• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

2003 Midwest Birding Symposium (1 Viewer)

Cindy M

Guest
When? September 11-14, 2003

Where? Regency Suites Hotel and KI Convention Center, Green Bay, Wisconsin

Why? You'll see a huge number of migrating birds... Meet the biggest names in the birding community... Learn from experts... View winning photos from the Birder's World Photo Contest... And most important, have a whole lot of fun.

Meet the biggest names in birding!
Identification expert Kenn Kaufman. TV personalities Don and Lillian Stokes. John "the Nature Nut" Acorn. Naturalist and hummingbird bander Sheri Williamson. Photographers Joe and Mary Ann McDonald. And as a special treat, included in the scedule of events is "Digiscoping Basics"- hosted by Birdforum.net member Mike McDowell) :t:

Choose from 17 fun birding trips!
Green Bay is surrounded by habitat that varies from Lake Michigan shoreline to cattail marsh and sedge meadow. The area lies along major pathways for fall migrants. We found 168 species on our field trips in 2001. You can help us find even more this year!


Help the endangered Greater Prairie-Chicken!
The 2001 Symposium contributed more than $30,000 to the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership. With your help, this year's Symposium will support the efforts of the Nature Conservancy of Minnesota and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to help another critically endangered species -- the Greater Prairie-Chicken.

To read more about the Midwest Birding Symposium visit:

Bird Watchers Digest- 2003 Midwest Birding Symposium
 
Oh, will I second going to the Midwest Birding Symposium!!

I attended the one in Lakeside, Ohio, on the Marblehead Peninsula, in September, 1999. And it was SOOOO much fun!!

Bird Watcher's Digest was still a sponsor then, and the 'revue' that Bill Thompson Jr. and and a very pregnant Julie Zickafoose put on in the Auditorium one night was so funny there were tears rolling down my cheeks.

A slide show of photographs by Artie Morris with him talking about his techniques was just breathtaking!

The location was incredible, with the field trips including such renowned hotspot such as Crane Creek, Magee Marsh, Ottawa NWR and Sheldon Marsh all on the itinerary. I'll never forget getting up on my last morning there, driving just a mile or so from my B&B to sit on the rocks just below the Marblehead Lighthouse (oldest on the Great Lakes) to watch a clear quiet sunrise over Lake Erie, with gulls wheeling against the sky, my only company a photographer trying to capture the changing beauty before it vanished.

Canadian ornithologist David Bird gave a most interesting talk on the "Sex Life of Birds" that was also just hilarious!

Seeing and hearing the Stokes was wonderfully interesting.

The range and quality of birding vendors was so good, I nearly bankrupted myself -- and use/wear many of the things I purchased (my field guide carrier, my bino harness, a Snowy Owl 'ornament' painted on walnut that is now a pendant) today. And my birding library expanded considerably, thanks to the Michigan Ornithology Society's 'traveling bookstore' they set up.

And I even sat down at an outside table under the trees to have lunch one day, and ended up having a delightful meal with Pete Dunne as my table companion! What a wonderful storyteller he is!
He even autographed the copies of his books I had purchased.

I got my Merlin lifer while there!

And it was the most perfect four days of September weather you could possibly imagine!

Anyone who goes to a Midwest Birding Symposium is going to have a wonderful time -- I wish I were going again!!
 
your experience at the symposium is a good example of the fun to be had/shared there Beverly. Wherever there are birds and people who enjoy them gathered together, good things happen. Wisconsin is a wonderfully scenic state with many great places to bird. We, too, met Bill & Julie at the local Kirtlands Warbler festival and I thouroughly enjoyed their presentation. Events like this kinda humanize the 'biggest names in birding'. They're pretty approachable & down-to-earth folks :) Not sure if we'll be attending the Green Bay symposium ourselves, as we've planned a trip to Hawk Mtn. that month & have a pretty full calendar for Sept. already (lots of great festivals/events going on that month) but I'm sure it will be a great time!
 
Hi Cindy and Beverly:

I third the motion! What a wonderful place Wisconsin is. I used to go every year to the Experimental Aircraft Association Annual Convention at Oshkosh. Different kind of birds. LOL. Always a great time. Those were the days, brings back so many memories. I'm supposed to be going West this year to the island but now you have made me reconsider. What am I going to do??
 
hi Yve- I agree about Wisconsin, although I have to admit I'm a bit biased as the topography in our neighboring state resembles our own. We've always wanted to attend the hot-air balloon festival in Oshkosh, but just haven't made it yet. And I can sure empathize with your dilemma, there's got to be a way to be in two places at once?!
:brains:
 
Cindy,
I am just day dreaming! Our visit to Vancouver Island is with my parents and I am supposed to be attending a wedding so I will have to show up I guess. But that is in July, who we said we couldn't visit Green Bay in September. Mostly it would be the $$$$$.

When is the hot air balloon festival? Do you know how many people/balloons attend? The EAA gets a million visitors in 7 days, with over 300,000 attending the daily airshows. How I miss attending the forums and events and viewing all the birds. Oh well, that was a previous life, maybe I'll get back someday.
 
hi again Yve- the hot air balloon festival usually runs somewhere between the end of May/beginning of June. My hubby is a real airplane buff and would love to catch the airshow there someday too. We used to attend many of them around our state (mostly avian teams like Thunderbirds, Blue Angels, etc) but since most of our air force bases have now been decommissioned we no longer have many good airshows :( the good 'ol days indeed!
Vancouver Island, what a wonderful setting for a wedding- another place I hope to visit someday. That 'someday' list is mighty long :)
 
OK, airplane freaks!!

The Dayton Air Show this year is going to be AWESOME. It celebrates the centennial of aviation AND the bicentennial of Ohio. It will have the Thunderbirds, Blue Angels AND the RCAF Snowbirds. The French were sending their crack aerobatic team, but cancelled (well BEFORE Iraq and freedom fries). There's an incredible list of other performances and displays as well.

And I have tickets on the flight line at an umbrella table, no less, for Sunday, July 20!!! :)

If you're interested in going down, checkout the website:

inventingflight.com

When I ordered my tickets a month or so ago, Saturday was already sold out, but Thursday, Friday and Sunday were still available. Those flight line seats at tables are $40 each, and include admission to the show. I think they'll be worth every cent!! (I'm taking a friend; it's her 50th birthday present from me).

And being the middle of July, the order of the day will be cool clothes, COMFORTABLE shoes, binos, and SUNBLOCK, SUNBLOCK, SUNBLOCK!! :)
 
Oh Beverly I am jealous now. I haven't been to an airshow for so long; although I live near a town that sees alot of 'birds'. We are a base for fire fighting - waterbombers (Cansos, Trackers, CL215s) and a base for bush flying, so lots of 185's, Beavers, Otters, etc. We get alot of tourists flying into fishing camps further North. Johnny Cash used to come here every summer - even held a concert here once. What a good friend you are. Hope you and your friend have a great BIRDAY!
 
thanks for the link to the website Bev- I'll definitely check it out. Is this an annual event? Sounds like a great way to spend a birthday:)
 
It's one of the greatest air shows on the planet -- and has been annual for I don't know how long!

It's at Dayton International Airport in Vandalia, just a hop, skip and jump from Wright-Patterson AFB, home to the USAF Museum (which is fascinating, by the way).

And my route there would easily (if I let it; I have a couple of route options) take to Wapakoneta, which, besides having just a plain ol' funny name, is the home of Neil Armstrong and home to a nifty small museum, complete with moon rocks.

I don't how easy it is for you to get on I-75, Cindy, but that's all you'd need to do to get to Dayton and Vandalia!

But you've really put a bug on me about the symposium -- I had so hoped to go two years ago, and planned a whole trip to include taking the ferry across Lake Michigan from Ludington, but you know how it is -- $$$, always $$$. Plus the weekend of the symposium is opening weekend for the orchestra's 03-04 season...
 
hi Bev- no problem for me to get to I-75, it's about 10 min. away:) would you believe in all the years I've lived in Michigan (since '69) I've never taken the Ludington ferry- the longest ferry I've been on is the one to Mackinaw Island (we're talking 15 minutes here..lol) I'm really hyped about the symposium myself, and we're going to try to find a way to be there. I can relate to the $$- it's like 'do we really want to build a garden shed or just go birding in Wisconsin'.. LOL!
 
When did this turn in to an airplane thread????

Must've missed that! But before it reverts back to feathered flight, I'm a bit of a jet freak.

It's ages since I've been to an airshow - we used to have one locally (Battle of Britain Day) - but they closed the military airfield (soon to reopen as a civilian airport) and the show ended.

Red Arrows are alway big news over here, and I always thaought they were streets ahead of anyone else's "National" aerobatics teams. Then, at the last show I went to, we had the Blue Angels....

Oh... My... God!!!!

They were scraping paint off each other's wings.

Gotta say, don't like all 'planes, but give me a jet plane any day and WOW.

Faves... EE Lightning (just a rocket engine with wings really) F-16 Bobcat (or Tomcat or Top Cat or whatever), the Russian Sukhoi that does the Cobra Manoeuvre (never seen that one in real life sadly) - but the Daddy is the sadly lamented Avro Vulcan bomber.

The Earth Really Does Move For Me!!!!!!
 
Birdman if you are into jets you really should visit EAA Oshkosh this July. The F/A 18 supersonic jet modified by NASA is featured as well as anything and everything about birds from around the world. It is truly a fantastic meeting of airheads! Warbirds, homebuilts, classics, military, etc, etc, etc. Just too much to take in on one day so you have to stay the week - symposiums, flightline tours, daily airshows, tradeshow, and a scrapyard too.
 
Oshkosh is so-o-o-o famous, I've even heard of it over here - although I have to say I doubt I will ever make it. But you never know I suppose.

I'm not at all "manly" when it comes to machines - I just about know where to put the fuel in my car, and as for engines and tech. specs. it might as well be Greek - I don't understand, and I don't rightly care... but the speed and the noise of them there jets!!!! WAHOOOOO!!!

(Oh and F-16... it's "Foxbat"????)
 
Birdman - it's the F-16 Tomcat. As for the manly thing... Heck do you think I understand most of the technology/engineering. I just appreciate that these brains can put such a thing together and make it do the things it can.

But a large part of the show is also like admiring cars, the paint jobs, the beauty of the lines and curves, the design to make it stay in the air on air foils of all shapes and sizes. There are all sorts of symposiums about everything to do with flight. There are ones for people who fly 'second seat' so to speak - how to help the pilot navigate and what to do if there is an emergency. You can buy any dodad for your aircraft from a cup holder to a folding boat or motorbike.

Touring the aircraft on display is something else too. You get a up close and personal look and can spend time talking to the people who fly them.

Anyway that's my plug for Oshkosh. Talking about military craft, have you ever been to the Paris Airshow? That was on my list as a must do but have never been able to get there. Since we no longer own an aircraft I have gotten out of the bird watching and traded it for feather watching. LOL
 
enjoying this thread- my stepfather worked for years with NASA so I grew up peering inside many airplanes/jets- we lived near Edwards AFB where the sound barriers were broken on a regular basis- nothing like a good ol sonic boom to rattle things a bit ;)
Birdman, I think f-16's are known as falcons? I'd bet Yve or Bev probably know.. LOL
 
No, I don't know -- I'm just excitged about seeing all the military teams at Dayton this summer.

I remember going to Dayton to the USAF museum on Armed Forces Day many, many years ago and seeing a prototype of the X-1 bomber -- a great-granddaddy to today's Stealth bombers -- and they had some -- oh, what were they called!! -- the spy planes like the one Gary Francis Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union in.

I know NOTHING about flight and its mechanics, but I love seeing these babies fly. Just like I love watching horses run -- can't wait to see "Seabiscuit" when it comes out next month.

I soooooo wish I could be at Kitty Hawk on Dec 17 -- now THAT would be a great way to spend a birthday!

Birdman -- start saving your pennies. You really really should come over to Oshkosh or Dayton some day -- and we'll put together some feathered birding to boot!!
 
Well, I don't know.. Tomcat, Falcon... hey what's the difference, huh?

It's the one with the two tailfins and the raised nose - if that narrows it down any.

Hey, Beverly - that's a very tempting proposition. Being a man, and therefore unable to multitask, it never occured to me that I could get in some feathered birding as well.

Now if only Ryanair flew to Oshkosh!!!
 
Hey Beveryly great idea. We could all meet at Oshkosh or Dayton and get in some great birding of both kinds. I used to stay at the University in Appleton for cheap, I wonder if they still rent out dorm rooms? The EAA also puts together tours of the area for some great shopping - the woolen mills or factory outlets or a fashion show on the riverboat that goes down the Fox River. It really is a great time.

BTW Gary Francis Powers flew a U-2 Spyplane
 
Warning! This thread is more than 21 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top