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The Friday workshop
with Caleb Putnam
“Improving
Your Birding Skills” – A hands-on birding workshop featuring
Michigan IBA coordinator and ornithologist Caleb Putnam
Birding enthusiasts will have an opportunity to better their
skills during a hands-on workshop on Friday, May 18, at the
Kirtland House on Kirtland Community College’s main campus near
Roscommon.
“Improving Your Birding Skills,” which will help kick off the
annual Kirtland’s Warbler Festival slated for Saturday, May 19,
will feature Caleb Putnam, a skilled ornithologist and lifelong
birder. Putnam is also the Michigan Important Bird Areas (IBA)
coordinator and chairman of the Michigan Bird Records Committee.
“Early birds” will get a chance to meet Putnam, and grab a
coffee and doughnut before the presentation starts at 9:30 a.m.
The day-long workshop is schedule to end at about 3:30 p.m.
During the workshop, birders and naturalists – from beginners to
experts – will have a chance to learn how to take their birding
skills to the next level and improve their bird identification
skills, general knowledge of birds and birding techniques.
To start off the day, birders and nature enthusiasts will join
Putnam for a rousing morning of useful and colorful indoor
presentations. Putnam will focus on bird plumage, bird
songs, birding optics and new technologies.
After a catered lunch, participants will then head to nearby
Kirtland's warbler habitat to field test and practice what was
presented in the morning session. This will offer those who
attend the workshop a great chance to potentially see and hear a
Kirtland's warbler, plus some of the many other birds that share
the warbler’s jack pine habitat here in northern Michigan.
Participants should bring binoculars and come prepared to go
into the field. Binoculars will be available for those who do
not have their own.
Cost of the workshop is $35 per person and includes lunch. To
register, checks should be made out to Caleb Putnam and mail to
the Kirtland House, Kirtland Community College, 10775 N. St.
Helen Road, Roscommon, Mich. 48653. Seating is limited, with
Tuesday, May 8, set as the deadline to register.
Program Presented by: Caleb
Putnam
Caleb Putnam, native Michigander and
lifelong bird nut, earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from
Alma College and a master’s degree in environmental studies from
the University of Montana. Caleb has worked on many avian
projects including field studies in Montana, Missouri, Virginia,
and most recently Arkansas. He led Kirtland’s warbler and other
tours for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Michigan
Audubon Society in 2004 and 2005, is chairman of the Michigan
Bird Records Committee, and co-author of the newly published
Montana Birds (Lone Pine Publishing). Recent work involves
research on shorebird molt and a brief stint in Arkansas
searching for ivory-billed woodpeckers for the Cornell
Laboratory of Ornithology. He is currently working for Michigan
Audubon Society on a variety of projects.
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