Here's another birding festival that might interest CT birders. Two of Ct's top birders, Frank Gallo and Patrick Dugan will be leading some of the trips at the festival and it's a great time of year to be on Nantucket! Tina Green Westport September 7, 2011 For Immediate Release Contact: Vern Laux, Resident Naturalist 508-325-0873 or <mailto:vlaux@llnf.org> vlaux@llnf.org Nantucket Birding Festival: October 20-23, 2011 The Linda Loring Nature Foundation is pleased to announce the first Nantucket Birding Festival to be held October 20 - 23, 2011. The LLNF is hosting the festival as a way to bring birders together at a time of yearwhen the birding is a fantastic mix of sea and land birds as well as migrating falcons. The island shimmers at this time of great change in the natural world. The scenery and light are incredible. The business community is welcoming Birding Festival attendees with great deals on lodging, ferry transportation and parking in Hyannis making it an affordable and fun weekend. Hy-Line Cruises, the Hawthorne House, the Cobblestone Inn, the Centerboard, the Brass Lantern, the Periwinkle and the Nantucket Inn are generously offering discounts to Birding Festival participants. Experienced guides and local experts will show you around the island's birding hot spots and explain what you are seeing. Late October offers the chance to find lots of common birds as well as rarities. Wintering waterfowl, gulls and perhaps winter finches are arriving while lingering land birds and lots of sparrows are on the move. Throw in falcons, rocketing around at all times of day and you will enjoy some of the finest birding on the eastern seaboard. Field trips will visit various birding hotspots around the island. Also offered during the weekend will be trips to Great Point with the Trustees of Reservations; birding along the bike paths with Nantucket Bike Tours; and an opportunity for participants to visit the Edith F. Andrews Ornithological Collection at the Maria Mitchell Association. Peter Alden, renowned naturalist, wildlife lecturer, ecotourism guide and author of 15 books on North American and African wildlife is the Keynote Speaker. His talk, "The Ups and Downs of New England Birding from Thoreau's Day to the Present" will be at 7:30 pm at the Nantucket Atheneum with a reception and book signing to follow. For more information call the Linda Loring Nature Foundation at 508-325-0873 or visit our website at <http://www.llnf.org> www.llnf.org to download the Nantucket Birding Festival brochure. E. Vernon Laux Linda Loring Nature Foundation 110 Eel Point Road Nantucket, MA 02554 508-325-0873 Work/Home FAX 508-325-5075 vlaux@LLNF.org Cell 508-566-7001