Festival Exhibits--Arts, Crafts, Plants, Food and Fun!

This is the second in a series of posts on the Wonder of Hummingbirds Festival held in Knoxville, Tennessee at Ijams Nature Center and co-sponsored by the Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society and Ijams Nature Center on August 23rd. (You will find the first post here).

At the center of the day's activities were hummingbirds, the star and inspiration for the festival.  Hummingbird banding was one of the main attractions and was demonstrated by Mark Armstrong, Master Bander of hummingbirds and song birds.

Photo credit:  Jody Stone

While people waited their turn to view the banding table, there were plenty of other activities to entertain and educate--presentations on wildlife and hummingbird gardening,  naturalist-led bird and nature walks, wildlife demonstrations, and exhibits with arts and crafts, and of course, food and drinks.

Above and below, author, illustrator and naturalist, Stephen Lyn Bales sketches at his exhibit table.  Lyn also gave a presentation on his book, Ghost Birds, Jim Tanner and His Quest for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, 1935-1941.

And here I am, above, exhibiting art and talking with visitors!  It is always a fun surprise to meet some of the people I know from facebook, blogging and through my website! Thank you all for saying, hello!  Photo credit:  Jody Stone--creator of  the facebook community page, "Hummingbird Love"

 Agri-Feed, above and below.

Photo credit:  Jody Stone

A group of friends who traveled from Indiana planned their visit with each other around the Wonder of Hummingbirds Festival!  We also had visitors from New Jersey and Alabama who met up for a visit to the Smoky Mountains and timed their visit so they could attend the festival!     Photo credit:  Karen Wilkinson 

Mike Nelson shows our Indiana friends a tiny hummingbird nest on a twig, above.  Photo credit:  Billie Cantwell

Above, two of our hard-working KTOS volunteers, Linda Denton and Michael Plaster, providing information to visitors and selling festival t-shirts and the Discover Birds Activity Books. Festival proceeds benefit Ijams Nature Center and KTOS.  Photo credit:  Karen Wilkinson

 Photo credit:  Karen Wilkinson

 Photo credit:  Karen Wilkinson

 Tennessee Naturescapes                          Photo Credit:  Karen Wilkinson

Orchids, Cati and Tropical Plants         Photo credit:  Karen Wilkinson  

 Photo credit:  Karen Wilkinson

 Did I mention that there was great food?!                       Photo credit:  Karen Wilkinson

 Photo credit:  Karen Wilkinson

 Photo credit:  Karen Wilkinson

 KTOS volunteers, David Johnson, Mariam Fitzgerald, Harold Howell and Jeanne Alexander   Photo credit:  Karen Wilkinson

Next: Hummingbird banding!

Visit all the posts on this year's festival by clicking the link:  Wonder of Hummingbirds--2014

Wonder of Hummingbird festival on Facebook
Wonder of Hummingbird Festival Blog
Stephen Lyn Bales
Wonder of Hummingbird Festival_2013
Wonder of Hummingbird Festival 2013 on Tennessee Wildside
KTOS on Facebook
Hummingbird Banding Demonstration 2009
Mark Armstrong, Master Bander
Knoxville Chapter of Tennessee Ornithological Society
Ijams Nature Center