The Frick Environmental Center and The 3 Rivers Birding Club are proud to announce Pittsburgh's first Birding Festival on May 3, 4 and 5, 2002! The weekend will contain fun-filled events including an art contest, a "Breakfast with the Artist," scheduled early morning bird outings, an exciting Saturday evening Keynote Speaker, information about field equipment, and workshops for advanced and beginning birders. To register for outings and workshops, call 412-422-6538 or 412-422-6562 or print the registration form and mail it in. Read on for more detailed information, and we hope to see you at Pittsburgh's first Birding Festival! If you have any questions or comments regarding the Birding Festival, please send email to pabirdsrus@adelphia.net.

Friday, May 3, through Sunday, May 5

Art Contest
All art entered must be "bird related" in some way, and can be photographs, paintings, or sketches (these three categories are separate and will be judged separately.) All contestants must register and set up their display on the evening of Friday, May 3, from 6 p.m. — 8 p.m. Art will be judged by three professional artists. Winners and prizes will be announced on Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. Contact Frick Environmental Center at (412) 422-6562 for more information.

Saturday, May 4: 8 a.m. — 10:15 a.m.

Breakfast with the Artist
Wander about munching on bagels and cream cheese and sipping coffee, while observing award-winning artist, Stephen Leed, as he creates one of his incredible paintings! Stephen will be available to answer your questions while he works on his creation. Included with registration fee.

Saturday, May 4, and Sunday, May 5

The Birds of Frick Park
Outings are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday mornings at 7:30 a.m., and will be led by a variety of bird experts, including some of our workshop leaders. Advanced registration for outings is required, and assignments must be picked up at the registration desk prior to the scheduled outing. Please arrive by 7 a.m. to pick up your assigned group. Sign up for outings on the printable registration form.

Workshops
Our Saturday and Sunday Workshops are geared for advanced and beginning birders. The less advanced courses will introduce the participant to basic backyard birds and those found within Frick Park. Advanced workshops will discuss issues of conservation, statistical data and phenology. Advanced registration is required for all workshops, as space is limited! See schedule below for available workshop descriptions and fees.

Saturday, May 4 — 7:30 p.m.

Keynote Speaker
We are honored to present Ms. Julie Zickefoose as our first Birding Festival Keynote Speaker! (See details below of what to expect.) This exciting event will be followed by a Wine and Cheese Reception.

Saturday, May 4 — Morning Workshops (10:30 a.m.)

Workshop 1: "Bird Nesting Strategies in Western Pennsylvania" by: Chuck Tague
This expert birder, educator and publisher of the Nature Observer News will explore the diverse types of nests that birds construct, and examine shapes and colors of eggs. He will also explore pair bonding, territory and other avian reproductive adaptations.

Workshop 2: "Whooo's There?" by: Karen Lippy
Karen, a naturalist and birder from Codorus State Park, will lead this in-depth workshop on owls of Pennsylvania. Using mounts, she will discuss their special adaptations for survival, courtship and breeding.

Saturday, May 4 — Afternoon Workshops (1:30 p.m.)

Workshop 3: "Bird Conservation" by: Steve Hoffman
Steve, Pennsylvania Audubon's Director of Bird Conservation, will lead this excellent workshop on the :Important Bird Area Program and the Conservation of Pennsylvania's Birdlife." Long-term trends in populations and serious threats facing Pennsylvania’s birds will be discussed. Raptor migration, identification and conservation will also be covered.

Workshop 4: "Advanced Bird Identification: Warblers" by: Ted FloydTed, a native Pittsburgher and veteran Frick Park birder, is now with the Great Basin Bird Observatory in Reno, Nevada. He will use behavior and phenology as key elements in the identification of migrant warblers. Birders will have the opportunity to use these new identification skills on an outing with this expert.

Sunday, May 5 — Morning Workshops (10:30 a.m.)

Workshop 5: "Birding 101" by: Wendy Jo Shemansky
Respected amateur birder, Wendy Jo, will demonstrate how to identify the common birds found in our own back yards. Inexpensive books, birding software and binocular use will be discussed. An outing will follow this workshop.

Workshop 6: "Natural History of Cavity-Nesting Birds" by: Scott Shalaway
Well-known nature writer and radio talk-show host, Scott Shalaway, will discuss how nest boxes can be used to attract all types of birds — bluebirds, chickadees, screech owls and even kestrels. A slide presentation will illustrate the advantage of the hole-nesting habit and the adaptations cavity-nesters use to occupy these niches. A question and answer session will follow.

Saturday, May 4 - 7:30 p.m.

Keynote Speaker: Julie Zickefoose
Personal Habitat: Creating a Haven for Wildlife (and Yourself)

This is the story of an artist's love affair with a piece of land, and the birds, animals, and plants that inhabit it. Simple habitat enhancements can take a back yard from bland to bustling with wildlife. In this slide talk, artist/writer Julie Zickefoose shows how she and her husband have transformed their 80-acre abandoned farm into a wildlife sanctuary and observatory — a perfect personal habitat. You can visit Julie’s website at http://www.juliezickefoose.com.

Julie Zickefoose is a widely published natural history writer and artist. Educated at Harvard University in biology and art, she worked for six years as a field biologist for The Nature Conservancy before turning to a freelance career. Her observations on the natural history and behavior of birds stem from more than three decades of experience in the field.

She has presented lectures for nature organizations and festivals across the country, and exhibited her watercolors of birds at universities, museums, galleries and juried shows. Illustration credits include The New Yorker, Smithsonian Magazine, Country Journal, Spider, Cricket, Ladybug, and Bird Watcher's Digest, for which she has executed 15 cover paintings and dozens of articles. Other illustration clients include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The National Wildlife Federation, Boy Scouts of America, Yale University Press, The American Ornithologists' Union, The Academy of Natural Sciences, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, and Cornell's Laboratory of Ornithology. Julie Zickefoose's writing is a unique personal narrative that creates a mood, yet informs the reader. She accompanies her writing with paintings and drawings. An illustrated article on South Africa took an Apex Award for Feature Writing in 1995. Julie Zickefoose's knowledge of bird behavior and anatomy has led to positions as a judge for several National Bird Carving Championships, the 1998 Federal Duck Stamp Contest, and the 2000 Ward Foundation World Carving Championship. With her husband Bill Thompson III, Editor of Bird Watcher's Digest, and their two children, Phoebe and Liam, Julie lives on an 80-acre nature sanctuary in the Appalachian foothills of southeast Ohio. A 42-foot tall birdwatching tower atop their home helps them enjoy and catalogue the wildlife of the sanctuary, which includes 174 bird species and 73 butterflies to date. Their band, Two Live Crows, has an eclectic folk/acoustic repertoire and a large local following.