Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Whitefish Point IBA Recognition Ceremony Held

On Saturday April 26 Whitefish Point was ceremonially-recognized as an IBA at the annual Spring Fling banquet. This site and the surrounding waters of Whitefish Bay are home to a vast number of migrant waterbirds, including approximately 25-45% of the North American population of Red-necked Grebes annually. Common Terns, and many species of waterfowl and waterbirds depend on this corridor for successfully completing their annual cycles, and for these reasons the site was named an IBA.

Thanks to Mike Sefton for sending us the following photos (and giving us permission to post them here!)IBA Coordinator Caleb Putnam addresses the crowd. ©Mike Sefton 2008
Left to right: Tracy Casselman (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service), Terry Begnoche (Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society), Caleb Putnam, Marc Snyder (WPBO board), Jack Lapinski (MI Audubon president), Les Homan (Michigan Department of Natural Resources) ©Mike Sefton 2008