Florida Keys Birding & Wildlife Festival
Major Festival Events are below. Many others can be found on the Festivals registration form: http://keysbirdingfest.org/images/2010RegForm.pdf
23rd (Thurs) – Full Moon Rise Kayak Tour of No Name Key. Join Friends And Volunteers of Refuges (FAVOR) and Capt. Bill Keogh, a noted local author, photographer, owner of Big Pine Kayak Adventures for a sunset/moonrise scenic paddle through the sponge flats, grass beds and mangrove forests of the Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge. 6:30-8:30pm. $25 per person. RSVP to 872-7474...., education, and volunteer projects on behalf of the four Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges. It's the perfect way to explore and enjoy nature while directly benefiting it.
The full moon trip is only offered once a month, so sign up now. To reserve your seat for this wonderful sunset / moonrise excursion, call 872-7474. The trip will depart from the Old Wooden Bridge Fishing Camp near the No Name Key Bridge at 6:30pm on Mondy, August 23rd. Bring your own flashlight. For more info visit www.FAVORfloridakeys.com
24th (Fri) - Guided Tour of Ohio Key: View the birds of Ohio Key along the Atlantic Ocean and a salt water wetland with refuge staff.8-11am. MM 39. Ocean side, across from Sunshine Key Campground.
FREE with $10 Birding Festival Registration.
24th (Fri) - Botanical and Wildlife Tour of No Name Key: Explore the hardwood hammock, freshwater wetlands and salt marsh habitats of No Name Key and observe the adaptations of the creatures that live there. 1-3pm.
Meet: National Key Deer Refuge Visitor Center, Big Pine Key. FREE with $10 Birding Festival Registration. Maximum 15
24th (Fri) - Internationally known Ornithologist Peter Dunne will speak on “25 Things That Changed Birding”. Marathon Garden Club, mile marker 49.9 on US 1, gulf side, Marathon from 6 – 9 pm. Refreshments and hors d’oeuvres will be served. Admission fee is $25 before September 10 and $30 after September 10 and at door. Seating is limited to 100.
25th (Sat) – Birding Field Trip with Pete Dunne. Join Pete and Refuge ecologist Phillip Hughes for a morning birding field trip of the pine rockland, hammocks and wetlands at National Key Deer Refuge on Big Pine Key Sponsored by Friends And Volunteers Of Refuges (FAVOR). 7:30-11:30am. SOLD OUT.
25th (Sat) – Book Signing with internationally known Ornithologist Pete Dunne. Noon – 1pm at National Key Deer Refuge Visitors Center in Winn Dixie Plaza, Big Pine Key.
25th (Sat) – Environmental Fair. Free, fun-filled day at Curry Hammock SP for adults, kids and kids-at-heart. Includes wildlife art, touch tanks, fish seining, fly fishing clinics, kayak trips, puppet shows and a rescued panther, alligator and crocodile. Sponsored by the Friends of Islamorada Area State Parks
25th (Sat) - Capturing Birds and Wildlife "Through The Lens". Award winning nature photographers Dick Fortune & Sara Lopez will be giving an up close and personal photographic presentation of South Florida's birds and wildlife as seen through the lens. $5 Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center, Key West. 6:30pm wine and cheese social. Program runs from 7:30pm - 9pm.
25th (Sat) – Reef Relief celebrates the 25th Anniversary of International Coastal Clean Up Day with a clean up of Big Pine Key from 11am-1pm. Group will meet at the Old Wooden Bridge Fishing Lodge near the No Name Pub. Just look for the Reef Relief sign! Please RSVP to Reef Relief at 305.294.3100 or reefrelief@gmail.com. To schedule your own clean up, go to http://signuptocleanup.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Projects.Propose
25th (Sat) – Local volunteers are celebrating the 25th Anniversary of International Coastal Clean Up Day with a Clean up of Annes’ Beach in Lower Matecumbe from 11:30pm-1:30am. To schedule your own clean up, go to http://signuptocleanup.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Projects.Propose
26th (Sun) – Dry Tortugas all day birding excursion with avid Florida Keys birder and Florida Keys Audubon Director, Dr. Mark Whiteside. Trip boards at 7:30 AM in Key West and returns around 5 PM. SOLD OUT.