Georgia’s coast is throbbing with thousands of feeding birds and butterflies and other unique coastal wildlife. Experience this drama together with outdoors enthusiasts expected at Georgia’s Colonial Coast Birding & Nature Festival held on Jekyll Island October 9-13, 2008. The sixth annual festival offers a variety of entertainment and educational activities including a keynote speech by Pete Dunne, internationally renowned birdwatcher and author of numerous birding guides. On Saturday, October 11, a Nature Day event is planned for youngsters and families. A variety of field trips and seminars will highlight coastal Georgia’s abundant natural beauty and wildlife. The Jekyll Island Convention Center will serve as the hub for festival activities, and field trip excursions will include many of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) Colonial Coast Birding Trail sites.

“The Birding Trail provides excellent places for birding and cultural exploration,” said Jim Ozier, DNR’s Program Manager for the Wildlife Resources Division – Nongame conservation Section. “This festival will offer first time and repeat visitors to Georgia’s coast a myriad of opportunities to see amazing bird life and other natural resources.”

Throughout the weekend, festival-goers, young and old, will have the opportunity to enjoy free beginner birding field trips; beach and marsh walks; live reptile displays; and special presentations on topics such as animal tracking. For a small fee there are seminars will also be offered by some of the Southeast’s foremost naturalists and will include topics ranging from gardening for wildlife to basic nature photography.

Festival participants will be able to learn more about Georgia’s magnificent coastline at “The Rookery,” an interactive exhibit center located in the Jekyll Island Convention Center’s Atlantic Hall. Georgia’s coastal environment will be showcased at information stations hosted by authors, artists, and conservation-based organizations. Experts will be on hand to help with the selection of binoculars, scopes, high tech birding equipment, birdfeeders bird and bat houses as well as guidebooks for wildlife identification. On Saturday afternoon in The Rookery, master falconer Steve Hein will present two live raptor shows (noon and 5:00 P.M.) starring a collection of hawks, falcons, and owls from Georgia Southern University’s Center for Wildlife Education and Lamar Q. Ball Raptor Center. All Rookery activities are free and open to the public.

The festival’s keynote speaker, Pete Dunne, is expected to draw the largest crowds to his Saturday evening program (October 11; 6:45 – 9:00 P.M.) when he will recount “Twenty Five Things That Changed Birding.” He will reflect upon institutions, ideas, initiatives, and products that changed birding, making it one of the most popular wildlife-oriented activities in the country today. Pete Dunne is a field birder with an international reputation. He has served on the board of the American Birding Association and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute, and is the director of the famed Cape May (New Jersey) Bird Observatory. An authority on the optical needs of birders, Dunne has served as a marketing and product advisor to Nikon, Zeiss, Leica, Swarovski Optik, and Bausch and Lomb. Among the books he has authored are The Wind Masters, Hawks in Flight, and The Essential Field Guide Companion. In addition, Dunne contributes to publications such as Birding, Bird Watcher’s Digest, Birder’s World, American Birds, and Living Bird. The Dunne keynote address will follow a dinner catered at the Jekyll Island Convention Center (tickets required).

This year’s registration was a huge success. Almost all the field trips filled up the first week. But don’t worry, there is a lot to see and do at the Jekyll Island Convention Center. Come see the Rookery exhibit area, opened Thursday evening 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm, Friday evening 4:00 pm to 7:30 pm and Saturday from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. On Saturday morning there hourly bird walks beginning at 9:30 am and the last one begins at 1:30 pm.

For more complete information visit
the website www.coastalgeorgiabirding.org
or call 1-877-4JEKYLL.

Tags: "colonial coast", bird, birding, festival, jekyll, jekyll island convention center, nature, photography, trail, wildlife
Posted in Beachscape, October 2008 | No Comments »

We came in third behind Savannah who includes Savannah Wildlife Refuge which is in South Carolina. Tybee Island is more of a comparison. Still I think that 102 species of birds seen on Jekyll in one weekend is something to brag about.

Tags: backyard, bird, count, species
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