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Annual hummingbird fest Sept. 10-12 This fall,
thousands of ruby-throated hummingbirds will begin to migrate from
Canada towards their winter home in Mexico and Central America. Some
will travel down along Highway 61 south of Memphis, stopping to refuel
at the Strawberry Plains Audubon Center, near Holly Springs. Last
year 9,000 visitors to the center got to see these tiny titans before
they continued their daunting journey, which includes a 500-mile flight
over the Gulf of Mexico. At the festivals in the
past, many people had the chance to feel the heartbeat of the bird, and
learn how to attract them to their own backyard. People may get the
chance to touch and hold birds this year as well. Renowned expert Bob
Sargent and his team, the Hummer/Bird Study Group, will again be
banding hummingbirds. Bird banding helps unravel
the mysteries of migration. If you think hummingbirds are small, you
should see the delicate band that goes around their leg. The tiny
numbered leg bands enable scientists to determine how far south the
birds go for winter, where they stop during their travels, how long
they live, and whether they come back to the same sites year after
year. (Many do.) At the 2008 festival, over 280 hummingbirds were banded and a bird was recaptured that had been tagged in 2006. Hummers
are vital to our ecosystem because, like bees, they are pollinators. As
bees across North America suffer from Colony Collapse, bird habitats in
North, Central, and South America are being lost to development and
fragmentation. Climate change can produce increasingly severe weather,
including droughts and stronger hurricanes because of rising sea
temperatures. All of these changes impact hummingbird populations. The
status of the ruby-throated population is still robust, however, and
bodes for a spectacular migration in Mississippi. While
the hummingbirds visit the Audubon Strawberry Plains Center throughout
September, the weekend Migration Celebration, from Sept. 10-12, is a
festival, with white tents full of nature-inspired gifts, arts and
crafts, talks on nature, and a chance to buy hummingbird feeders and
bird-friendly plants for your own backyard. The
center showcases 2,600 acres of magnificent forests, grasslands and
native plant gardens, plus the majestic Davis House, where you can sit
in an enclosed porch to watch the hummingbirds hover and drink from
plants and feeders in the garden. Strawberry
Plains Audubon Center at 285 Plains Road, in Holly Springs, was
described as an “outdoor lover’s paradise” by The Northeast Mississippi
Daily Journal. The ruby-throated hummingbird offers a unique way to introduce people to conservation. “Hummingbirds
are great ambassadors for nature and conservation,” said Walter
Hubbard, center director. “They are one of nature’s true marvels and
one of many attractions to enjoy at the festival.” “Once
a person decides to protect and conserve hummingbirds, they wind up
protecting and conserving many other species on which hummingbirds
depend, from insects to native plants,” said Katie Boyle, outreach and
education director at Strawberry Plains. “The festival offers people a
complete picture of habitat needs and conservation.” Participants
come from around the Mid-South to help support the center’s education
and conservation programs, including an initiative to conserve the
Coldwater River Watershed. This year’s
Hummingbird Festival features a number of speakers, including Douglas
W. Tallamy, author of “Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain
Wildlife with Native Plants,” and Greg Butcher, director of bird
conservation for the National Audubon Society. Popular
returning programs will include Terry Vandeventer’s live snake program,
“Good Ole’, Down Home, Mississippi Snakes,” the live bat encounter with
Rob Mies, guided nature walks, wagon rides, the kids’ tent and the
Mississippi Museum of Natural Science. Kristin Lamberson, the
interpretive gardens specialist at Strawberry Plains Audubon Center,
will be answering questions about what kind of plants appeal to birds,
how to place your feeders for maximum benefits, and why indigenous
plants are easier to maintain. Admission is $15
for adults, $10 for seniors, $5 for children under 12; admission for
12-passenger vans and buses is $10 per person. All parking is free.
Hamburgers and hot dogs will be for sale. For
more information on the 11th Annual Hummingbird Migration Celebration
events, please visit http://strawberryplains.audubon.org or call
662-252-1155.
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