Bird sanctuary just part of Charter’s obsession

By Ross Boissoneau

Sun contributor

For some, birding is an engaging activity. For others, observing and helping our feathered friends is a passion.

For Kay Charter, it’s a self-described obsession. “I had an epiphany three years after moving into our home,” said the founder of the non-profit Saving Birds Through Habitat. “I saw a winter wren. It’s the Mozart of the bird world.”

The tiny birds typically nest under the upturned roots of downed trees or in brush piles, so they’re much more often heard than seen. Charter obsessively watched the two adults and their young, while bemoaning the destruction she and her husband Jim had wrought in building their waterfront home. “I was plunged into despair, because people like us were building in their habitat,” she says.

So, they sold their home and bought 47 acres outside Omena. Today, it’s home to a sanctuary for migratory and resident birds as well as native plants and other flora and fauna.

Saving Birds Through Habitat is a haven for thousands of birds. But it’s more than that. It’s an homage to the Charters and their (mostly her) obsession. Jim passed away in 2017, but Kay continues her work—her obsession. “We’ve lost more than 30 percent of our birds. Songbirds and shorebirds are the ones that have taken the hit,” she says.

She’s not hopeful about the shorebirds, given that people continue to want to live on waterfront property. “It’s us as individuals, what we have done to degrade functioning ecosystems,” she says. While bemoaning continuing development taking place overlooking lakes and streams, she champions working to save the songbirds, believing that doing so will help the planet find its ecological balance.

After purchasing the property, Charter began working toward creating a non-profit. Saving Birds Through Habitat soon became a reality eight years later. The two acres belonging to Saving Birds Thru Habitat is, as a nonprofit, open to the public. The remaining 45 acres is closed to protect nesting birds from those who might approach a nest, putting it at risk of depredation. The property is protected from any future development by conservation easements.

She doesn’t work alone. The non-profit has a governing board of fellow birding enthusiasts.

One of those is retired meteorologist Dave Barrons. He first met Charter more than two decades ago. Having grown up observing birds, he considered himself an enthusiastic backyard birdwatcher. “I’m not an avid field birder. I enjoy it, but I don’t keep a list” of birds he’s observed. But get him going, and just like Charter he’ll start talking about his favorite birds.

“Last week I had two pileated woodpeckers in the birdbath. One stayed a long time. He flattened himself out and just lay there,” he says. “That’s the kind of excitement I get.”

The organization’s mission is to protect, enhance and restore habitat and educate people about the mission and how to achieve it, “one backyard at a time.” So, what can an individual do? Quite a lot, actually.

“Plant native plants that support native insects,” said Charter, noting that those insects are what songbirds feed their young. Her first choice: Oak trees. “They support more breeding lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) than any plant,” she says, though she also lauds the likes of willows, birch, maple and black cherry trees.

“You want plants for pollinators, all the native flowers,” she continues. “I love what I do. I really love my work. I can see a difference in native plants.” On the organization’s website, SavingBirds.com, Charter lists ten things you can do, including planting native plants, saving dead trees, keeping your cat indoors, even buying bird-friendly coffee. The website is a rich repository of information with events, articles by acclaimed bird experts such as Doug Tallamy, and more.

Charter’s expertise has been noted across the country. She’s presented a program to city governments, libraries, schools, colleges, Audubon clubs, service organizations and garden groups across the country. She has been a featured speaker at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, the Cox Arboretum in Dayton, Morton Arboretum near Chicago, and presented a seminar on the subject of bird conservation to a standing room only crowd at the Zoological Society of San Diego’s Center for Conservation and Research for Endangered Species.

Visitors are welcome at the Discovery Center, built by Jim Charter and more than 70 volunteers. It is adjacent to the 45-acre bird sanctuary, which is home to more than 60 species of nesting birds. Over 100 migratory bird species use the property while heading to their winter and/or summer homes. The organization offers birding hikes in May with qualified leaders.

While the news about climate change and the loss of billions of birds over the past half century are extremely worrisome, all hope is not lost. But the time to address things is growing short. Barrons says because of the planet’s warming climate, it’s more important than ever to work to restore a balance to the environment. He believes converting half of our yards to native plants would have a huge, positive impact on the waning number of birds. Asked if he’s hopeful, he hesitates before answering. “That’s a serious question. It’s tough to answer,” he says. “But I am because I think we’ll struggle through the increase in temperature, erratic weather, things that haven’t happened before. Technology helps.

“I’m hopeful. That’s what our brains are about. Big things have to be done that we as individuals can’t do, but that’s why organizations such as ours … can make a difference.”