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Mississippi Headwaters Audubon Society to host October events

The Mississippi Headwaters Audubon Society will host a variety of outdoor events in October at the Neilson Spearhead Center nature preserve, 48851 County 29.

Neilson Spearhead Center building.jpg
The Neilson Spearhead Center is located at 48851 County 29, down a winding dirt road about 20 minutes southwest of Bemidji.
Annalise Braught / Bemidji Pioneer

BEMIDJI — The Mississippi Headwaters Audubon Society will host a variety of outdoor events this October at the Neilson Spearhead Center nature preserve, 48851 County 29.

A Fall Volunteer Work Party will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5. Participants' efforts will support environmental education and Northwoods conservation by caring for the property.

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"Join the Mississippi Headwaters Audubon Society for a day of good clean fun (and dirty, hard work)," a release said. "This is a great opportunity to connect and make a difference as a first-time or returning volunteer."

Attendees should RSVP to outreach@spearheadmhas.org.

A Nature Photography Workshop is set for noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 12. Attendees will "get to know their camera" in a class that includes tips and photo inspiration, the release said.

Following the class, participants will take a photo walk through the woods and along the lake.

Instructor Janet Nelson is an experienced nature photographer and a Minnesota Volunteer Master Naturalist. She has a great deal of knowledge to share about photography techniques and the plants and wildlife attendees will be seeing through the lens.

The cost is $10 for non-members and $5 for members.

The Mississippi Headwaters Audubon Society will host its first Quarterly Birding Field Trip from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19, at the Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

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Volunteers with Friends of the Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge will guide attendees through the refuge to see various types of migratory waterfowl. According to the release, waterfowl numbers on Rice Lake have been estimated at 900,000 birds in previous years.

Participants are asked to wear sturdy walking shoes and weather-appropriate clothing and bring a water bottle, lunch, photography equipment and binoculars.

Carpooling is recommended, as the refuge is a 2-hour and 20-minute drive from Bemidji. To carpool, meet at 7:15 a.m. at Leukens South in Bemidji.

RSVP to outreach@spearheadmhas.org.

Lights out for Wildlife: Protecting Nature and Habitat Building for Bats will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 20. This educational workshop will focus on night light pollution and its effects on wildlife, especially migration.

Presenters from the Mississippi Headwaters Audubon Society and Conservation Minnesota will discuss bat population and health decline, the negative effects of light pollution and ways we can reduce it, the release said.

This event will include a 1-hour education session and a 2-hour bat box building session where participants will build a 4-chamber nursery bat house to place near their homes.

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Registration is required. The educational presentation is free, but there is a $30 fee for building a bat box.

Boreal Book Club will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 20. This month's book is "Onigamiising: Seasons of an Ojibwe Year" by Linda LeGarde Grover. These monthly meetings held the second to last Sunday of each month from May to October, will begin with a short hike followed by a discussion of the book of the month.

Books are selected with the goal of including Minnesota-specific topics, Indigenous voices, memoirs, humor and adventure and information about the natural world that provokes awe and a closer connection to the earth, the release said.

The cost is $5 per month.

For more information or to register, visit

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