Birding Festival Coming October 9-13
Thursday, August 21st, 2008
Reprinted from the Savannah Morning News
Every fall, millions of birds from hundreds of species fly through Coastal Georgia.
They’re winging it, but you don’t have to if you want to get a closer look at them and other local wildlife.
Inexpensive, expert-led trips are available during Georgia’s Colonial Coast Birding & Nature Festival. Registration for the October festival begins Saturday. The popular trips fill up fast, said Skidaway Island birder and festival organizer Beth Roth.
The festival, now in its sixth year, drew about 300 people last year. Some traveled from as far as England and Canada to attend.
They and festival director Lydia Thompson, of St. Simons Island, know something about the Georgia coast that many locals may not: It’s bursting with birds, especially during the fall migration.
Thompson, who calls herself a “bird gypsy” because her travels and birding go hand in hand, once spent 18 months just traveling and bird watching.
“I discovered the Georgia coast is a great place for birds, but nobody knows it,” she said.
Registration for the festival begins next week and ends Sept. 22. Events include lectures, a free family nature day at the Jekyll Island Convention Center and 53 field trips, many of them to places that are ordinarily inaccessible.
For example, you can see the Satilla River through the eyes of the Satilla Riverkeeper, Gordon Rogers, or explore the bird life of the Altamaha delta with expert ornithologist Brad Winn, of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Don’t let the stereotype of nerdy birders put you off attending a festival, said Bill Thompson, who’s no relation to Lydia but who is editor of Bird Watching Digest, a 30-year-old national publication.
“People are surprised when they come to a birding event,” he said. “There are people with piercings and tattoos. We’re not all doddering professors in tennis shoes or Miss Hathaway from ‘The Beverly Hillbillies.’ “
While it was the travel that hooked Thompson on birding, she still marvels at what she sees close to home. Like the shorebird called the red knot, an amazing long-distance flyer.
“The red knot weighs about a couple ounces,” she said. “He has already flown to the Arctic and is headed toward the Antarctic. If you think about it, they live in eternal spring. You do see a wide part of the world when you start to bird, and you start to appreciate how it’s all tied together.”
Colonial Coast Birding & Nature Festival
Festival dates are Oct. 9-13, but registration starts Saturday. Trip prices range from free to up to $85 for paddle or motor boat trips that include lunch.
The best field trips go fast. This year, they include trips to outstanding natural areas such as Little St. Simons Island, the Altamaha Waterfowl Management Area, St. Catherine’s Island and four National Wildlife Refuges: Blackbeard Island, Harris Neck, Okefenokee and Wassaw.
To register for festival field trips and seminars, or for more detailed information, go to the festival Web site at www. coastalgeorgiabirding.org or call 1-877-4JEKYLL.
