NYS’ 9th Annual Adirondack Boreal Birding Festival to be held June 7-9

The 9th Annual Adirondack Boreal Birding Festival kicks off in the heart of New York’s Adirondack Park on June 7 with three days of guided hikes, lectures and driving safaris.

At the center of the Hamilton County festival are 17 birding walks and driving safaris dispersed throughout the county over three days.  All the outings are free and are led by established birding guides. The festival will also feature a Saturday, June 8 program with international birding expert Dr. Bruce Beehler. His first book, “Birdlife of the Adirondacks,” propelled him into a career that has spanned the globe.

Beehler made headlines when he discovered two birds in New Guinea previously believed to be non-existent, and has worked on behalf of the Smithsonian Institution, Conservation International and the U.S. Department of State.

“As soon as the 2013 festival schedule went up on the website, we started to get calls to register,” states Dean Nervik, tourism specialist with the county Department of Planning, Tourism and Community Development, and organizer of the festival.

Dr. Beehler will also join several of the guided birding excursions, but even organizers don’t know which ones he’ll select. Boreal birds are birds that nest and breed in northern forests and include black-backed woodpeckers, gray jays, a variety of warblers and water fowl.

“Since boreal birds can’t be found in Texas and a lot of other parts of this country, we generally attract a lot of out-of-state attendees to the festival,” Nervik said. The festival was developed to take advantage of the region’s unique wildlife and attract out-of-area visitors to the county during a shoulder season, he added.

The first registrant for the 9th Annual Adirondack Boreal Birding Festival comes from Texas. She plans to stay in Long Lake for the June 7th through 9th event in Hamilton County.

Advance registration is required for birding excursions and groups are kept small to insure that breeding species may be observed.

For a complete schedule of Adirondack Boreal Birding Festival events, visit www.Adirondackbirds.com or call 518 548-3076.

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Tags: Adirondack Boreal Birding Festival, Adirondack Park, birding, birding festival, hiking, hiking destinations, New York State tourism, New York's Adirondacks