This weekend marks the beginning of the great hummingbird migration through Land Between the Lakes, and the Friends of Land Between the Lakes invite you to join us for our 24th Annual Hummingbird Festival! There will be events on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 3-4, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day at the Woodlands Nature Station at Land Between the Lakes.
If you love hummingbirds, this is the event for you! August brings hundreds of hummingbirds to the Woodlands Nature Station as they migrate south to Central America. You can see as many as 200 in a single day. Join us to celebrate this natural spectacle and watch these backyard beauties as they buzz around the native gardens, fueling up for the next leg of their long journey. Winners of our Hummingbird Photo Contest will be recognized at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday morning.
Throughout the weekend, there will be hummingbird banding and release demonstrations with licensed banders Mark Monroe and Brainard Palmer-Ball Jr. There will be a hummingbird photo gallery and gift shop, kids’ crafts and games, rain garden and rain barrel demonstrations, live animals, and lots of gardeners, craftsmen, and artists to visit and observe. At 4:30 p.m. each day there will be a parade of raptors. We also will have native plants for sale.
There are a number of invited speakers. On Saturday at noon and Sunday at 2 p.m., Scott Sutton from the Houston-Stewart County Beekeepers Association will give a presentation about beekeeping basics and ways to attract native bees to your property. On Saturday at 3 p.m., Maggie Morgan from the Jackson Purchase Foundation will present ways to protecting our water by using rain barrels and planting rain gardens.
On Saturday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., and Sunday at 11 a.m., botanist Alicia Bosela, owner of Ironweed Native Plant Nursery, will offer tips on landscaping for migrating birds and Monarch butterflies, and ways to attract hummers and other wildlife to your yard. On Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Bob Peak from the North American Bluebird Society will talk about ways to attract bluebirds to your yard. At 3 p.m. Sunday, there will be a talk about how to attract purple martins.
Fourth grade students can go to www.everykidinapark.gov, get their free “Every Kid in a Park” pass, and get their family in for free. Without a pass, the admission price is $7 for ages 13 and up, $5 for ages 5-12, and free for ages 4 and under.
Plan to make a day of it! Bring a picnic lunch or stop by our onsite food vendor. For more information or to view a detailed schedule of this event, call 270-924-2299 or visit www.landbetweenthelakes.us.
