Programs are sponsored by Earth Week Plus and take place throughout Cheboygan County. They are free and suitable for all ages.
Learn About Raptors and See Them Counted as They Cross the Straits
Bring your folding chair and powerful binoculars to Mackinaw City to see raptors migrating back to their breeding grounds north of the Straits. These birds of prey, meat-eating raptors that cross the Straits, include hawks, eagles, owls, and vultures, which are counted by professionals as they migrate north. The migration generally takes place from early March to early June.
The Mackinac Straits Raptor Watch conducts research in the Straits to support raptor conservation and to inform and inspire people about these majestic creatures. The group includes scientists, birders, conservationists, all who care about the Mackinac Straits, and all MSRW (Mackinac Straits Raptor Watch) supporters.
Scott Davis, the Executive director of MSRW, explains that migrating raptors coming through Michigan to reach northern breeding grounds often fly along the east or west side of the mitten. They reach a choke point at the Straits, as these birds like to see land on the other side of a body of water. Their crossing is weather-dependent. In the spring the water and air in the Straits are colder than that on land, and as birds head north, they tend to sink as they come across the Straits. So, they wait for sunny weather to create rising thermals over the land, and then ride those thermals across the Straits. At that time, they rise and mass together in a group, called a “kettle,” and stream across. The groups can be from 20 birds to hundreds at a time.
“It’s a natural phenomenon that gives you goosebumps,” Davis says. “When you see this–it’s a repeat of what has happened for thousands of years.” Fall is much different, he says, as the water is warmer than the air, and radiates heat upward. Raptors cross individually throughout the day to migrate south.
MSRW has hired a professional bird counter to collect data that is fed into a national data base. The birds are identified by species and number.
The counter is unable to engage with the public or give information while he is working. A Raptor Naturalist, Sarah Reding, has been hired to help people identify birds and answer questions. She will be available at count sites during nice weekends starting at the end of March through May.
There are two count sites, both off Central Avenue in Mackinaw City.
The site that is used most often early in the spring is behind the Mackinaw City Recreation Complex, near the Baseball Field, off Central Avenue at the corner of S. Askins and Pond Street. The secondary site is a gravel pit/field about 1 mile west of the Recreation Complex on the south side of Central Ave. Look for a Hawk Watch sign near the location to turn off West Central Ave. (There are also counts going on at Mackinac Island, supported by the Mackinac Island Community Foundation.)
Specialty Weekends are coming up! Celebrate the first species to migrate north.
Golden Eagle Weekend, Saturday and Sunday, March 15, 16. Scott Davis says the optimum watch time is 10:00 – 2:00. Mackinac Straits Raptor Watch holds the nationwide record for the largest seasonal count of Golden Eagles seen east of the Mississippi, as they migrated through the Straits of Mackinac (381 in 2024)
Red-Tailed Hawk Weekend, Saturday and Sunday, April 12, 13, 10:00 – 2:00. In 2019 MSRW set the nationwide record for the largest seasonal count of Red-tailed Hawks at 22,420 migrating through the Straits.
Broad-winged Bonanza Weekend, Saturday and Sunday, April 26, 27, 10:00 – 2:00. See the kettles form and learn more from Sarah Reding, the Raptor Naturalist.
Mackinaw Straits Raptor Watch is a program endorsed by Earth Week Plus. All programs are appropriate for all ages, free, and open to the public. To learn more about MSRW, visit mackinacraptorwatch.org.
Contact: Scott Davis, (615) 305-2957, scott@mackinacraptorwatch.org
Saturday and Sunday, March 15 & 16, @ 10am – 4pm
Gary Shepherd, owner of Bonz Beach Farms, operates a syrup-making business with a tree tap system that moves sap through 2 miles of tubing into a collection pumphouse. See the sap as it is pumped into the 4200-gallon tank that begins the syrup processing.
“I started with 60 taps in the first year I made syrup,” says Shepherd.
“Now we have about 4,300 taps.” Shepherd says the season goes by quickly. It runs from mid-February to the end of April.
Watch the steps in the automated manufacturing shop that can produce about 40 gallons of syrup an hour. See the steps needed that take about 43 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of syrup. Learn about the thousands of trees tapped and how that sap becomes syrup, sugar, candy, mustard, and more.
Syrup, sugar, candy, and mustard are available for purchase.
Location: 20706 Bonz Beach Hwy., Onaway, MI 49765
Contact: Gary Shepherd, Bonz Beach Farms, (989) 326-0895, bonzbeachfarms@gmail.com
Saturday, March 22, @ 10am-4pm, 2025
Visit an authentic Sugar Bush and see how Native Americans made maple sugar hundreds of years ago with traditional tools. See how sap is collected and boiled over an open fire. Watch the maple syrup turn into sugar when worked by hand. Make snow taffy, weather permitting.
See the traditional Bark House, used as a portable shelter by Native Americans.
All free and open to the public. Maple syrup and sugar will be available for purchase.
Dress warmly and enjoy the historical demonstration presented by Keith Knecht, owner of Native Ways and Traditional Arts. Updates on Facebook at Native Ways Traditional Arts.
Location: 2152 Cassidy Rd., Levering, MI 49755
Contact: Keith Knecht, Sugar Bush, (231) 420-0388, nwta1760@yahoo.com
Tuesday, April 22 @ 11am | 7363 S. Pleasantview Rd., Harbor Springs
Saturday, May 3 @ 10am | 973 N. Huron Street, Cheboygan
Learn about plant modernization.
Tuesday, May 6 @ 6pm | Cheboygan Public Library
Learn about invasive sea lamprey destroying commercial and recreational fishing. skyhoundmedia.com
Saturday, May 10 @ 8am – 11am | Cheboygan Public Library main parking lot
Sponsored by Encore Financial
Saturday, May 10 @ 11am
Register (required) at www.sturgeonfortomorrow.org.
Tuesday, May 13 @ 6pm | Cheboygan Public Library
Learn more about the environmental activities and site remediation followed by a Q&A.
Saturday, May 17 @ 10am-12pm
Bring gloves & a bucket if you have them (we’ll have a few) picnic to follow. Check-in at Gordon Turner Park.
Saturday, May 31 @ 10am | 11151 Townline Rd., Cheboygan
Gardens, chickens, pasture pigs, cows, and 16 kilowatts of solar power.
Saturday, May 31 @ 11am | Sea lamprey research facility
Registration required. Contact Margaret @ 989-734-4768 x112 or email msigmon@glfc.org.
Sunday, June 8 @ 1pm | 4848 Indian Trail, Cheboygan
CSA farm supplying vegetables and plants to our Farmers Market.
Tuesday, June 24 @ 6pm | Cheboygan Area Public Library
Lauri Juday, a local monarch enthusiast, will discuss and demonstrate how she protects monarchs and fosters their survival. Door prizes.
Saturday, June 28 @ 11am | 5766 Drier Rd., Levering
Tour a fish hatchery conducting research and rearing several different species including Sturgeon, Whitefish and Herring/Cisco.
Missed us at these fun activities? Plan for next year! Follow us on Facebook to get all the latest on our adventures and activities.