Jamaica Bay Shorebird Festival

Sunday, August 9^th, 2009

8:30am – 4:30pm

Join us for the 4th annual shorebird festival at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Come and celebrate the arrival of  thousands of shorebirds as they migrate southwards to their winter habitats. Learn about the history, ecology and management of the refuge as well as how to identify and photograph shorebirds. Meet at the refuge visitor center at 8:30am. The following is an itinerary ( tentative and subject to change based on weather and birding conditions at the refuge) :

8:30am – 9:00am    – Registration, coffee, introductions.

9:00am  – Noon      – Trip to East Pond for shorebird viewing. High tide at 11am.

Noon – 1:15pm       – lunch on own.

1:15pm  - 3:00pm  – Presentations by Lloyd Spitalnik and Don Riepe on

shorebird photography and wildlife mgmt. at the refuge

3:00 – 4:30              - Shorebird identification program by Kevin Karlson.

To register, call the American Littoral Society at (718) 318-9344. E-mail: driepe. This program is in cooperation with NYC Audubon and Gateway National Recreation Area. Leaders: Kevin Karlson, Don Riepe, Lloyd Spitalnik.

A donation of $10 is requested to pay for speaker travel & other costs.

One of my favorite places in the area, Summer at Nickerson Beach is very exciting. Imagine sitting up close and personal to a tern colony consisting of Black Skimmer, Common and Least Tern and Piping Plover just to name a few. Birds are dive bombing at you (don’t worry, they never hit) while you’re shooting 1 day to 1 week old chicks. You lift your camera up and the terns are flying back and forth affording great flight shot opportunities. There is a scheduled trip, through NYC Audubon, that I’ll be leading. It’s happening Saturday, July 25th. I would love to share the experience with you and at the same time help you with exposure, camera technique, etc. Shooting conditions here are not the easiest especially on sunny days. There’s a lot of glare on the sand but you’ll still get some amazing images. Here are a few I took the other day. I hope they inspire you to join me.