Caspian tern by Arthur Morris/Birds As Art.Yesterday about 15 of us were sitting around a set of tables in the Hotel Lakeside, discussing details for the upcoming Midwest Birding Symposium, when a Caspian tern flew past the windows along the Lake Eire shore. Of course I couldn't help myself. I grabbed my friend Judy's binoculars and checked out this big, beautiful tern. And I shouted out the ID of the bird, completely stopping the meeting in its tracks.
The bird watchers in the meeting with me swiveled in their chairs for a look. The non-birders sort of sat there smiling in a mixture of amazement and amusement.
No matter, I took this sighting as a good omen. The Caspian tern is the bird we chose for the event's logo, designed by Claire Mullen, production director at Bird Watcher's Digest. The fact that this "awesome beast" (if I may quote Jim McCormac) chose to fly past to say hello bodes well for this birding event, which will be held at Lakeside, Ohio from September 17 to 20, 2009.
I hope you'll consider joining us at the MBS. We've got fabulous speakers, awesome birds, a sold-out Birder's Marketplace full of everything for birders, and a weekend full of mucho, mucho fun. Details are available here.
Among our speakers is the man who took the Caspian tern photo above, Arthur Morris. Artie will be speaking and leading a workshop on digital bird photography.
