Guided Birdwatching Experience & The Eagles of Minto Brown

Our upcoming event will start with a guided bird walk led by the Salem Audubon Society. We will meet near the amphitheater at Riverfront Park at 9:30 AM on Friday, July 31st for a leisurely birdwatching stroll. This event is family friendly. Bring your own binoculars if able. We are also working on including some kid friendly activities for our young birders. We anticipate to be out birdwatching for about one hour. Following the guided walk, we will head over to Venti’s Cafe for a talk on the Eagles of Minto Brown Park led by City of Salem Park Ranger Mike Zieker and Biologist Jeff Johnson starting at 11am. Community members are encouraged to attend both events but are also welcome to pick and choose to their liking.

Mike Zieker has been a park ranger for 22 years, and a self-proclaimed bird nerd for nearly as long, since his days at Barr Lake State Park in Brighton, Colorado. Barr Lake is an internationally recognized birding hotspot built around an eagle nest. It was there where Mike gained his expertise in bald eagles, a product of being around them every day. Mike likes to say that “any day you see a bald eagle is a good day”; and despite seeing them every day for many years he still stops what he’s doing when he sees one perched or flying overhead. He has been the City of Salem’s lone ranger since the program began in 2017.

Jeff Johnson is a natural resources planner and ecologist with 20 years of experience helping balance environmental stewardship with infrastructure and development needs. He has managed environmental planning and compliance projects across a wide range of sectors, including transportation, energy, mining, defense, aviation, and habitat restoration. Drawing on his expertise in ecology and natural resource management, Jeff now works as a Natural Resources Planner with the City of Salem where he works to develop practical, science-based solutions to complex environmental challenges. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, fishing, birding, and spending time outdoors exploring and appreciating nature.