2024 BIRDING WITH THE STARS
PLEASE NOTE: Information for the 2025 Birding With the Stars Field Trips will be available once the 2025 Keynote Speakers list is announced. This page reflects the events of the 2024 festival. Please check back for more information and sign up for the Festival eNews and follow us on social media to be the first to learn of 2025 news and updates!
We're pleased to offer these special opportunities to spend time in the field with some of the keynote speakers at
The Biggest Week In American Birding. All of these people have graciously agreed to donate their time,
so 100% of the proceeds from these trips will benefit Black Swamp Bird Observatory's Youth Birding Programs.
The Biggest Week In American Birding. All of these people have graciously agreed to donate their time,
so 100% of the proceeds from these trips will benefit Black Swamp Bird Observatory's Youth Birding Programs.
Birding with Christian Cooper - SOLD OUT
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Date: Saturday, May 4
Time: 8:00 - 11:00 a.m. Location: Maumee Bay State Park "Big Hill" Lot #7 *Click here for map of the park with pin indicating parking lot #7 location Fee: $50 Registration Required: Yes Christian Cooper is a NY Times best-selling author, with his debut memoir, Better Living Through Birding. He is also the Host and a Consulting Producer for National Geographic's hit series: Extraordinary Birder with Christian Cooper. Practically born with a pair of binoculars in his hands, he served as president of the Harvard Ornithological Club in his college days; currently as a vice president of New York City Audubon he advocates for greater, safer access to green spaces for all, with a focus on outreach to youth in underserved communities. A longtime activist on issues of racial justice and LGBTQ equality, Christian combined his passions in the BLM graphic short story "It’s a Bird” from DC Comics, and he continues to seek synergy at the intersections of storytelling, progressivism, and environmentalism. |
Birding with Tammah Watts
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Date: Sunday, May 5
Time: 8:00 - 11:00 a.m. Location: Maumee Bay State Park "Big Hill" Lot #7 *Click here for map of the park with pin indicating parking lot #7 location Fee: $50 Registration Required: Yes Tammah Watts is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), Certified Kripalu Mindfulness Outdoor Guide, and an advocate for the equitable accessibility of nature, health, and mental health for all. She has served communities for over 35 years in managerial, clinical, and consulting roles for private, non-profit, community college, and public sectors. KEEP LOOKING UP: Your Guide to the Powerful Healing of Birdwatching, with Hay House, is her first book–a narrative memoir and guidebook with contemplative exercises– that chronicles her journey towards healing by meaningfully connecting with birds. She brings that same passion to conservation and birding and serves on the Advisory Board for DISES + Project Feeder Watch, Audubon CA Advisory Board of Directors as the Southern California Audubon Chapter Council Representative, as well as her local chapter’s board Conservation and EDIB committees. Tammah has appeared in various media outlets including the New York Times, Psychology Today, Therapy For Black Girls, MetroUK, The Authors Guild, Ray Brown’s Talkin’ Birds Show, and Hay House’s You Can Heal Your Life-Empower You. She lives in San Diego, California with her husband, Harrison and their little dog, Sophie Cat, all the while trying to combat empty nesters syndrome by visiting (and birding) with their children and grandchildren whenever possible. |
Birding with Kevin Karlson - SOLD OUT
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Date: Monday, May 6
Time: 8:00 - 11:00 a.m. Location: Maumee Bay State Park "Big Hill" Lot #7 *Click here for map of the park with pin indicating parking lot #7 location Fee: $50 Registration Required: Yes Kevin Karlson is an accomplished birder, author, professional tour leader and wildlife photographer/instructor. He is a regular at Bird and Nature festivals in North America, where he gives keynote presentations, workshops on bird identification, and photo instruction. Kevin’s books include The Shorebird Guide (2007); Birding by Impression: A Different Approach to Bird Identification (2015); Birds of Prey, with Pete Dunne (2017) (all three Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishers); Gulls Simplified: A Comparative Identification Approach, (Princeton University Press, 2018); and Bird Families of North America) (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021), both with Pete Dunne as co-author. A new book titled “The Shorebirds of North America: A Natural History and Photographic Celebration” with Pete Dunne (Princeton University Press) has just been completed and will be out in the spring of 2024, and is not an ID guide. Photography books include The Birds of Cape May and Visions: Earth’s Elements in Bird and Nature Photography (Schiffer Publishing). Kevin also produced six photographic laminated foldout ID guides for Quick Reference Publishing (Raptors of Eastern and Western North America (2012); Waterfowl of North America (2013); Warblers of North America (2016); Shorebirds of North America (2014); and Owls and Nightjars of North America (2017). While officially retired, Kevin continues to lead select tours and photo workshops for his company Jaeger Tours, and for Wildside Nature Tours of Pennsylvania. |
Birding with Tom Stephenson - SOLD OUT
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Date: Tuesday, May 7
Time: 8:00 - 11:00 a.m. Location: Maumee Bay State Park "Big Hill" Lot #7 *Click here for map of the park with pin indicating parking lot #7 location Fee: $50 Registration Required: Yes Tom has been birding since he was a kid. His articles and photographs are in museums and many publications including Handbook of the Birds of the World, Handbook of the Mammals of the World, Birds of Madagascar, and Guide to the Birds of SE Brazil. He’s guided many groups in the Americas and Asia, and had the honor of training guides for the government of Bhutan. He’s won categories in the World Series of Birding and holds the US photo big-day record at 208 species. As a musician Tom played concerts and did studio work for many years, worked with several Grammy and Academy Award winners, and performed with members of the NY Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra. His clients included the Grateful Dead, Phil Collins and the FBI. His latest book, The Warbler Guide, is published by Princeton University Press and won the National Outdoor Book Award. The Warbler Guide App includes 3D rotating models and won the 2015 Design Award for AAUP. He is currently working on five more books and apps for Princeton including a full US field guide app based on the 3D rotation and comparison features in The Warbler Guide app. Tom has a patent on technology to identify animal vocalizations using a wide range of analytic criteria. |
Birding with Peter Kaestner
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Date: Tuesday, May 7
Time: 8:00 - 11:00 a.m. Location: Maumee Bay State Park "Big Hill" Lot #7 *Click here for map of the park with pin indicating parking lot #7 location Fee: $50 Registration Required: Yes Peter is a retired U.S. diplomat and an active independent birder who has spent a lifetime sharing his passion. On February 9, 2024, he achieved his supreme goal when he saw his 10,000th species, an Orange-tufted Spiderhunter. Always a birder, Peter took his first international trip at age ten, when he visited the Bahamas with his brother and mentor Hank. As of February 2024, he has birded in 190 eBird countries and territories and holds the record for the world’s life lists in eBird (9840) and IOC (10,002). Peter is also recognized in the Guinness Book of Records as the first person to see a representative of every bird family – a feat that he accomplished in October, 1986. The highlight of Peter’s birding career came in 1989, when he lived in Bogotá. Just 50 kilometers east of the Colombian capital, he discovered a bird new to science, the Cundinamarca Antpitta (Grallaria kaestneri). Peter graduated from Friends School Baltimore, where he received the William S. Pike science award and then studied Biology at Cornell University. Peter served in the Peace Corps in Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo) as a secondary-school science teacher in 1976-1978. He joined the U.S. Department of State in June, 1980. |
Birding with Kenn Kaufman - SOLD OUT
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Date: Wednesday, May 8
Time: 8:00 - 11:00 a.m. Location: Maumee Bay State Park "Big Hill" Lot #7 *Click here for map of the park with pin indicating parking lot #7 location Fee: $50 Registration Required: Yes Kenn burst onto the North American birding scene as a teenager in the 1970s hitch-hiking all over the continent in pursuit of birds, an adventure later chronicled in his cult-classic book Kingbird Highway. After several years as a professional bird tour leader taking groups to all seven continents, he transitioned to a career as a writer, editor and illustrator. Most of his energy currently goes into book projects and painting bird portraits. His 13 books include seven titles in his own series, Kaufman Field Guides which are designed to encourage beginners by making the first steps in nature study as easy as possible. His next book is The Birds That Audubon Missed scheduled for publication in May 2024. Kenn is a field editor for the National Audubon Society and a Fellow of the American Ornithological Society, and is the only person alive to have received the American Birding Association’s lifetime achievement award twice. |
Birding with Amy Tan - SOLD OUT
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Date: Thursday, May 9
Time: 8:00 - 11:00 a.m. Location: Maumee Bay State Park "Big Hill" Lot #7 *Click here for map of the park with pin indicating parking lot #7 location Fee: $50 Registration Required: Yes Amy Tan is the author of seven novels, two children’s books, and two memoirs. She is the co-screenwriter of The Joy Luck Club film adaptation, and librettist for the opera The Bonesetter’s Daughter. Her latest book is The Backyard Bird Chronicles, published by Knopf. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the recipient of the National Medal of the Humanities, and a board member of American Bird Conservancy. She lives in Sausalito, California and New York City. Read Amy's full bio HERE. |
Birding with Jerry Berrier
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Date: Friday, May 10
Time: 8:00 - 11:00 a.m. Location: Maumee Bay State Park "Big Hill" Lot #7 *Click here for map of the park with pin indicating parking lot #7 location Fee: $50 Registration Required: Yes Jerry Berrier has worked in the field of assistive technology for over 20 years. He spent six years as assistant manager at the Verizon center for customers with disabilities, followed by seven years as an assistive technology consultant specializing in work with Deafblind consumers. Most recently, he ended a nine-year stint at the Perkins School for the Blind in the field of assistive technology. He retired from full-time employment in June of 2021. Jerry is past president of the Bay State Council of the Blind and is currently co-chair of that organization’s advocacy committee. His interests include audio production, accessible web design, and birding by ear. He has consulted on numerous accessibility projects with the Massachusetts Audubon Society, including fifteen all-persons trails projects. He has conducted birding by ear workshops and nature walks, both for blind and sighted audiences of all ages. |
Birding with Scott Whittle
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Date: Friday, May 10
Time: 8:00 - 11:00 a.m. Location: Maumee Bay State Park "Big Hill" Lot #7 *Click here for map of the park with pin indicating parking lot #7 location Fee: $50 Registration Required: Yes Scott is a bird expert and author. His passion for the natural world has led to co-authoring The Warbler Guide and the Warbler Guide App, and he is currently the director of the Terra Project. He is excited at the idea of making technology that will bring people closer to nature while helping nature thrive alongside people. |
Birding with Jennifer Ackerman - SOLD OUT
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Date: Saturday, May 11
Time: 8:00 - 11:00 a.m. Location: Maumee Bay State Park "Big Hill" Lot #7 *Click here for map of the park with pin indicating parking lot #7 location Fee: $50 Registration Required: Yes Jennifer Ackerman is an award-winning science writer and speaker, and author of the New York Times bestselling books, What an Owl Knows, The Bird Way, and The Genius of Birds. She has been a bird lover since she was a child and went birdwatching with her father in Washington, D.C. She has been writing about nature and science for more than three decades. Her most recent book, What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds (Penguin Press, June 2023), was an instant New York Times bestseller and has been described in reviews as “eloquent and engaging”, “revelatory”, a “fascinating read”, “a masterful survey”, and an “enchanting guide.” Jennifer’s previous books include The Bird Way (2020), which won the 2021 Whitley Book Award and was a finalist for the 2021 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. The book was named a Best Science Book of 2020 by National Public Radio's “Science Friday” and a Nature Book of the Year by the London Sunday Times. The Genius of Birds, published in 2016, was also a New York Times bestseller in both hardcover and paperback. It was a finalist for the 2017 National Academies Communication Book Award and was long-listed for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. The book was named one of the 10 best nonfiction books of 2016 by the Wall Street Journal, and a Best Science Book of 2016 by Science Friday. It has been published in 27 languages. Jennifer’s other books include Birds by the Shore, Chance in the House of Fate: A Natural History of Heredity, and Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream: A Day in the Life of Your Body. Her articles and essays have appeared in National Geographic, The New York Times, Scientific American, and many other publications. Jennifer gives highly popular illustrated talks and has presented at hundreds of literary and nature festivals and other venues around the world, including the National Book Festival, the Aspen Ideas Festival, the Vancouver International Bird Festival, the Smithsonian Associates Program, the Melbourne Writers Festival, the Hay Festivals, and the Colombia Birdfair. She has two daughters and lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. |