While it may still be cold and blustery when you read this, picture your favorite Lake Michigan beach with sand, sun, warm breezes, and the iconic dunes. Moving inland, you may encounter interdunal wetlands—rare habitats that form between beach ridges and are connected to the Great Lakes by groundwater. These important and globally imperiled ecosystems host diverse species, but face threats from both natural and human-caused fragmentation.

This talk explores how small interdunal wetlands produce emerging insects that serve as a crucial food source for birds during the breeding season. By looking at different wetland types, we’ll see how changes in wetland habitat influence insect availability and the birds that depend on them.

Our speaker, Jennifer Shamel, is a PhD student at Western Michigan University studying how interdunal wetlands support birds during the breeding season. Her research focuses on insect emergence from interdunal wetlands and how these insects influence bird presence and diet. She is especially interested in how wetland conservation can benefit birds and other wildlife.

We hope you'll join us on Monday, March 23rd, at People's Church, 1758 North 10th Street, Kalamazoo. This program is geared to all audiences, and we enthusiastically invite families and nature lovers of any age to join us! Come at 6:30 PM (new time – half an hour earlier this year) for some refreshments and socializing. Snacks and beverages will be provided. It's helpful if you bring your own coffee cup. The one-hour program will start at 7:00 PM. Handicap parking and access is at either the front or the rear entrance of the building.

We will have a simultaneous Zoom link to the meeting for those who can’t make it or feel uncomfortable as yet to attend in person. This link will be available shortly before the meeting in the ASK April newsletter and on our website event calendar - https://kalamazooaudubon.org/calendar/. We will also be recording the meeting for later viewing.