OPENING RECEPTION
Friday, January 18 5:00-6:30 p.m. Community Center
 Enjoy wine and cheese and meet fellow birders in the Bird Festival Bazaar area. Browse through the vendor booths featuring binoculars and scopes, books and CDs, garden art, watercolors and nature photography, wood carvings, jewelry, clothing and more!
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EVENING PROGRAM
Saturday, January 19 7:00-8:30 P.M. Morro Bay High School
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Alvaro Jaramillo - Birding Outside the Box - How Our Brain Identifies Birds
Most bird identification lectures focus on field marks, and the specifics of separating species A from species B. But few ask exactly how we identify birds. What is our brain going through in order to do this? How does our brain get tripped up during bird identification? Did you ever encounter the "leaf bird," the "branch bird," or the worst one of all, "the plastic bag White Pelican?" Why do experts identify birds almost without thinking, while the rest of us need to struggle? Are they different than the rest of us, or are there tricks? The truth is that bird identification is pretty tricky stuff but our brain is wired to short cut much of the thinking involved in doing it. The trick is training yourself to do it like a pro. And that is the aim this talk, a lighthearted but informative explanation of how the heck they do it and how you can get there too!
Alvaro Jaramillo was born in Chile but began birding in Toronto, Canada, where he lived as a youth. He was trained in ecology and evolution with a particular interest in bird behavior. Research forays and backpacking trips introduced Alvaro to the riches of the Neotropics, where he has traveled extensively. He is the author of the Birds of Chile, an authoritative yet portable field guide to Chile's birds. Alvaro writes the Identify Yourself column in Bird Watcher's Digest. Among various projects, he wrote part of the sparrow chapter for the most recent Handbook of Birds of the World, and is writing the Crossley field Guide to North American Warblers. He runs a birding and nature tour company Alvaro's Adventures, where the focus is to have fun, learn a thing or two and truly enjoy nature. Alvaro lives with his family in Half Moon Bay, California.
EVENING PROGRAM
Sunday, January 20 7:00-8:30 P.M. Morro Bay High School
SPEAKER: Dave Keeling - Birds of San Luis Obispo County: A Photographic Love Story
Attend this special program to see superb shots of Central Coast birds captured by our best local bird photographers. These photos capture stunning birds in magnificent settings and sensational birding moments captured for all to enjoy.
Keeling is a trained chemist who has taught at Cal Poly State University for 35 years. An enthusiastic photographer since high school days, Dave has specialized in bird photography for the past 15 years. In order to coordinate and select this "best of the best" show, Dave has viewed approximately one thousand images from local photographers as well as his own work. Enjoy the program as an ID challenge or simply sit back and experience the best birding the area offers.
"FUN FOR THE FAMILY" DAY: Birding and More
Saturday, January 19 9:00 A.M.-3:30 P.M. Various Locations
