"People need hope," she says. "They need to feel there's something they can do themselves. And that's what we give them. We teach them how to make a difference in their own backyards."

From the response she's gotten over the past few years, the idea appears to be a popular one. Birders, school groups, Scout troops, garden enthusiasts and amateur naturalists from all over North America now make it a point to visit the tiny lakeside village of Omena, about 20 miles north of Traverse City, where Charter's sanctuary and its adjacent Habitat Discovery Center are located.

There they can talk with Charter and other bird specialists, listen to presentations on mating displays, hummingbird eggs and other bird topics, and wander the center's grounds to see examples of native shrubs, plants and grasses that are favorites with particular bird species. If they're lucky, they may also spot some of the wild birds that make their homes in the sanctuary's varied landscape of shoreline, meadow and woods.

Preserving and restoring desperately needed bird habitat has been Charter's personal crusade for years. Many bird species, particularly the migratory songbirds that travel back and forth between North and South America each year, are in serious decline. The main culprit isn't corporate greed or runaway pollution, she says - it's the gradual loss of appropriate habitat as homeowners, businesses and farmers replace needed native plants with exotic species that can't support birds.

In 1993, that conviction led Charter and her husband, Jim, to create what's now known as the Charter Sanctuary, a small avian paradise near their home at Omena Point. But since 47 acres isn't much of a sanctuary for the millions of migrating birds whose habitat is being threatened, they and their fellow bird-lovers also began thinking about ways to teach other property owners how to do the same thing with their own land.

"By doing nothing else than using our own property wisely, we can actually restore half of what's already been taken from Mother Nature," says Charter. "And that's a lot."

Thus was born Saving Birds Thru Habitat, a national society whose members work to "protect, enhance and restore" crucial habitat for North American birds and to educate people about ways to create good bird habitats in their own yards, back lots and unused acreage. Today the group numbers hundreds of members from California to Rhode Island, and its nonconfrontational message is being increasingly well-received. The Omena sanctuary has become a popular attraction both for birds and for the people who love to watch them. More than 60 species have built nests there, and more than 100 others have stopped to forage there during migration.

But a bird sanctuary that is visited by large groups of tourists quickly ceases to be a sanctuary. By 2003, it became obvious that something had to be done to accommodate visitors in ways that would be less intrusive and disruptive to the birds. The new Discovery Center is located on a three-acre site next to the sanctuary, where guests can still search for birds (the center provides binoculars and helpful birdwatching coaches) without scaring them away. Field trips and classes can still go into the sanctuary, but visits need to be scheduled ahead of time.

A good source of information about visiting hours and special events at the Habitat Discovery Center and other attractions in the Traverse City area is the Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau, which can be reached by phone at 1-800-TRAVERS or on line at www.MyTraverseCity.com

© 2005

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