The first annual (is there such a thing as a "first annual?") North Alabama Birding Festival was a hit last weekend. The festival drew more people from a larger area than organizers expected. With results this positive, especially in the face of competition from about 50 other birding events this spring, festival organizers have decided to make a go of it next year.
Look for the event to take place slightly earlier next year however. This year's migration had run its course by the time the first birder arrived for the three day long weekend event. In addition the trees and foliage had fully leafed out, making the task of finding birds especially difficult for birders.
The area's first birding festival drew enough to merit an encore
How well did the first North Alabama Birding Festival do last weekend? Well enough, it seems, for a return next year, according to festival organizers.
The three-day event, centered in Decatur and spearheaded by the Decatur Convention and Visitors Bureau, drew (from six states) 83 participants, not bad for the first year and eight more than the goal. And this was during a time when across the country there were more than 50 birding festivals this spring alone.
The keynote speaker was Bobby Harrison, co-discoverer of the ivory-billed woodpecker in Arkansas. Harrison lives in Gurley, and that helped the festival secure his appearance.
Outings included various trips to the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, the Florence area, Monte Sano and the Hays Preserve in Huntsville and Lake Guntersville. There also was a canoe trip on the backwaters of the river.
Pam Swanner, director of the Decatur bureau, said next year the festival will also feature the Outdoor Expo of the Alabama Department of Conservation. That event was held several weeks earlier at Madison County Lake.