End your FeatherFest experience on a high note! Join Kevin Karlson, one of North America’s leading ornithologists, for a casual morning of shorebirding on Galveston Island. Kevin is an accomplished birder, professional tour leader and wildlife photographer who has published numerous articles on bird identification and natural history for an assortment of magazines, journals, calendars and CD/DVDs. A former photo editor for North American Birds, he currently writes the Birder’s ID column for Wild Bird Magazine. As the sole ornithologist for Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s DVD Birds of North America, Kevin prepared photos and wrote captions for over 2600 bird images, including over 800 of his own. He also wrote the shorebird section for a Field Guide of North American Birds by DK Publishing in Great Britain (2008). Kevin will be joined by birding guide Dale Rosselet.
This trip will explore areas of Galveston Island that provide critical habitat for our most prolific species, shorebirds, at a relaxed pace. Kevin will determine the best hotspots to visit based on species variety and abundance, and his scouting expeditions in the days preceding. Participants will benefit from Kevin’s ability to spot and parse out species within each habitat and learn helpful identification tips that they can put to immediate use in the field.
Potential species of interest include American Oystercatcher, Short- and Long-billed Dowitcher, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Long-billed Curlew, Marbled Godwit, Spotted Sandpiper, and a variety of “peeps” and plovers.
Bring: water, snacks, sunscreen, bug spray
