Eagle Expo

Speakers, Workshop highlight 5th Annual Eagle Expo

MORGAN CITY- The fifth Annual Eagle Expo, scheduled February 25-27, 2010, in Morgan City, Louisiana, will feature boat tours to view eagles, seminars from wildlife and nature experts, and opportunities to meet fellow birders.

Moving into its fifth successful year, the Eagle Expo is a tribute to the return of the American Bald Eagle to Louisiana, which was recently removed from the endangered species list in June 2007. Laws banning the use of harmful pesticides such as DDT and greater public awareness and education have increased the bald eagle population throughout Louisiana and the United States. Currently, there are 284 active nests in Louisiana with a large concentration in the St. Mary and Terrebonne Parish areas.

Highlighting this year’s expo will be a workshop taught by renowned wildlife photographer CC Lockwood on Thursday, February 25th. CC Lockwood is known for his numerous publications and books, especially his eleventh book, Marsh Mission, which brought attention to the crisis of the vanishing Gulf Coast wetlands. His photography has been featured in prominent publications such as the Smithsonian Magazine and National Geographic Magazine.

The workshop includes a two-hour lecture on Digital Bird Photography at the Atchafalaya Golf Course in Patterson beginning at 2 p.m. and a boat trip to Bayou Black the following morning. The boat trip to Bayou Black will focus on birding and marsh landscapes. The workshop requires separate registration and payment. The cost of the workshop is $195.00. Contact CC Lockwood at www.cclockwood.com or atchbasin@aol.com. Space is limited.

A welcome reception, sponsored by the Black Bear Conservation Coalition, will be held at the Louisiana State Museum in Patterson, Thursday, February 25th, 6 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Tours to view eagles will take place Friday, Feb. 26th and Saturday, Feb. 27th. Featured waterways include the Atchafalaya Basin, Lake Verret, Turtle Bayou and Bayou Black. Tours will be at 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. on Saturday. Each featured boat tour offers something different to attendees.

The Atchafalaya Basin is the largest overflow swamp in the U.S. with 10 distinct aquatic & terrestrial habitats. Home to over 170 bird species, 50 mammalian species, 40 reptilian, 20 amphibian species and 100 species of fin fish and shellfish, the basin offers more than just eagles.

The Bayou Black Tour meanders through old oil and gas canals. Birds of prey including Bald Eagles, Ospreys and various species of hawks call this place home. Other birds likely to be encountered include various species of ducks, wading birds and song bird species.

Lake Verret and Bayou Magazille highlight another part of the basin spillway. Past participants have seen Bald Eagles and Osprey soaring overhead, fishing, or resting on treetops along the waters edge. Other wildlife including Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Great Egret, White Ibis, Belted Kingfisher, Red-tailed Hawks, Double-crested Cormorants, Anhinga, the American White Pelicans and an occasional Peregrine Falcon have been seen.

The Turtle Bayou Tour includes two small natural bayous that provide for fantastic views and local wildlife. Aside from eagles other birds likely to be encountered include Anhingas, Double-crested Cormorants, Red-shouldered Hawks, White Ibis, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Carolina Chickadees and various species of terns and gulls.

Friday evening will feature Kurt Mutchler the Chief Deputy Director of photography for National Geographic Magazine at the Petroleum Club of Morgan City. Mr. Mutchler is responsible for overseeing the editing of all photographic content for the magazine and has worked there for 15 years. Prior to National Geographic, Mutchler was the photo and graphics editor at the Times-Picayune, New Orleans.

Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010, will feature a variety of speakers including Deborah Fuller with the US Fish & Wildlife Service; Donna L. Dittmann & Steve Cardiff with the LSU Museum of Natural Science; Melanie Driscoll with the Audubon Gulf Coast Initiative; and Bill Clark, a birds of prey enthusiast.

Deborah Fuller has worked for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service since 1995. Her current position is the Endangered Species Coordinator for the Louisiana Field office. She works to ensure all species on the endangered species list are not adversely affected by other state and federal agencies’ actions. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has promoted the recovery of eagles, and other endangered animals, via funding for surveys and cooperative conservation with private landowners, as well as other governmental agencies.

Donna L. Dittmann and Steven W. Cardiff are collections managers at the LSU Museum of Natural Science. Donna manages the Genetic Resources Collection – the world’s largest frozen tissue repository. She is also the museum’s specimen preparator. Steve is manager of the Bird and Mammal collections. In addition to their involvement in ornithological research projects in Louisiana and elsewhere, both are also Members of the Louisiana Bird Records Committee, with Donna serving as Secretary and Steve as Chair. Donna is a longtime technical advisor to Birding magazine (she also appeared in a recent Birding interview: http://www.aba.org/birding/v40n5p22.pdf), and has also served on the American Birding Association Checklist Committee. Steve is currently the regional editor for the Arkansas-Louisiana seasonal summaries in the journal North American Birds. Donna and Steve have co-authored numerous identification articles on Louisiana birds, including those available at www.losbird.org.

Melanie Driscoll is Director of Bird Conservation for the Louisiana Coastal Initiative, where she is working on large-scale conservation planning and bird monitoring for habitats in Louisiana. Recently, she spearheaded Audubon’s intensive conservation planning in the Atchafalaya Watershed. She leads Audubon's efforts to identify, prioritize, monitor and implement conservation initiatives for Important Bird Areas in Louisiana, sites that provide important habitat for populations of birds during all seasons. Thus far, Melanie has led a team of technical experts in identifying over 17 million acres of important habitat for birds, with a focus on Mississippi River and Gulf Coast sites. She has been working with Audubon since January 2006.

Photographer, author, and lecturer Bill Clark has over thirty years of experience working with birds of prey, including five years as director of the National Wildlife Federation's Raptor Information Center. He has published numerous articles about raptors; has traveled worldwide studying, observing, and photographing these birds; and has led birding tours and workshops, both at home and abroad, in recent years with his company, Raptours. He regularly teaches courses on raptor field identification and biology and frequently lectures on birds of prey and related subjects. His goal is to see and photograph all of the world's diurnal raptors.

The Cajun Coast Visitors and Convention Bureau has partnered with the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program (BTNEP), the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Black Bear Conservation Coalition, National Audubon Society, Conrad Industries, Johnny’s Propeller Shop and volunteer birding enthusiasts to showcase not only the American Bald Eagle, but the numerous species of birds and wildlife found along the Cajun Coast.

For a complete event schedule, costs and registration forms, visit http://eagles.btnep.org, www.cajuncoast.com or contact the Cajun Coast Visitors and Convention Bureau at 985-395-4905, info@cajuncoast.com .
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