Bird’s Eye View – Kiki Sonnen, President

Thanks to everyone for supporting the Saint Paul Bird Alliance through your generous financial donations, attendance at birding events, volunteering in numerous activities, and support for the Alliance’s mission and values.

The Saint Paul Bird Alliance’s mission is to engage a diverse community in enjoying, understanding, and protecting birds and the habitats all living beings need to thrive.

Our Values are to be a welcoming community that strives to remove barriers and provide opportunities for everyone to enjoy birds and nature.

If you wonder who oversees the Saint Paul Bird Alliance, the answer is our Board of Directors. We are all volunteers. Each year at our May Annual Meeting, our members elect the Board. Our Nominating Committee continues to identify candidates for these offices. If you’re interested in serving on the Board, let us know.

Click here to see who is up for election to the Board of Directors this year.

Photo Credit: Travis-Bonovsky

Warbler Weekend Registration – Almost Full

Registration is filling up fast. Don’t wait! Warbler Weekend 2026 takes place May 8-10. Click here for all the details and to register. Don’t delay, this event has limited spots and usually fills up fast!

We welcome all levels of birding experience and strive to create a supportive, inclusive environment.  We are excited to meet you.

Red-Headed Woodpecker Project – Volunteer

Volunteer with Us at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve for the 2026 Field Season!

Are you a birder or naturalist looking to contribute to real ecological research this summer? We’re recruiting volunteers for two field projects at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve in east-central Minnesota, and we’d love to have you join us!

Click Here for more details and to register

March 2026 Cardinal Newsletter

The latest Cardinal has:

  • Information about the Welcome Back Kestrel Events
  • The American Woodcock Facts and Viewing Events
  • Warbler Weekend Information Update
  • Upcoming Bird Outing Events
  • And More

Here is the Link

Birding through the Months at Silverwood Park

March 17 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

This is the 2nd of a 4-trip Silverwood Park birding experience (February through May). Attend one or all the trips!

Silverwood Park is a beautiful urban park on the shores of Silver Lake. The park’s variety of habitats — oak forest, marsh, grassland, and lakefront — makes it a great birding destination, with over 180 species sighted there.

Birding at a single location over several months can be a great way to get started. This series of four field trips will repeat popular excursions from last year, giving participants the chance to get to know the park and watch for different birds each month as the seasons change. In addition to getting to know the birds of Silverwood, participants will also be introduced to basic birding techniques and tools, including digital resources. Participants are encouraged to bring their own binoculars; a few extra pairs will be available.

Link to Event Page

Birds and Beers

March 18 @ 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm

You’d better come to Birds & Beers so we can discuss Horned Larks & other Early Birds. We’ll gather on Wednesday, March 18, at Sweeney’s, 96 N. Dale St., St. Paul, at 5:30 pm. All are welcome!

Photo Credit: Andy Raupp/Audubon Photography Awards

Link to Event Listing

Welcome Herons on the Spring Equinox

Date: March 21 @ 9:30 – 11:30 am

Location: Pig’s Eye Chokan Tanka Park, 2165 Pigs Eye Lake Road, St. Paul 55119

Come celebrate the return of Herons at Pigs Eye.

INFORMATION: Bring binoculars, a camera phone, a field guide, a sketch pad & pencil, if you can. We will have loaner binoculars and field guides available. Dress for the weather: hats, mittens, a scarf, and waterproof snow boots are advised. The closest facility is a porta-potty at the nearby Wood Chipper operation.

DIRECTIONS: If you are coming to this park for the first time, please reach out to the trip leaders for more detailed instructions. The Warner Road / Childs Lake Road / Pigs Eye Lake Road intersections are a bit challenging. Meet in the parking lot at the far end of the entrance road from the sign Pig’s Eye Chôkan Tanka Park.

REGISTRATION: None

ACCESSIBILITY:  We will be walking on a snow-packed trail for a mile in and a mile out. The trail is fairly flat, with slow dip in grade on the approach to and from the concrete bridge over the creek. The trail may be icy depending on weather conditions.

LEADERS: Kiki Sonnen  kikisonnen@gmail.com

And Kathy Sidles kesid@aol.com

Photo – Audubon Library Jerry Waters

Rebecca Heisman – Surprising Secrets of Bird Biology – Recording Available


** Co-Sponsored with Land of Lakes Bird Alliance **

Click Here to View Recording

Because they’re warm-blooded, it’s easy to imagine that birds are basically feathery versions of mammals—but in reality, of course, they’re dinosaurs. Birds’ anatomy and physiology are wildly different from ours.

Rebecca Heisman promises that you’ll learn at least one new and surprising fact in this talk (probably more than one!) as we take a whirlwind tour of what birds are, where they came from, and how they breathe, fly, sing, sense the world around them, and more. It’s the ornithology course you never got to take in college, condensed into a single entertaining hour. It will share facts and stories about bird respiration, flight, song, and senses that many birders aren’t familiar with.

Rebecca Heisman is a science writer based in eastern Washington who loves “nerding” out about birds. She has contributed to publications like Audubon Magazine, Living Bird, and Bird Conservation. From 2015 to 2020, she worked for the American Ornithological Society, the world’s largest professional organization for bird scientists. Initially, as an independent contractor helping to promote research published in AOS’s scientific journals and later as its first full-time communications staffer, Heisman brought bird science to a broader scientific community and the public. There, she became deeply familiar with the North American ornithological community and grew excited about the diverse and fascinating methods for studying birds.

To learn more about Rebecca’s work, check out these sources:

https://rebeccaheisman.com/https://rebeccaheisman.substack.com

Tammah Watts – Program – Recording Available

** Co-Sponsored with Land of Lakes Bird Alliance **

Link to Webinar Recording

Registration Link and Zoom Meeting Info

Birds are beautiful, funny, mystical, and enduring, just like we are. Like them, we come in varying colors, shapes, and sizes and it is our differences and what we have in common that serve as our greatest strengths. -Tammah Watts

Join Tammah Watts as she weaves together personal story and avian life to reveal the marvelous phenomenon shared among us. This interactive presentation invites the audience to become acquainted, or perhaps re-acquainted, with the many benefits one experiences connecting with our feathered friends at home, in the community, and beyond.

Learn about and explore:

  • the many benefits of spending time in nature, and in particular with birds, for one’s physical and mental health, and overall well-being
  • how spending time with birds in a mindful way can deepen one’s appreciation for our feathered friends as well as enhance our connection to the natural world, and to ourselves
  • ways to develop heightened awareness and acceptance for birding in various settings and capacities from at home to far distant lands and,
  • how one’s story about life and birds can foster a sense of community that honors what we have in common as well as celebrates our differences

Experience birds in a whole new way wherever you are and whenever you wish- all you have to do is look up, take notice, and open your heart and mind.

Tammah Watts (she/her), is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), Certified Kripalu Mindful Outdoor Guide, California Naturalist, birder, and advocate for equitable access to nature, health, and mental wellbeing. 

KEEP LOOKING UP: Your Guide to the Powerful Healing of Birdwatching, (Hay House), is her first book–a narrative memoir and guidebook with contemplative exercises– that chronicles her journey towards healing by meaningfully connecting with birds. 

Tammah serves on regional and national boards dedicated to conservation and environmental stewardship including Audubon CA, San Diego Bird Alliance and Cornell Lab of Ornithology Project FeederWatch + DISES Dayer Lab Project. 

She is an Associate Licensed Mental Health Counselor at a local college where she supports student mental health and personal development across the lifespan and integrates mindfulness and nature therapy. 

Tammah is passionate about collaborating with diverse groups and organizations to advance environmental, social and intergenerational justice, amplify community belonging, and foster healing connections between people and the natural world. 

Her work and perspective have been featured in a variety of media outlets, including The New York Times, Therapy for Black Girls, Ray Brown’s Talkin’ Birds, Washington Post, The Bird Joy Podcast, and Psychology Today and has included being a speaker for Biggest Week In American Birding, Birdability Week, San Diego Bird Festival, Black Birders Week and Wild Bird Feeding Institute, among other venues. 

She lives in San Diego, California, with her husband, Harrison, and their little dog Sophie Cat, all the while trying to combat empty-nest syndrome by visiting (and birding) with their children and grandchildren whenever possible. 

Books: Keep Looking Up: Your Guide to the Powerful Healing of Birdwatching

Winter Bird Count Draws a Record 132 Participants

Saturday, December 20, started out at 27 degrees F. By 5 pm, the temperature had dropped to 12 degrees. Molly Jo Miller, Team Leader for Area 15 Pig’s Eye, said, “We could all feel the biting wind get colder and colder as the day went on.” She thanked her bird counters for their perseverance.

Kiki Sonnen & Greg Burnes – Saint Paul Bird Alliance volunteers, conducted this year’s Winter Bird Count, also known as the Christmas Bird Count, on Saturday, December 20, 2025. Our Count Circle is centered at County Road B and Dale Street and radiates 7.5 miles out in all directions. We have our Count Circle divided into 15 areas. Teams of volunteers search their assigned area, tabulating all birds seen or heard. 

132 birders found a total of 54 species of birds in this year’s Count. A total of 14,392 individual birds were reported. Mallards won the count by a long shot with 7,306  (Thanks to those who took the time to carefully count thousands of Mallards). Rock Pigeons came in a distant second with 1,104, followed by Robins at 905 and House Sparrows at 897.

Several area teams found Great Horned Owls on this year’s Count. Jim Rogers said, “Spent a (very cold) morning with the delightful people of Saint Paul Bird Alliance, taking part in my first Christmas Bird Count…The best spotting was a pair of Great Horned Owls at Hidden Falls Park.” Another team in Roseville, led by Greg Burnes, saw a Great Horned Owl fly overhead while an 11-year-old girl and her mom were present. Even though they are regular visitors to the Raptor Center, they were so excited to see their first owl in the wild! 

John Zakelj and Kathy Janis headed up the Area 10 team, finding 22 species, including Trumpeter Swans, ducks, Mourning Doves, and woodpeckers. Above is a picture of a Tree Sparrow John took.

While the project’s goal is to count birds, equally important is the connection we build with one another and with the birds we see. After the Count, 15 birders who were up for it came to the Post-Count Party. We talked about the day’s adventures, the sightings, the fun, and the cold. 

Mark your calendars – next year’s Winter Bird Count will be Saturday, December 19, 2026.