American Birding Expo 2017

On Saturday, September 30, Dave and I went to the 3rd Annual American Birding Expo at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oak, Pennsylvania.

The American Birding Expo was founded by Bill Thompson III, the editor and publisher of Bird Watcher’s Digest. The event’s slogan is “the world of birding in one place!”. I originally heard about the Expo while listening to the podcast This Birding Life, which is hosted by Bill Thompson III (if you haven’t listened to This Birding Life you should check it out!). Dave and I live less than an hour from the expo center, so we thought it would be a great event to check out.

This 3-day event features field trips, guest speakers, travel companies, merchandise, and much more. The first section of the hall was filled with travel companies from all over the world. According to the Expo website, in 2016, over 41 countries and 42 states were represented. Some of the countries present this year were Panama, Taiwan, Chile, Ecuador, Australia, Uganda, Portugal, Mexico, and New Zealand. There were also booths for optics companies, such as Zeiss, Swarovski, Celestron, and Opticron. Organizations such as the Cape May Bird Observatory, Bird Life International, and Bird Watcher’s Digest could also be found in the first hall. We also had the chance to meet Conrad, a blue jay who lives at the John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove.

The second hall featured artists, publishers, and shops. Julie Zickefoose, bird artist and author had a booth. She was also the Friday night featured presenter. Dave and I are a fan of bird-related art, and we ended up buying some watercolors from Ohio-based artist Jim Turanchik. Turanchik’s goal in his art is to capture the essence of birds, which I feel he does very well. The birds in his watercolors seem like they are moving. He does this by portraying them at different angles. He also has a “Birds in Flight” collection, which feature larger birds such as Anhingas, Great Blue Herons, Wood Storks, and Glossy Ibis to name a few. We purchased two watercolors, a Magnolia Warbler and a Blackburnian Warbler. You can check out his website at jturanchik.com.

(We hung the watercolors up in our dining area, which is near a small chandelier. I took this pictures on an angle because no matter what lighting I try to use you can see reflections, so sorry for the bad angles).

Magnolia Warbler watercolor by Jim Turanchik

Blackburnian Warbler watercolor by Jim Turanchik

At the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing booth, author Stephen Shunk was signing copies of the his book, Peterson Reference Guide to Woodpeckers of North America. As longtime blog readers know, I already own this book (and happily used it to write last fall’s Woodpecker Wednesday feature), so I got my copy signed! I found out that Stephen Shunk’s favorite woodpecker is the Lewis’s Woodpecker and we talked about Pileateds and Red-headed Woodpeckers. It was really cool to meet an author and get my book signed. He wished me “Happy Woodpecker Watching!”, which I will definitely do.

Signed by Stephen Shunk 

One event that I wanted to see but didn’t was Scott Weidensaul’s presentation on Project SNOWstorm. I’m a fan of Weidensaul’s nature books, but the presentation was from 6-8, which was a little late for us since we were there in the morning. There were also morning bird hikes each day of the expo from 7-10 am. There were 5 birding locations around Philadelphia were birders could meet to take guided tours. We didn’t end up going to any of them, but we did explore one of the locations on our own after the expo.

After lunch, we drove over to the Militia Hill section of Fort Washington State Park, one of the Expo birding hotspots. The Militia Hill section features a Hawk Watch platform and is near the Wissahickon Creek. We spent some time sitting on the platform and them briefly walked around the area. Some birds we saw included an American Redstart, an Osprey, Turkey Vultures, Blue Jays, a Red-bellied Woodpecker, and House Finches. It was a lovely place that I’d like to explore more one day.

View from the Militia Hill Hawk Watch Platform (Image by BirdNation)

Wissahickon Creek (Image by BirdNation)

It was still early in the day and we weren’t done with birds yet! After Militia Hill, we drove back to New Jersey and hiked around Palmyra Cove. Highlights included 2 Bald Eagles, a Green Heron, a Red-bellied Woodpecker cleaning out its hole, Wild Turkeys, and Eastern Phoebes.

September 30th was a fantastic day. We not only had a fun time at the American Birding Expo, but spent the day outside with the birds. I couldn’t have asked for a better birding day.

Happy Birthday, John James Audubon!

“I know I am not a scholar, but meantime I am aware that no man living knows better than I do the habits of our birds; no man living has studied them as much as I have done.” 

These are the words of John James Audubon, the great ornithologist, naturalist, and artist. Today, April 26th, is Audubon’s birthday. He was born 232 year ago 1785. Audubon is known for his double-elephant folio prints of The Birds of America, which was a spectacular achievement and contribution to the study of ornithology. In honor of Audubon’s birthday, here are some interesting facts about The Birds of America.

John James Audubon in 1826, portrait by John Syme

• Audubon’s love for birds and nature stem from his childhood in France. His father encouraged him to study birds and draw. As he grew up, his artistic abilities improved, and he developed a unique way of sketching birds. After shooting the bird, he would pin it up on a grid. At the time, many artists would draw a bird in profile on a plain background. Audubon however, wanted his birds to look like they were moving, so he positioned them so it looked like they were either flying, hunting, or feeding and placed them in elaborate scenes.
• As a young man, Audubon never considered publishing his illustrations, until he met the famed ornithologist of the time, Alexander Wilson. For a time, Audubon owned a general store, and Wilson came in to try to sell a subscription of his work American Ornithology. Audubon thought his illustrations were better, and that encounter sparked his interest in eventually publishing his work (perhaps to outdo Wilson’ work, which he eventually did).
• The Birds of America was published between 1827-1838. It contained 435 life-sized watercolors on hand-engraved plates. Audubon insisted the birds be illustrated to scale, so he would position large birds in poses so that they would find the page. The pages of the double-elephant portfolio are 39 by 26 inches. Subscribers were sent sets of 5 prints per month (usually one large bird, one medium-sized, and three small birds).
• The opening plate of The Birds of America is the Wild Turkey, a bird that Audubon was particularly fond of. He encountered his first Wild Turkey while on an expedition down the Ohio River.

Wild Turkey print

• There are 6 birds in the portfolio that are now extinct: the Passenger Pigeon, Carolina Parakeet, Labrador Duck, Pinnated Grouse, Great Auk, and Eskimo Curlew. Audubon identified 25 new species.
• Audubon originally tried to find a publisher in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which during his time was the cultural and scientific center of the United States. However, he was met with enmity by the scientific community, many who believed Audubon was too conceited and remained loyal to ornithologist Alexander Wilson. Due to this failure, Audubon looked for a publisher in Liverpool, England. The British were fascinated by Audubon’s “American backwoodsman” image so much that he became extremely popular.
• It took 14 years of studies, expeditions, and engraving to complete The Birds of America. 
• Audubon not only loved illustrating birds, but enjoyed writing about them as well. Between 1831-1839 Audubon published Ornithological Biography, an octavo version that was 5 volumes. Ornithological Biography is an accompaniment to the prints where Audubon vividly describes his field observations and avian behavior.
• A complete bound set of The Birds of America would sell today for upwards of $8,000,000. In 2000, a complete set sold at Christie’s, New York, for $8,802,500, setting the world auction record for any printed book. There are around 120 complete sets still in existence.

Louisiana Heron on the cover of The Birds of America 

The love John James Audubon felt for birds will forever live on through The Birds of America. Ornithology was his passion, and through diligence and dedication, Audubon persevered to achieve his goal of his “Great Idea”. Happy birthday, John James Audubon! Thanks for being an inspiration to bird and nature lovers by sharing your passion with the world.

If you would like to see prints of the birds from The Birds of America, you can see them all on the National Audubon Society’s website:

John James Audubon Birds of America

What’s your favorite Audubon print? Tell me in the comments. (My favorites are the Great Horned Owl, Ospreys, and American White Pelican).