The second annual Hawaii Island Festival of Birds is slated to take place September 15-17, 2017, and will be headquartered at the Sheraton Kona Resort & Spa at Keauhou Bay. The birds festival will host guest speakers, Jeff Gordon, president of the American Birding Association, and Kenn Kaufman, author, artist and conservationist. Guests will be able to attend a trade show for birding equipment, a children's corner, a bird-themed arts and crafts fair, photography and painting workshops, and a birding film festival. Festival attendees will also have the opportunity to interact with Hawaii Island naturalists and bird expert and take guided field trips on both land and sea.
Participants will be able to take part in guided bird-watching field trips along the Coast to Coast Birding Trail, and guided boat trips departing from Honokohau Harbor to observe seabirds. The 90-mile Coast to Coast Birding Trail is a cross-island link from Kona (on the west coast) to Hilo (on the east coast) that connections different habitats. The self-guided birding trail follows a network of sites so guests can choose to walk the whole route or just visit specific parts.
New to the festival this year is the birding-focused film festival on Friday, September 15. The film festival will show documentaries about Hawaiian birds on Friday afternoon and an outdoor feature film on Friday night. Saturday's workshops will include an expert talk from Brian Sullivan, project leader for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for eBird.org, and a panel discussion by naturalists and biologists. Festival participants will also be able to attend a photography workshop, art workshop and gala dinner headlined by Kenn Kaufman.
Visit www.birdfesthawaii.org