This year's Berkeley Springs Fall Birding Festival was blessed with fine weather, drew good crowds, and those who attended voiced enthusiastic support for continuing and expanding the festival in future years.
The festival was held in Berkeley Springs the weekend of September 18-20. This was its second year, and its first year under PVAS sponsorship. PVAS hopes to continue sponsoring the festival, and current plans call for scheduling it the third weekend of every September.
This year's attendees included a mix of people from near and far, many of whom were beginning birders. Those who came from outside the Berkeley Springs area included a physician from Cumberland, MD, who had learned about the festival from her local newspaper to a young couple from Washington, DC, who had found the festival on the Internet.

The festival events were as follows:
A Friday evening Ice House presentation of beautiful bird songs, presented by naturalist Wil Hershberger, proved to us that our ears can only hear a portion of the intricate language that many birds are able to sing.     
Wil Hershberger and Joe Gentile lead a Saturday morning birding adventure and general nature walk at the Eidolon Nature Preserve sighting 19 species of birds.
School age children and adults participated in a Saturday workshop for beginning birders, led by Kelly Smith and Ellen Murphy at Warm Springs Intermediate School. 
At The Country Inn, an over-flow crowd of people attended a Saturday evening presentation, Hawks on the Move, by raptor expert Liam McGranahan.
After enjoying coffee and Fairfax Coffee House pastries, Wil and Liam led the group of early risers on a Guided Birding Adventure at Sleepy Creek Retreat.  The birders were out early along with the song birds. The hawks, however, apparently slept in until the air currents warmed enough for them to be comfortable just as Liam had explained they would the night before at The Country Inn.  

Many thanks are due to Judy Webb and Helen Herlocker for coordinating the festival,

PVAS also thanks other community supporters for their generosity: Berkeley Springs Cottage Rentals and Cowboy Cabin, The Country Inn, Fairfax Coffee House, Jane McCloud, The Morgan Arts Council and the Ice House, Nature Niche, Sleepy Creek Retreat and Sleepy Creek Watershed Association.

Sunday morning participants showing off their birding poses at the Sleepy Creek Wildlife Refuge

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