This poem, written by Lauren Eden, was sent to me by a dear friend, Diana Little, who passed away earlier this year. Diana and I initially met when we were working in preventative health care — at the time (~2009), she was a retired OB/GYN whose private practice shifted to focusing on supporting women more holistically with their health and wellness.

One day, while crossing paths at work, I mentioned to her that I was rehabbing a hawk at home. This sprung a conversation of our mutual love of birds, and that discovery turned into a friendship. Despite more than four decades between our ages, our kinship through our love of birds grew stronger with time.

Diana discovered the world of birds, of birdwatching, birding, and her own variation of the two, in her early 50s, a regret of hers that I recall she shared with me. "So much missed time," she said. "I could have been appreciating this beauty and this joy for 50 years..." In the three decades of her life from that point on, though, she more than made up for any lost time in terms of meaning and connection to birds.

Diana was a philanthropist and a true believer in how art has a place in the world, in medicine, in everyday life. And that birds connect us to that greater sense of artistry, of beauty and connectedness.

I've been Executive Director of Michigan Audubon since 2016, and it is an organization I believe in and one that I am humbly proud of when I see the work grow, spread, and make a difference in the lives of birds and people.

I want to raise funds for this exceptional organization this year in Diana Little's memory because she made a tremendous difference in the lives of so many birds and so many people. She also kept the spirit of giving close to her heart and strong in her core values, which inspires me to show up for birds every day in my actions and my work.
 

~ Heather Good

Since Whitefish Point was established as a Globally Important Bird Area and avian monitoring site in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula over 40 years ago, we have simultaneously witnessed what statistics confirm is the steepest decline in North American migratory bird populations in history. With this increased awareness and concern, we are presented with opportunities to act, educate, and better collaborate on behalf of the birds we enjoy and are invested in protecting. 

There is also much to celebrate in sharing our hope and optimism in securing a bright and healthy future for Whitefish Point Bird Observatory. This year we observed three pairs of Piping Plovers, two of which successfully nested. We celebrated the Point’s first recorded sighting of a Ruff, and our owl banding program experienced its highest count of Long-eared Owls banded in a single season. The magic of WPBO is revealed in moments like this that remind us what is possible.

We know the continued long-term management and care of WPBO is important to our membership, our chapters, and our leadership, and we are committed to strategically planning for the future of this invaluable place. When Michigan Audubon acquired WPBO in 2016, a fund was established to help secure that future. We are thrilled to share that our vision and commitment to building the WPBO endowment into a sustaining fund for avian research is achievable in the near future with the support of you: our members and partners in Michigan bird conservation!

Today we are asking for your support with a tax-deductible donation to fund the multidimensional work of Whitefish Point Bird Observatory. When you contribute to this appeal, you will be making an extraordinary gift — one that will help secure a bright future for Michigan birds and will strengthen the human connection to avian conservation that is so critical to our mission. 

Michigan Audubon is committed to growing this endowment to achieve full operational sustainability of WPBO’s research program by the end of 2023. This is an ambitious goal, yet your investment today will put us on the path toward that end. A robust endowment will also allow us to redirect our annual fundraising efforts to accelerate much-needed improvements to our infrastructure, and the expansion of conservation programs and learning opportunities which include:

• Developing new internship opportunities to nurture the next generation of conservation stewards, scientists, field workers, and ornithologists.

• Expanding our seasonal staffing to enhance onsite education and engagement.

• Making structural improvements to create a new interactive and interpretive education space in the Owl’s Roost Gift Shop.

The challenges facing Michigan birds are numerous. We must continue to meet those challenges with the responsible, scientific, and collaborative action that Michigan Audubon’s Whitefish Point Bird Observatory makes possible and to share the impacts of that work with the public to raise the collective consciousness in protecting the birds we love from further declines. 

From all of us at Michigan Audubon, and on behalf of the birds these funds directly support, thank you for your generosity and your investment in Whitefish Point!