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Feb. 16-19: Great Backyard Bird Count

Feeding birds, watching birds and counting birds: three simple actions that make a world of difference. This year, the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) takes place Feb.16-19. By simply offering a variety of foods to your birds and recording the … Read more

Let’s Get Gardening in February

By Jennifer Fairfield (Publisher’s note: This is part one of a two-part series. The second part will publish tomorrow.) My apologies for not getting the newsletter out in January – I came down with an upper respiratory bug, and couldn’t … Read more

How Do Mild Winters Affect Wildlife? (with slideshow)

(Chelsea Update would like to thank Tom Hodgson and the Waterloo Natural History Association for the information in this story.) This mild winter is definitely affecting local wildlife numbers and activities. Many species that normally migrate south for the winter … Read more

Late Summer Shorebirds Are On Parade

(Chelsea Update would like to thank Tom Hodgson and the Waterloo Natural History Association for the information and photos in this column.) The end of the summer usually marks the lowest water levels of the year in area lakes. Beaches … Read more

Preparing a banquet for our feathered friends

(Chelsea Update would like to thank Tom Hodgson and the Waterloo Natural History Association for the information and photos in this column.) One of the chief pleasures of winter in Michigan is to be inside a warm house and look … Read more

In photos: a walk in the woods

(Chelsea Update would like to thank Ross Richardson for the photo gallery below taken during a recent walk in the woods.)

Summer’s Last Nester the American Goldfinch

(Chelsea Update would like to thank Tom Hodgson and the Waterloo Natural History Association for the information and photos in this column.) This past winter was one that most of us would like to forget, but in one way it … Read more

3 colorful nesters are back

  (Chelsea Update would like to thank Tom Hodgson and the Waterloo Natural History Association for the information and photos in this column.) Although few birds can match the rainbow colors of the tropical warblers that are still migrating through … Read more

Marvelous May Migrants

(Chelsea Update would like to thank Tom Hodgson and the Waterloo Natural History Association for the information and photos in this column.) They are coming by the thousands. They fly at night, navigating by starlight and the earth’s magnetic field, … Read more

Jan. 25: Want to learn more about birds in the area?

Head to The Garden Mill on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 11 a.m. for a special presentation by Gary Seigrist, naturalist and Stewardship Coordinator at the Dahlem Conservancy in Jackson. He will teach participants how to identify birds in the area. … Read more

Snowy Owls are visiting Chelsea this winter

(Chelsea Update would like to thank Tom Hodgson and the Waterloo Natural History Association for the information in this story and Don Henise for the courtesy photographs.) The snowy owl is a predator of the open tundra of Alaska and … Read more

The old post office has new residents

(Chelsea Update would like to thank Tom Hodgson and the Waterloo Natural History Association for the information and some of the photos in this story.) There has been much speculation over the past several months as to what type of … Read more

Putting an Old Flower Pot to Good Use

(Chelsea Update would like to thank Tom Hodgson and the Waterloo Natural History Association for the information and photos in this story.) The house wren is one of our most common and enjoyable backyard birds in the Chelsea area. This … Read more

Meet your neighborhood woodpeckers

(Chelsea Update would like to thank Tom Hodgson and the Waterloo Natural History Association for the information and photos in this story.) Woodpeckers that visit local feeders in Chelsea are permanent residents.  They nest here in summer and remain through … Read more