Spring migration is underway and the best place to watch a variety of birds at this annual event, as well as learn about bird watching is at the Tommy Thompson Park Spring Festival on Saturday, May 12, 2012. Tommy Thompson Park, on the Leslie Street Spit, is a stopover habitat for migrating birds with 163 species migrating through the area in 2011. The migrating season takes place from April 1 to the first week of June.
The Tommy Thompson Spring Festival will teach you all about bird watching, as well as feature kids’ activities, live bird banding demonstrations, guided bird and nature hikes, photography workshops and free shuttles. The weather forecast for Saturday calls for a balmy 23°C so it should be a beautiful day for bird watching.
Visitors to the festival can also compete to see how many bird species they can spot in 24 hours during the Baillie Birdathon, a bird count run by Bird Studies Canada that raises funds for bird conservation. For a $20 donation, you can join celebrity birdathoner Candice Batista of the The Marilyn Denis Show, who will compete in the event from 6 a.m. to noon. Make your pledge online, but hurry as space is limited.
Kids will also be able to enter artwork, writing or photography in the “Robert Bateman 2012 Get to Know Contest,” which will be launched at the festival. Entries can be submitted online until July 16, 2012.
Tommy Thompson Park, Leslie St. and Unwin Ave.
