ROSCOMMON- The weekend starts with a bird banding demonstration the Kirtland’s Warbler Festival from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fri. June 2, at the Marguerite Gahagan Nature Preserve, 209 W. Maplehurst Dr., Roscommon, MI 48653.
Later that afternoon at Gahagan is the Home Opener from 5- 8 p.m. Enjoy a social evening, including a nature hike, beer and wine tasting with appetizers, as Kirtland’s Warbler Weekend kicks off.
At 7 p.m. the keynote speaker will be Greg Bodker presenting Birdwatching and Birding.
On Sat. June 3 from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. is the Kirtland’s Warbler Festival at the CRAF Center, 606 Lake Street, Roscommon, MI. Experience Northern Michigan through a variety of activities. The registration table opens at 7 a.m. The day will start at 7:30 a.m. by boarding a trolley out to the jack pine breeding grounds of the Kirtland’s Warbler. There, you will see and hear Kirtland’s Warblers and other wildlife and learn about this unique ecosystem. The second tour will leave at 10 a.m.
On-site activities begin at 10 a.m. There will be plenty of youth activities at the Kids’ Tent, including live animals, face painting, skulls and furs, coloring and painting, and ga.m.es including the Kirtland’s Warbler Alliance’s wildly popular Kirtland’s Warbler Migration Ga.m.e featuring gummy worms at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Our Featured Author, Lori Taylor, will have story time with puppets at 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 2:30 p.m.
There will be many natural resources agencies and nature organizations present to provide information and answer questions and several nature related vendors. “We are excited to have the Children’s Entrepreneur Market a.m.ong out vendors this year” said Kirtland’s Warbler Festival Chair Mike Petrucha. The Michigan Geocaching Organization will be teaching geocaching classes on how to geocache. The artwork of the finalists in the 2023 Huron-Manistee National Forest’s Kirtland’s Warbler Young Artists Contest will also be on display.
Our featured artist Marie Rust and her artwork will be on display and her artwork will be featured on the 2023 Kirtland’s Warbler Festival shirt. Featured author Lori Taylor will have her popular hilarious middle grade HOLLY WILD series, a realistic-fiction Michigan series, and other books that highlight Michigan’s parks and wild places’ flora and fauna, legend, myth, and science.
This year’s presentations are “Deciphering survival and habitat usage between the breeding and post-breeding periods for adult and juvenile Kirtland’s Warblers” by Haley Haradon, “Bird on the Move: Looking to the Past to Secure the Future of the Kirtland’s Warbler” by Steve Roels, and “Michigan Snakes Alive” by Jim McGrath.
“Another new feature of this year’s festival is the Birdhouse Artist Contest” said festival chair Mike Petrucha. The 15 decorated birdhouses will be displayed in businesses in Roscommon. They will be at the Home Opener on June 2 and at the festival June 3. There will be a silent auction for the birdhouses with the birdhouse receiving the highest bid declared the winner. The winner will be announced at 2 p.m. Following that, the winners of the other door prizes will be announced. We will also raffle a pair of Kowa BD II 42-8XD 8X42 binoculars, donated by Kowa, at both the Home Opener and the Kirtland’s Warbler Festival.
A $5.00 Kirtland’s Warbler Festival button is required for the Kirtland’s Warbler tours and presentations. Children do not need a button. A button is not required for other outdoor festival activities.
For more information and updates about these events, visit our Kirtland’s Warbler Festival Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kirtlandwarblerfestival, or email at kirtlandsfestival@gmail.com.
In conjunction with the Kirtland’s Warbler Festival on June 3 in Downtown Roscommon, there is the classic car show from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. For more details contact Tracy at 989-275-8760 or info@hlrcc.com. There is also the Village Cornhole Challenge with registration starting at 10 a.m. For more details contact Beth at 989-275-4855 or beth@whitepineandpetals.com.
Schedule of events
Friday Home Opener – Fri. June 2
Marguerite Gahagan Nature Preserve, Roscommon, MI
7 –9 a.m.—Bird Banding Demonstration
5 p.m.—Wine and Beer Tasting with Appetizers
5 –7 p.m.—Nature Walks
7 –8 p.m.—Keynote Speaker—Greg Bodker—Birdwatching and Birding
Kirtland’s Warbler Festival – Sat. June 3
CRAF Center, 606 Lake Street, Roscommon, MI 48653
7 a.m. Registration Desk Opens
7:30 –9:30 a.m.—1st Field Trip
10 a.m.–12 p.m.—2nd Field Trip
10 a.m.–4 p.m.—Featured Artist—Marie Rust
10 a.m.–4 p.m.—Featured Author—Lori Taylor
10 a.m.–4 p.m.—Kid’s Tent, Birdhouse silent auction, Vendors, Agency personnel, Young Artists’ Contest artwork display, Kowa binocular raffle Door prize drawings, and more
10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 2:30 p.m.—Story Time with Fea-tured Author Lori Taylor
11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.—Kirtland’s Warbler Migration Ga.m.e—Bill Rapai—Kirtland’s Warbler Alliance
Presentations 12:30 –3:40 p.m.
12:30 –1:20 p.m.—Haley Haradon—Deciphering survival and habitat usage between the breeding and post-breeding periods for adult and juvenile Kirtland’s Warblers
1:30 –2:30 p.m.—Steve Roels—American Bird Conservancy—Bird on the Move: Looking to the Past to Secure the Future of the Kirtland’s Warbler
2:40 –3:40 p.m.—Jim McGrath—Nature Discovery—Michigan Snakes Alive
