Birding events

Red-cockaded Woodpecker

Birding events and festivals are going on all the time. You can go to them and see cool birds. For example, the American Birding Association Convention (ABA) is going on right now in Lafayette, Louisiana. We went to it last year when it was held in Maine, but we are too busy writing our new Stokes National Field Guide to North American Birds to go this year. Our friend, Chuck Hagner, editor of Birder's World Magazine (which we frequently write for) emailed us and said he went on one of their birding trips and saw a Red-cockaded Woodpecker, an unusual, and endangered woodpecker. Thought I would show you a photo I took of one in FL.
The ABA has a list of all the birding festivals, check it out and see if you can go to one this year. You can also check with your local and state birding organizations and clubs to see if they have any events near you. Or come and see us May 12th at the Crane Creek/Magee Marsh, Ottawa, NWR, OH warbler and birding event. Getting out to these things is a great way to see new birds.

Photo © Lillian Stokes, 2007