Winter 2025 Meeting
ALABAMA ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY
WINTER MEETING SCHEDULE
Magnuson Wildwood Hotel
See registration form at bottom of page.
JANUARY 24-26, 2025
Unless otherwise noted, all activities begin or occur at Magnuson Wildwood Hotel, 3896 Coastal Highway, Crawfordville FL. 850 926 4455
Casual dress is appropriate throughout the meeting.
FRIDAY, January 17, 2025
5:30 p.m. Board Meeting
Where: Via Zoom
FRIDAY, January 24, 2025
Birding on your own if you arrive early.
Wakulla Springs Friday afternoon or Sunday morning with boat tour. Wakulla Springs is well-known for its clear warm-water spring and river, surrounding hardwood forests dripping with Spanish Moss, wildlife including birds, alligators, fish and mammals. The boat ride allows us to glide along the river seeing wildlife along the banks. The surrounding forest is home to both wintering songbirds and local resident birds.
We need people to advise preference – see separate piece elsewhere in newsletter.
Dinner on your own (An AOS member will provide light desserts), workshop, member photos. Note: you must preregister with Drew your intent to show photos.
As we are at the coast in winter – an unusual occurrence – and St. Marks NWR is well known for shorebirds in addition to many other birds, our workshop will take a look at the small plovers and a couple of similarly sized sandpipers. Rather than trying to identify them just by appearance, as is done in most field guides, we’ll look at a whole suite of characteristics that enables you to quickly decide if the bird is a plover, or a sandpiper, then use a few simple steps to funnel down to which species you are seeing. Some characteristics can eliminate possibilities before you even see a bird! For those who visit the Gulf Coast in spring, this workshop will also be useful to get you ahead of the game for your birding there. The workshop will be presented by our President Drew Haffenden, known for his interest in, and surveying of, shorebirds during 13 years of living on Dauphin Island. Drew has run several multi-session shorebird ID courses for Alabama Audubon and has led shorebird ID outings for AOS.
5:00 p.m. Dinner on your own. Two of our generous members will provide desserts at the Social Hour
5:30 p.m. Registration
Where: Blue Heron Room
6:00 p.m. Social Hour – Blue Heron Room
7:00 p.m. Workshop – Drew Haffenden – “A Wholistic Look at Peeps” – Blue Heron Room
8:30 p.m. Adjourn
SATURDAY, January 25, 2024
7:00 a.m. Field Trips – Meet in the Lodge Lobby
All day trip to St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge with our guest speaker and AOS leaders. St. Marks is one of the richest wildlife refuges in the south, known especially for its water birds, ranging from beach shorebirds to herons and egrets, eagles and other raptors, sparrows and birds of grasslands and shrubs, with miles of open walking trails along levees allowing for excellent viewing opportunities. Regional birders, and those from further afield, return to St. Marks again and again for the natural history opportunities it provides.
5:30 p.m. Registration
Where: Blue Heron Room
5:30 p.m. Social Hour – Blue Heron Room
6:30 p.m. Banquet – Blue Heron Room
7:15 p.m. Announcements
7:30 p.m. Keynote Speaker Sahas Barve, John W. Fitzpatrick Director of Avian Ecology, Archbold Biological Station will give us a talk about the Florida Scrub Jay which he has studied for many years. “Oak Scrub, Fires and Family: The natural history of an enigmatic Florida endemic bird.”
9:00 p.m. Adjourn
SUNDAY, January 26, 2024
Birding on your own or Wakulla Springs Boat Tour. Further information about time at the meeting.
10:00 a.m. Compilation
Where: Hotel lobby
10:45 p.m. Adjourn
ACCOMMODATIONS AND INFORMATION
Magnuson Wildwood Hotel, 3896 Coastal Highway, Crawfordville FL. 850-926-4455
Rooms are reserved at the hotel for a convention rate of $114.00 King, $124 Double Queen plus taxes and surcharges per night. The reservation telephone number is 850-926-4455. Please indicate that you are with Alabama Ornithological Society. Must book by December 30 for guaranteed availability and price. Rooms after that subject to availability and additional cost.