Georgia's Colonial Coast Birding & Nature Festival: Second Time's The Charm?
By: Bob Sargent
The rain mostly stayed away and the birds and birders certainly showed up. Georgia's second coastal birding festival was held during October 7-10, and like fine wine this event just keeps getting better with time. If you attended last year's festival and came away convinced that nothing more could have been crammed into that wonderfully hyperactive weekend, this year's effort may have left you and the other 340 attendees breathless. First of all, the party started a day early with the festival's first Coastal Birding Challenge organized by Russ Wigh. The team of Bob Zaremba, Deb Zaremba, and Chuck Saleeby bested four other teams with a one-day count of 124 species, and was rewarded with a beautiful trophy courtesy of Russ and Lydia Thompson. Friday through Sunday featured 31 field trips to most of the barrier islands and several of the inland hot spots. The trips yielded 183 species along with sightings of diamondback rattlesnakes on Little St. Simons Island and an alligator carrying a feral hog in its mouth in the Altamaha River. Birding highlights included Eared Grebe, American White Pelican, Snowy Egret, Reddish Egret, Glossy Ibis, Northern Pintail, Peregrine Falcon, Piping Plover, Long-billed Curlew, Wilson's Phalarope, Chuck-will's-widow, Traill's Flycatcher, Western Kingbird, Clay-colored Sparrow, Painted Bunting, and Baltimore Oriole (see the complete species list in this newsletter). Birders weren't just flocking to the islands on that weekend; back at the Convention Center there were birds and birders flocking to every nook and cranny. Friday afternoon kicked off with "Toasting and Boasting on the Coast," a captivating speech by former Lt. Governor Pierre Howard about the many virtues of Georgia's spectacular coastal environs. On Friday and Saturday the center was home to 15 seminars covering aspects of birds ranging from hummers to pelagics, and from bird photography to identifying fall warblers. The center's Rookery was the roost for 43 vendors throughout the weekend, as they hawked binoculars, art, field vests, and anything else the complete birder desired. The Rookery exhibits also included an ornithological poster session detailing research on grassland birds, Painted Buntings, American Oystercatchers, Piping Plovers, and Mottled Ducks. Saturday night's banquet started with a taste of the South: a low country boil. Lydia Thompson led off the program praising the many folks who made the festival so successful, particularly Amy Ochoa, Diane Churchill, Pat Metz, Russ Wigh, Sheila Willis, and Steve Holzman. Of course, Lydia is so humble she wouldn't get close to mentioning all the work she had done on behalf of the festival, so I thanked her when it was my turn at the podium. The audience, in turn, thanked her with a standing ovation. Then I passed the microphone to John Swiderski, who presented GOS' Earle Greene Award (see the full story in this newsletter) to Giff Beaton, an obvious choice for this prestigious award because of the many, many contributions he has made to ornithology in Georgia. Next on Saturday night's agenda was the featured event: Dr. Rocky Gutierrez' program "The Spotted Owl: Conservation Icon or Cool Critter?" My many communications with Rocky (I had never met him before) up until that night had given me an inkling that he was both a very sharp guy and a hoot (no pun intended). He confirmed my initial impression five minutes into his talk. Rocky gave a talk about a western species that kept us easterners glued to our seats. He was in turn a teacher, birder, and stand-up comic. The high point for many in the audience was when Rocky cut loose with booming renditions of calls of male and female spotted owls. Diane Churchill concluded a full evening by leading the countdown.
Most events of this sort often conclude on Sunday with a few field trips, usually wrapping up by noon. Not this festival. The full slate of field trips on Sunday was followed by talks on sea turtles and snakes, and an evening birding trip to Laura S. Walker State Park led by Sheila Willis. Quite a weekend! Thank you to everyone who made this festival possible and successful. With your continued support and the magnet that is Georgia's coastal ecosystem this event will become one of the premiere festivals in the South. See you again on Jekyll Island next October.