Tawas Point Birding Festival 2010

Biography

Kevin Karlson 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. Kevin is a co-author of The Shorebird Guide (Houghton Mifflin Co. 2006) and just completed a new book for the Roger Tory Peterson Reference series at Houghton Mifflin Co. called Birding by Impression, which should be published in 2011. He also recently completed a photography book called The Birds of Cape May NJ, which celebrates the birds of this special location through the four seasons. It is due for release in September, 2010.

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 is a regular presence at numerous Bird and Nature festivals around North America, where he gives keynote presentations and workshops on bird identification and natural history, and leads field trips to a variety of locations. Kevin also leads a limited number of photography tours.

Keynote Address

Birds on the Wind: The Miracle of Migration

Bird migration is truly one of the most amazing natural wonders in our world today. From the unbelievable 7000 mile nonstop journeys of Bar-tailed Godwits to spectacular raptor movements during migration, there are still many unanswered questions about the mechanics and long-distance movements of bird migration. The program begins with a review of different types of bird migration before highlighting various bird families and select species that perform amazing feats of physical endurance in their bi-annual journeys. Breathtaking photos and several musical interludes add to the interesting nature of this presentation. This light-hearted program appeals to birders and non-birders alike.

Saturday Workshop

Shorebirds by Impression

This short indoor workshop presents an alternate approach to shorebird identification that encourages an initial evaluation of physical impressions to form a surprisingly accurate foundation for your field ID before analyzing feather details or plumage patterns. By concentrating on the size, body shape and structural features of each bird seen in the field, a reliable set of nonchangeable impressions is formed for each species, unaffected by the many plumage conditions found throughout the year for most shorebirds.

Conscious evaluation of distinctive body motion and behavior over time for each species further enhances your ability to really “know” the important field impressions for all shorebirds. A similar approach was given in Kevin’s popular book “The Shorebird Guide”, published by Houghton Mifflin Co. in 2006. Digitized comparison photos of similar, hard-to-identify species are included in this program to allow participants to see for themselves how a combination of subtle structural differences and careful analysis of plumage details results in a more complete ID picture. Some of the comparison photos include dowitchers, large and small plovers, Western and Semipalmated sandpipers and the two willets.