audubon sets dates for Spring Bird Walk Series
Apr. 13—Blackbrook Audubon invites nature enthusiasts to witness the arrival of migratory birds from near and far in the annual tradition of the Spring Bird Walk Series.
Blackbrook's sponsored hotspot is the north end of Mentor Marsh State Nature Preserve and Headlands Beach State Park, according to a news release. Interested birders meet in the parking lot west of Shipman Pond at 9600 Headlands Road by the northern trailhead of Zimmerman Trail.
The walks start at 7:30 a.m. on the following Sundays: April 14, 21, 28 and May 5, 12, 19.
Before the trees leaf out, participants should be able to see the bald eagle nest from the bridge over Shipman Pond during these walks, the release stated.
The eagles began incubation at the nest closest to Route 44 on Feb. 10. Nest watchers reported observing feeding by the parents at the end of March. The number of nestlings can't be confirmed until they are large enough to be visible over the side of the nest, so the group will scan it each Sunday through a spotting scope.
An osprey may fly overhead since a pair has returned to the osprey nest on the cellphone tower by the Laketran headquarters on Lakeshore Boulevard about a mile south of the bald eagle nest, the release stated.
For more information on the six-week, Cleveland-area Spring Bird Walk Series, email blackbrookaud@aol.com or rdonaldson@cmnh.org.
Blackbrook Audubon started as the Blackbrook Bird Club and has been leading walks in this area since the 1940's. Now Blackbrook Audubon is the local chapter of National Audubon Society covering Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake counties.
