# Restaurant's 16 feeders draw hummingbirds



## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Restaurant's 16 feeders draw hummingbirds

http://www.mlive.com/outdoors/grpress/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/117706954766700.xml&coll=6

04/20/07 By Howard Meyerson The Grand Rapids Press [email protected]

When Anita and Marv Bliss put their first hummingbird feeder outside the window of their restaurant in 1990, they noticed customers were enamored with the tiny birds that came to feed. 

So the next year they put out a few more and, over the years, even more.

Today, their 16 hummingbird feeders attract anywhere from 50 to 60 of the tiny birds, mostly rubythroat hummingbirds, the common species in southern Michigan. 

The feeders draw so many, in fact, that the Colon couple consulted with bird experts and decided to hold Michigan's first-ever Hummingbird Festival. 

The event is scheduled for Aug. 1 at the River Lake Inn Trails and Gardens, the couple's restaurant and butterfly garden, 18 miles south of Battle Creek. 

It will be a day of seminars about hummingbirds and plants, offered by experts such as author Allen Chartier. The event includes a luncheon and the cost is $30. 

Advance registration is required. 

"We will be banding hummingbirds that day and there will also be butterfly seminars for kids," Anita Bliss said. 

The Bliss' 14-acre property has bluebirds, 30 flower beds that attract butterflies, and a 1 1/2-mile hiking trail. For more information call (269) 432-2626 or visit riverlakesinnrestaurant.com.

The hummingbird festival is one of several bird festivals planned in Michigan this year. Here's a look at the rest: 

April 27-29: Whitefish Bird Observatory annual spring fling, Paradise. 

Owls and pasties are a big part of this northern Upper Peninsula event that offers workshops on bird songs, bird banding and birding hikes. Bird-watching trips for waterfowl, raptors and spruce grouse are planned. For more information check out wpbo.org/ or call (906) 492-3596.

May 18-20: Tawas Point Birding Festival, East Tawas. 

Activities include guided birding tours, wildlife art, loon conservation, nature photography, bird banding and birding seminars. For more information check out tawasbirding.com or call (800) 558-2927. 

May 19: Kirtland's Warbler Festival, Kirtland Community College, Roscommon. 

This famous festival includes Kirtland's warbler tours through the forest. Participants enjoy technical and nontechnical seminars with bird-watching workshops and field trips. Off-campus trips and seminars also are planned for May 18 and May 20. Visit warbler.kirtland.edu/ or call (989) 275-5000 ext. 242. 

Oct. 12-13: 13th annual Cranefest, Michigan Audubon Baker Sanctuary, Bellevue. 

This festival offers a variety of activities throughout the day, including workshops on bird photography and optics, nature walks, book signings, art displays and an opportunity to observe several thousand sandhill cranes coming to roost in the evening. Their arrival is a spectacle. Check out the Web site, michiganaudubon.org/bakersanctuary/cranefest.html or contact Mike Boyce at (269) 763-3090.


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