Sunday, May 11, 2025 at 6:30pm
The Birds in the Hills Festival features a variety of habitats for you to explore, including reclaimed prairie, early successional forest, and mature hardwoods. This allows for a diverse and exciting array of bird species to be observed.
Bird species that attendees may encounter include various warblers such as worm-eating, hooded, cerulean, black-throated green, prothonotary, blue-winged, magnolia, and blackburnian. Other notable species include the hermit thrush, rose-breasted grosbeak, and wood thrush.
Schedule of Events
6:30-8a.m. - Dawn Chorus Birding with Kevinn Fung
Join Kevinn for a guided birding hike where we'll focus on using the Merlin app for bird identification and practice responsible birding techniques. Along the way, Kevinn will share his insights on photographing birds both in the wild and in home settings.
7-11 a.m. - Bird Banding with Bob Scott Placier
Try your hand in collecting scientific data and have a chance to handle and get a closer look at a variety of bird species. Bob Scott will be leading the bird banding session to help in monitoring migration patterns of several bird species.
8-9 a.m. - Breakfast in Dining Hall
8:30-10:30 a.m. - What Song Is That? by Kyle Artis
Join Kyle Artis for a bird ID hike with an emphasis on songs/calls. Learn the many vocalizations of songbirds and how to distinguish them from each other.
9-10 a.m. - DIY Upcycled Bird Feeders
Using upcycled materials like milk cartons and plastic bottles, participants will construct and decorate their own DIY bird feeder to take home! A great way to provide for your feathery friends while reducing household waste!
10:30-11:30 a.m. - Camouflage, a fun tag game!
Feeling like you need to blow off some steam? Come join us for an exciting tag-based game that teaches the importance of camouflage in the natural world!
11:30 a.m.- noon - Homing Dove Release by Pete Thompson
Experience the grand finale of our birding festival with a homing dove release. Discover the remarkable navigation skills of these birds and seize the opportunity to engage with them before they take flight, marking the culmination of our celebration of nature's wonders.
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