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THE ISLANDER, AUGUST 18, 2008, PAGE 17
AND AbOU
Georgia Coast hosts 6th annual Birding and Nature Festival
Experience thousands of feeding
birds, butterflies and other unique
coastal wildlife during the Georgia
Colonial Coast Birding & Nature Fes
tival on Jekyll Island October 9-13.
The sixth annual festival offers a
variety of entertainment and educa
tional activities including a keynote
speech by Pete Dunne, internationally
renowned birdwatcher and author of
numerous birding guides.
On Saturday, October 11, a free
Nature Day event is planned for
youngsters and families. Nineteen
seminars and 53 field trips will high
light coastal Georgia’s abundant natu
ral 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 Bird
ing Trail sites.
“The Birding Trail provides excel
lent places for birding and cultural
exploration,” said Jim Ozier, DNR’s
Program Manager for the Wildlife
Resources Division — Nongame Con
servation Section.
Throughout the weekend partici
pants will have
the opportunity to
enjoy free begin
ner birding field
trips; beach and
marsh walks; live
reptile displays;
and special pre
sentations on
topics such as
animal tracking.
Seminars will
also be offered
by some of the
Southeast’s fore
most
and will include topics ranging from
gardening for wildlife to basic nature
photography.
Festival participants will be able
to learn more about Georgia’s mag
nificent coastline at “The Rookery,” an
interactive exhibit center located in
the Convention Center’s Atlantic Hall.
Georgia’s coastal environment will be
showcased at information stations
hosted by authors, artists, and conser
vation-based organizations. Experts
recognized internationally as impor
tant bird areas,” said festival director
Lydia Thompson. “This festival will
give birders of all skill levels a chance
to visit unique habitats and observe a
wide variety of coastal birds and other
wildlife.”
will be available with the selection of
birding binoculars, scopes, high tech
birding equipment, birdfeeders, bat
and bird 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.) star
ring a collection of
hawks, falcons, and
owls from Georgia
Southern Univer
sity’s Center for
Wildlife Education
and Lamar Q. Ball
Raptor Center. All
Rookery activities
are free and open to
the public.
The festival fea
tures trips to out
standing natural
areas such as Little Reddish Egrets at Little St. Simons Island.
White-eyed Vireo at Jekyll Island
naturalists Banding Station. Photo by Dawn Lane
St. Simons Island,
the Altamaha Waterfowl Management
Area, St. Catherine’s Island, and four
National Wildlife Refuges (Blackbeard
Island, Harris Neck, Okefenokee, and
Wassaw).
A unique four-
hour journey
through tidal creeks
and St. Simons
Sound by shrimp
boat will conclude
with a Wild Georgia
Shrimp Boil lunch.
Guided by expert
naturalists, field
trippers will visit
diverse habitats
such as longleaf
pine forests, barrier
island beaches, and
Photo by Dan Vickers
Keynote speaker, Pete Dunne, is
expected to draw the largest crowds
for his Saturday evening program
(October 11, 6:45 - 9:00 p.m.). Dunne
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.
Dunne is a field birder with an inter
national reputation. He has served on
the board of the American Birding
Association and the Roger Tory Peter
son Institute, and is the director of the
famed Cape May (New Jersey) Bird
Observatory. An authority on the opti
cal 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 publi
cations such as Birding, Bird Watch
er’s Digest, Birder’s World, American
Birds, and Living Bird. The Dunne
keynote address will follow a dinner
catered at the Jekyll Island Conven
tion Center (tickets required).
Festival organizers include the
Coastal Georgia Audubon Society, the
Georgia Ornithological Society, Jekyll
Island-Georgia’s Jewel, Wild Birds
Unlimited of Jekyll Island, Ogeechee
Audubon Society, Georgia Depart
ment of Natural Resources-Wildlife
Resources Division, and the U. S. Fish
& Wildlife Service.
Registration begins Saturday,
August 23 at 9:00 a.m. and ends
Monday, September 22. To register
for festival field trips and seminars, or
for more information, visit the festival
website at www.coastalgeorgiabird-
ing.org or call 1-877-4JEKYLL. □
tidal freshwater marshes in search of
birds ranging from the endangered
Red-cockaded Woodpecker to the elu
sive Sora.
Several kayak trips will offer the
chance to spy on secretive rails and
the endangered Wood Stork. Beach
excursions may provide sightings of
flocks of shorebirds and possibly close
views of the endangered Piping Plo
ver.
“Sites along Georgia’s coast are
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