26 Au Train Songbird Trail  

wildlife viewing  |  directions and facility information

   
Photos: deck and sign, © Dave Case; woods, Christopher Yee, US Forest Service

Photo: Christopher Yee, US Forest Service

The Au Train Songbird Trail is an excellent bird watching site. Some of the many species you may encounter include swallows, shorebirds, gulls, and waterfowl. The interpretive trail on this site allows visitors to interact with songbirds in their natural habitat. By renting a cassette player/tape at one of the stores in Au Train (A&L Grocery and Au Train Grocery), visitors can learn about and possibly communicate with 20 species of birds common to the area. The trail passes through uplands and forest, along a stream corridor and a bog, and provides access to an observation platform that surveys a shallow bay of Au Train Lake and its surrounding wetlands.

Wildlife Viewing

 
Rent a cassette player and tape kit at one of the stores
in Au Train (A&L Grocery and Au Train Grocery).
By using this kit along the trail, you can identify
and communicate with up to 20 species of birds.
Photo: © Dave Case

The Au Train Campground and Songbird Trail are excellent areas for spring birding. In May and June, it is possible to view more than a dozen species of warblers, including the magnolia, black and white, Connecticut, Nashville, Wilson’s, and bay-breasted warblers. From the observation platform, watch for bald eagles, ospreys, waterfowl, and many different kinds of shorebirds, including killdeer, greater yellowlegs, American bittern, and spotted, least, and solitary sandpipers.

Portions of this area are open to public hunting. Contact the michigan department of natural resources for affected seasons and locations.