Schedule

2020 Schedule

Friday, February 14

Registration begins at 3:00 PM at the Meadowlands Community Center. (see map)

Friday’s Pre-Festival Trip to Sax-Zim Bog
Meet at the Meadowlands Community Center at 6:30 AM for bus boarding.  The trip will depart at 7:00 AM and arrive back at the community center at 2:00 PM

Catered Dinner
5:00 PM at the Meadowlands Community Center.

Menu:
Pastie and fixing (to be determined)

SPECIAL PRESENTATION
The Secret Lives of Sax-Zim’s Sexiest Critters
By Sparky Stensaas

Through HD video clips and short films we’ll learn about Sax-Zim’s most fascinating wildlife. We’ll hunt with a Great Gray Owl, enjoy the antics of baby Northern Hawk Owls, smile at the world’s cutest baby bird (Canada Jay), and much more. Oh, and we’ll learn some amazing and little-known facts about these boreal residents. Sparky will also give a brief update on what exciting projects Friends of Sax-Zim Bog are up to.

 

 

 

ABOUT SPARKY:
Sparky Stensaas is the founder and Executive Director of Friends of Sax-Zim Bog (www.SaxZim.org) a non-profit aimed at educating the public about the natural history of bogs and dedicated to preserving pristine bog habitat. He is also an author, naturalist, photographer, publisher, writer based in Wrenshall, Minnesota (over by Jay Cooke State Park). Sparky’s latest passion is wildlife videos. You can see more of Sparky’s photography at www.ThePhotoNaturalist.com and his wildlife videos on YouTube (google “Sparky Stensaas YouTube”).

Saturday, February 15

Festival Registration
Begins at 5:30 AM and continues through the day at the Meadowlands Community Center.

North Shore of Lake Superior Field Trip
• Board the bus at 5:30 am at the Meadowlands Community Center
• Leave parking lot by 6:00 am
• Pick up participants at the Perkins Restaurant at the Miller Hill Mall at 6:45 am
• Arrive at Perkins Restaurant at 3:15 pm to drop off participants who boarded the bus at this location.  The bus will return to the Meadowlands Community Center by 4:00 pm

Duluth Field Trip
Board the bus at 6:00 AM at the Meadowlands Community Center. Depart at 6:30 AM.  Pick-up participants who are lodging in Duluth and Cloquet at the Perkins Restaurant at the Miller Hill Mall at 7:15 AM Return to Perkins at 3:00 PM and community center at 3:45 PM

Sax-Zim Bog Field Trip
Board the bus at 6:30 AM at the Meadowlands Community Center. Depart at 7:00 AM.  Return to the community center at 3:30 PM.


Bird Photo Workshop
With Paul Bannick

Registration 7:30 AM
Session begins at 8:00 AM
Estimated ending time 3:00 -3:30 PM
Cost: $20 addition to any package, or $95 on its own.

*Registration a the community center (if not already registered)

Paul will focus on teaching students how to photograph winter owls and other birds in Sax-Zim. He covers everything from how to find owls and the best ways to approach your subject in order to capture the photos that you imagined. He will cover compositional guides, depth of field, shutter speed, exposure compensation the use of flash, shooting modes, and even the selection of equipment, Paul will help bring each student’s photography to the next level.

ABOUT PAUL 
Paul Bannick is an award-winning author and wildlife photographer specializing in the natural history of North America with a focus on birds and habitat. … His second book, Owl: A Year in the Lives of North American Owls, received Gold Medal in the 2017 Independent Publisher Book Awards “Animals/Pets” category.


Saturday Live Bird Program

Nature Connection of Bemidji Minnesota Presents:
AVAIN PREDATORS
By Chris Tolman
FREE to the public
2 PM. 

With the help of TWO live owls (the tiny Saw-whet Owl and the huge Great Horned Owl) and a live Rough-legged Hawk we will look at predator/prey relationships and the adaptations birds of prey have that make them such successful predators. We will compare raptors to other birds and learn what characteristics all birds have in common and what characteristics are unique to raptors. Learn how these birds help keep a healthy balance in the environment and what you can do to help ensure their health and survival.

 

 

ABOUT Nature Connection of Bemidji Minnesota
We are a non-profit 501 c 3 dedicated to sharing our passion for nature through a variety of programs designed for all ages. We hope to inspire curiosity and an appreciation for the world we live in and the animals we share it with.



SATURDAY EVENING

Catered Dinner
Menu coming soon

SPECIAL PRESENTATION
Owl: A Year in the Lives of North American Owls
By Paul Bannick

Award winning photographer Paul Bannick is presenting a new program featuring video, sound, stories from the field and several dozen new images from his brand-new book: Owl: A Year in the Lives of North American Owls. Paul uses intimate yet dramatic images to follow owls through the course of one year and in their distinct habitats. Audiences will witness the four seasons on the territory, as each stage in an owl’s life is chronicled through rare images: courtship, mating, and nesting in spring; fledging and feeding of young in summer; dispersal and gaining independence in fall; and, finally, winter’s migrations and competitions for food. His program shows how owls use the unique resources available to them in each habitat to face those challenges.

 

 

 

ABOUT PAUL:
Paul Bannick is an award-winning author and photographer who makes images to inspire
education and conservation.

Paul is both the author and photographer of two best-selling bird books, Owl: A Year in
the Lives of North American Owls and The Owl and The Woodpecker, Encounters with
North America’s Most Iconic Birds.

Owl received the Gold Medal in the  2017 Independent Publisher Book
Awards  “Animals” category.

Paul’s photography won awards from several prestigious contests, including those hosted
by Audubon Magazine and the International Conservation Photography Awards.
His work can be found prominently in many bird guides, including those from Audubon,
Peterson, and The Smithsonian and has been featured in a variety of publications
including The New York Times, Audubon,  Sunset , and Nature’s Best Photography
Magazine. His many TV and Radio appearances include pieces on NBC Nightly News ,
PBS and NPR.
Paul is an active public speaker with dozens of multimedia Owl programs at bird
festivals, fundraisers and conferences across the continent every year.
Paul serves as a Director for Conservation Northwest, a Seattle based non-profit.


Sunday, February 16

North Shore of Lake Superior Field Trip
• Board the bus at 5:30 am at the Meadowlands Community Center
• Leave parking lot by 6:00 am
• Pick up participants at the Perkins Restaurant at the Miller Hill Mall at 6:45 am
• Arrive at Perkins Restaurant at 3:15 pm to drop off participants who boarded the bus at this location.  The bus will return to the Meadowlands Community Center by 4:00 pm

Duluth Field Trip
Board the bus at 6:00 AM at the Meadowlands Community Center. Depart at 6:30 AM.  Pick-up participants who are lodging in Duluth and Cloquet at the Perkins Restaurant at the Miller Hill Mall at 7:15 AM Return to Perkins at 3:00 PM and community center at 3:45 PM

Sax-Zim Bog Field Trip
Board the bus at 6:30 AM at the Meadowlands Community Center. Depart at 7:00 AM.  Return to the community center at 3:30 PM.