3d Annual Thornapple Woodpecker Festival

Registration is required for free events and charged events.

Friday, Apr 26

9:00 -11 am How to lead a guided birding walk, with Bryan Ellis. $ 25

12:30 - 5 pm Craft Show outdoors, next to Village Hall free

12:30 - 5 pm Nature Art Show free

12:30 -2:30 pm Guided birding trip with John James Audubon. $20

12:45 - 2:45 pm Guided golf cart birding trip. $10

1:00 - 2:00 pm Speaker or workshop TBA $15

1:00 - 4:00 pm Otis Sanctuary tour $25

1:30 - 4:30 pm Maher Sanctuary tour $25

2:00 - 3:00 pm Speaker or workshop TBA $10

2:30 - 3:30 pm Wildwood Trails tour free

2:45 - 4:45 pm Guided walk free

3:00 - 4:00 pm Speaker or workshop TBA $10

3:00 - 5:00 pm Guided golf cart birding trip. $10

6-10:30 pm Woodpecker Soirée, Silent Auction, and Ball

at the Middle Villa, M -37 Hwy. $35

Sat, Apr 27

8:00 -10:00 am Guided birding walk with John James Audubon. $20

8:15 - 10:15 am Guided golf cart birding trip. $10

9:00 - 5 pm Craft Show outdoors, next to Village Hall free

9:00 - 5 pm Nature Art Show free

9:00 – 12:00 pm Maher Sanctuary tour. $25

9:00 - 10:00 am Speaker or workshop- TBA $15

9:30 - 12:30 pm Otis Sanctuary tour. $25

10:00 - 11:00 am Speaker or workshop- TBA $15

10:00 - 11:00 am Wildwood Trails tour. free*

10:15 - 12:15 pm Guided birding walk free

10:30 - 12:30 pm Guided golf cart birding trip. $10

11:00 - 12 pm Workshop Sketching & Journaling with Bryan Ellis. $15

12:45 - 2:45 pm Guided golf cart birding trip. $10

1:00 - 4:00 pm Otis Sanctuary tour. $25

1:00 - 2:00 pm- Speaker or workshop- TBA. $15

1:30 - 3:30 pm Guided birding walk with John James Audubon. $20

1:30 - 4:30 pm Maher Sanctuary tour. $25

2:00 - 3:00 pm Asian Woodpeckers Pam R. $15

2:30 - 3:30 pm Wildwood Trails tour. free

3:00 - 5:00pm Guided golf cart birding trip. $10

to the Village Hall.

It looks as if winter has finally left. Forecast is for the low 60's. Clear Friday. 20% chance of sprinkles on Saturday, similar to last year..

Thornapple Woodpecker Festival Scheduled Events

April 26-27, 2013

Trail Walks

You can walk down the blacktopped Paul Henry-Thornapple Trail any time. But we will offer several free guided birding walks down the Trail. And, if you need it, we will also offer, for a small fee, guided trail tours by golf cart. For an additional fee, we will offer a few Guided Trail Walks led by John James Audubon, himself. (As portrayed by Brian “Fox” Ellis) http://www.foxtalesint.com/ )

Workshops/Talks.

We will have many workshops that you can register for, for a small fee. They will feature John James Audubon, Professor Pam Rasmussen of MSU (http://avocet.zoology.msu.edu/ ), and Jonathan Morgan (http://friendofbirds.com/friend_of_birds ). Of special interest will be one for field trip leaders on how to give a guided bird walk, by Mr. Audubon. He will also give workshops on Journaling and Sketching.

Mr. Audubon will also make a free presentation for families at 6:30 pm Thursday at the Thornapple-Kellogg high school library. No reservation required.

Art Exhibit

The free Nature Art Exhibit and contest, featuring paintings, sculptures, and photography, will be in the Village Hall during the Thornapple Woodpecker Festival. Please drop in and vote for your favorite.

Sanctuary Tours

You can register for trolley and bus tours to the nearby Audubon sanctuaries, Otis and Maher, paying a small fee for the trolley or bus. And you can ride the trolley to Middleville’s newest park, Wildwood Trails, for a scheduled free guided tour.

Soirée

The soirée on Friday evening will start with local wine and beer tasting, and bountiful hors d'oeuvres. Additional wine and beer will be available for purchase. Then John James Audubon will give a talk about his life, followed by the Woodpecker Ball, dancing to the Forest Evans Quartet. Red, black, and white dress is suggested.

John James Audubon to visit the Thornapple Woodpecker Festival

The paved Paul Henry -Thornapple Trail follows the Thornapple River and has been called the most beautiful railtrail in Michigan. The area has an established population of the rare Red-headed Woodpecker as well as all the other six eastern US woodpeckers.

To celebrate this, and help raise funds for further trail development, the third annual Thornapple Woodpecker Festival will be held April 26-27, 2013, with headquarters at the Village Hall in Middleville, Michigan. It will feature guided birding walks and golf cart tours of the woodpecker nesting area along the river and the Paul Henry-Thornapple Trail. Guided bird hikes will also be featured, with transportation provided from Middleville to Michigan Audubon’s Otis Sanctuary and to Grand Rapids Audubon’s Maher Sanctuary and to the Village of Middleville’s Wildwood Trails Park.

We are pleased to have featured presenters: Brian “Fox” Ellis, internationally renowned storyteller, author and naturalist; and Pam Rasmussen, Assistant Professor of Zoology at Michigan State University, author, and assistant curator of mammalogy and ornithology at the MSU Museum. Other events include a Woodpecker Soiree with keynote speaker, John James Audubon (a.k.a. Brian “Fox” Ellis), a silent auction and Woodpecker Ball, workshops, a nature photo and art contest, and crafters and exhibitors. See the website www.woodpeckerfest.webs.com for registration and up-to-the-minute details. Also, see us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Thornapple-Woodpecker-Festival/189561891069751" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Thornapple Woodpecker Festival.

Featured speakers include:

Brian "Fox" Ellis is an internationally renowned storyteller, author and naturalist. He has been a featured speaker at regional and international conferences on environmental concerns, including several International Migratory Bird Day events, The International Wetlands Conservation Conference, National Nonpoint Source Pollution Conference and the North American Prairie Conservation Conference. Fox is also a museum consultant who has worked with The Field Museum, The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, and The Cincinnati Museum of Natural History to provide teacher training, develop curriculum, and present public programs. He is the Artistic Director for Prairie Folklore Theatre, a unique theater company that celebrates ecology and history through original musical theater. Fox is the author of fourteen books, including the critically acclaimed Learning From the Land: Teaching Ecology Through Stories and Activities, (Libraries Unlimited, 1997). His children’s picture book, The Web at Dragonfly Pond, (Dawn Publications, 2006), has won the National Conservation Education Book of the year award from the Izaak Walton League. Many of his stories are also available on one of twelve award winning CDs. For more information, please visit www.foxtalesint.com .

Want to learn how to lead a more exciting and informative nature/bird walk? Brian “Fox” Ellis will be presenting a unique two-hour leader’s workshop on Friday morning, April 26 at 9:00 a.m. in the Village of Middleville.

Pamela C. Rasmussen is a prominent American ornithologist and expert on Asian birds. She was formerly a research associate at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and is based at the Michigan State University. She is associated with other major centers of research in the United States and the United Kingdom. She recently completed the second edition of the two-volume “Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide”. Along with writing that authoritative book, Rasmussen also has pioneered work to document and catalog bird vocalizations from around the world. At MSU, Rasmussen founded the Avian Vocalization Center, a database providing free downloads of bird sounds of more than 4,000 species around the world, including sonograms, photos, and maps of their habitat.

The Thornapple Trail Association, sponsors of the event, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization committed to turning the old railroad corridor between Grand Rapids and Vermontville into a recreational trail.

Contact: Jean Lamoreaux, Secretary

Thornapple Trail Association

PO Box 393

Middleville MI 49333

616-293-8666

Online registration is open.  Click on Online Registration on the black bar above. We are planning field trips to several nearby nature sanctuaries. Keep watch on the Woodpecker Fest Facebook page for news as it develops.

Nature Art Contest/Exhibit rules are at the bottom of the Info page.