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Bluegrass Birding Festival: May 14th-15th
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The 3rd Annual Bluegrass Birding Festival and Craft Fair is quickly approaching. This year's events will be held at McConnell Springs (not Jacobson Park as in years past); we hope the new location will be more convenient for people both inside and outside of Lexington and will offer an even better variety of birds. This year's events will include a fun-filled list of bird walks and bird talks, including presentations by noted avian artist John Sill who will be sharing tricks he's learned which help draw our feathered friends and presenting a keynote talk on his Field Guide to Little-Known & Seldom-Seen Birds. Activities have been included for all age groups, and the Festival is free and open to the public.
This year's featured and honored guest, artist John Sill, has worked as a freelance artist and illustrator since 1971. His field sketching ability is superb; his work has been featured in multiple birding magazines and guides, he illustrated the Bird Identification Calendar published by the Massachusetts Audubon Society for twenty-seven years, and he has given workshops on field sketching for the American Birding Association and other venues. While the subjects of most of John’s work have been birds (both real and imagined), his illustrations for his wife Cathryn’s much awarded “About” series of natural history books for children have expanded his art to include other wildlife. We are pleased to welcome them both and we thank LexArts for the grant to help fund their visit.
The official Festival schedule has been posted online -- note: if there are specific bird walks you would like to attend, please sign up soon as spaces are limited. We hope to see you there. Be sure to drop by the Central Kentucky Audubon Society table to draw a bird for our 314 Birds & Climate Change community art collage.
We could also use more volunteers to help make the Festival a success. If even a quarter of the people who get this newsletter give a few hours of their time, we would have more volunteers than we need. Sign up to help by e-mailing the Festival organizers or through our post at Volunteermatch.org.
John Sill's Field Guide to Little-Known & Seldom-Seen Birds of North America is a cult humor classic, documenting thirty "new" species, replete with excellent illustrations, detailed descriptions, observation hints, and range maps.
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Hitnes' Class Inspires 2nd Mural -- In Columbia!
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When CKAS was arranging the Hitnes Master Mural Class last fall, we hoped it might inspire a little interest in birds, interest in Audubon, and even interest in public art. We hoped it might encourage the students to try murals of their own, maybe at a local school or other public space. But we never expected one of the student's murals to show up in an international location! We are pleased to report that Spencer Reinhard, one of the Hitnes class's student participants, independently arranged and completed a bird-themed mural on a recent trip to Cali, Columbia (pictures below).
The mural is the result of happy coincidence and Reinhard's persistence. He had planned the trip to Columbia before realizing that he would be there during the annual Columbia Bird Fair. Recognizing an opportunity to try out some of what he'd learned in Hitnes' class, he pushed the festival organizers and the Columbia Museum of Free Art to find him space and fund the project. They provided him with paint, supplies, and a several-panel installation in the bus terminal in downtown Cali, a very high-traffic area.
Reinhard says he spent a few weeks observing local birds and doing sketches to get ready to paint. "All the birds included in the mural are ones that I was able to see while birding in and around Cali," said Reinhard, "and I intentionally included the summer tanager, not only because it is very common there in the city of Cali during our winter months, but also because it is one of central Kentucky's two species of Tanagers." Who knows? Maybe the tanager Reinhard painted plans to summer near the Red River Gorge.
Reinhard had allowed himself ten days to finish painting, but he was able to complete the entire mural in only six days. The mural's panel installation in the bus terminal was never meant to be permanent and the panels are now in storage, but the city officials liked the final project so much that they intend to feature it as a prominent and permanent installation at the local airport when that building is redesigned later this year. Bravo!
You can see more of Spencer Reinhard's artwork at his web page.
 Spencer Reinhart's new mural in Cali, Columbia.
Close-up details of some of the mural birds.
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Upcoming CKAS (& Other) Events
These and other events can be found on our CKAS Web Calendar.
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May 4th (Wed.) All Day: Bird Day Everywhere. First celebrated in 1894, Bird Day was established to encourage conservation training and awareness of birds. Learn more here.
May 4th (Wed.) 6:00pm-9:00pm: Free Movie: Green Fire Central Public Library's Farish Theater 140 East Main St., Lexington. Join Wild Ones Lexington and Bluegrass Earth for a free showing of Green Fire, the first full-length documentary about legendary environmentalist Aldo Leopold. Movie starts at 6:30pm.
May 11th (Wed.) 7:00pm-8:00pm: Barrows Conservation Lecture Series -- Messing Around with Birds (for Fun and Science) Cincinnati Zoo Harold C. Schott Education Center 3400 Vine St., Cincinnati OH. Join naturalist Scott Weidensaul for a lighthearted exploration of his many avian research projects. Tickets $14, please purchase/register here. If you are interested in a CKAS carpool/caravan with CKAS, please e-mail president@CKAS.org and we’ll make a plan.
May 14th (Sat.) All Day: International Migratory Bird Day Everywhere. Celebrate one of the most important and spectacular events in the Americas - bird migration. migratorybirdday.org
May 14th (Sat.) 8:00am-5:00pm: Day 1 of the 3rd Annual Bluegrass Birding Festival & Craft Fair McConnell Springs 416 Rebmann Lane, Lexington. Birding, banding, exhibits, crafts, and activities for the whole family. Keynote speakers: John & Cathryn Sill. Full schedule here.
May 15th (Sun.) 8:00am-3:00pm: Day 2 of the 3rd Annual Bluegrass Birding Festival & Craft Fair McConnell Springs 416 Rebmann Lane, Lexington. Birding, banding, exhibits, crafts, and activities for the whole family. Full schedule here.
May 20th (Fri.) All Day: Endangered Species Day Everywhere. An opportunity for people of all ages to learn about the importance of protecting endangered species and everyday actions they can take to help protect them. More info at the Endangered Species Coalition.
May 20th (Fri.) 5:30pm-6:30pm: Birding Basics Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill 3501 Lexington Rd, Harrodsburg. Join Shaker Village naturalists to learn basics of birding: identification, migration, and more! Meet on the steps in front of the Trustee’s Office.
May 21st (Sat.) 7:30am-2:00pm: Bird Walk Berea Woods Big Hill Rd, Hwy 21E, Berea. Carpools leaving from the outside parking lot of Lakeside Golf Course 3725 Richmond Road (Coys Drive) at 7:30 prompt. DO NOT BE LATE! Bring lunch. Or meet at the old Indian Fort Theater (2047 Big Hill, Berea) at 8:15am.
May 21st (Sat.) 10:00am-12:00pm: Blue Heron Rookery Cruise Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill 3501 Lexington Rd, Harrodsburg. Extended Discovery Trek riverboat cruise up the Kentucky River to the rookery. Bring your camera! Tickets $35; limited availability, registration and prepayment required.
May 21st (Sat.) 4:00pm-4:30pm: Be a Bird! Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill 3501 Lexington Rd, Harrodsburg. Join Shaker Village naturalists for a family art project: make your own wings and beak from recycled materials! Tickets $10/$5; limited availability, registration and prepayment required.
May 21st (Sat.) 8:30pm-9:30pm: Owl Prowl Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill 3501 Lexington Rd, Harrodsburg. Join Shaker Village naturalists to learn about owls, then help call the owls in for a closer look. Meet at the Trustees’ Office before caravaning back to the Centre Trailhead.
May 22nd (Sun.) 10:00am-12:00pm: Blue Heron Rookery Cruise Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill 3501 Lexington Rd, Harrodsburg. Missed the cruise yesterday? Here’s your second chance. Tickets $35; limited availability, registration and prepayment required.
May 28th (Sat.) 10:00am: 7:30am-3:00pm: Bird Walk Red River Gorge Daniel Boone National Forest. Carpools leaving from the parking lot at Eastland Shopping Center (near the Rite Aid) at 7:30 prompt. DO NOT BE LATE! Bring lunch.
May 28th (Sat.) 10:00am: Little Explorers--All About Birds Raven Run Nature Sanctuary 3990 Raven Run Way, Lexington. Youth K-5th. Join Raven Run naturalists to learn all about our feathered friends. Please register by calling 859-272-6105.
May 29th (Sun.) 8:00am: Bird Walk Masterson Station Park 3051 Leestown Road, Lexington. Join us for our second Masterson Station Park Bird Survey. Meet in the soccer field parking lot to the left of the entrance drive. Wear comfortable shoes/boots -- we aim to survey the whole park.
June 4th (Sat.) 7:30am-12:00pm: Bird Walk Camp Nelson Civil War Heritage Park 6614 Danville Rd, Nicholasville. Carpools leaving from the parking lot of Palomar Center near Wild Eggs at 7:30 prompt. DO NOT BE LATE! Or meet at 8:15 at Camp Nelson Interpretive Center.
June 8th (Wed.) 5:30pm-?: Annual Picnic & Pot Luck Masterson Station Park 3051 Leestown Road, Lexington. Join us for our annual CKAS Pot Luck Picnic. CKAS will provide burgers (please specify if vegan) for all who RSVP. Plan on dinner about 6:30pm. BYOB and a dish/dessert to share. Quick walks to potential prairie restoration area and potential Barn Owl silo, plus short board meeting and elections to follow.
June 11th (Sat.) 8:00am-11:30am: Bird Walk Raven Run Nature Sanctuary 3990 Raven Run Way, Lexington. Meet at the Visitor's Center.
June 11th (Sat.) 11:00am-12:30pm: 2nd Saturday Seminar: TBA Wild Birds Unlimited 152 N. Locust Hill, Lexington KY. Always something exciting and bird-related!
June 17th (Sat.) 8:30pm-10:00pm: Creatures of the Night Hike Raven Run Nature Sanctuary 3990 Raven Run Way, Lexington. Join Raven Run naturalists to learn about the habits and folklore of animals active at night (like owls!). Please preregister: (859) 272-6105.
June 24th (Sat.) 8:00pm-9:00pm: Night Hike Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill 3501 Lexington Road, Harrodsburg KY. Join the naturalist guides at Shaker Village to explore The Preserve just before the sun sets. $5 After Hours Admission; meet at the Trustees Office.
June 25th (Sat.) 9:00pm-10:30pm: Night Hike McConnell Springs 416 Rebmann Lane, Lexington. Join the McConnell Springs staff as they explore in the dark, looking for animals that only come out at night (like owls!). Please preregister: (859) 225-4073.
June 27th (Mon.) The Arboretum 500 Alumni Drive, Lexington. Interested in entering a birdhouse for the 13th Birdhouse Display & Silent Auction to be held July 13th to 31st? Entry forms/fees due today (will post link in next month's newsletter, or you can pick up an entry form at The Arboretum).
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