Austin Audubon celebrated its sixth annual Oak Savanna Birding Festival May 16 and 17.

According to chapter president Pete Mattson the goals were two-fold: to increase interest in birds among Austin fifth grade classes, and to create public awareness in the sport and joy of bird watching.

On Saturday, May 16, the Audubon Society members led tours to see the exciting spring migration. At this time of year more than 100 species of birds can be seen in a single day.

The tour covered the Jay C. Hormel Nature center, westward to Myre-Big Island State Park and eastward to Lake Louise State Park at LeRoy.

The afternoon program included the student art awards to fifth grade students who had researched and drawn their favorite bird. About 300 students from Austin public and private schools participated in the art project during the school art classes and approximately 20 were awarded first, second and honorable mention during the Saturday afternoon program.

The popular Bird Survival activity was held before the presentation.

Stations with choices for different birds challenged students and their parents to see if their bird survived migration through Minnesota.

After the event, Scott Mehus from the National Eagle Center brought Alice, a bald eagle, to show the approximately 120 people present. Those in attendance learned much about eagles and had their pictures taken with the eagle as she spread her wings in the classic pose beside The Rock.

The tour of the county Sunday morning, May 17, complemented the Saturday tour and added several species to the weekend total. During the previous week’s Birdathon, 119 species were identified in the Mower County area.  During that week, 118 species were identified.

This combined, two-day count, included 18 woodland warblers out of 32 possible in Minnesota, including a blue-winged magnolia and Wilson’s.

The groups had difficulty finding eastern meadowlarks and yellow-bellied sapsuckers. However, bluebirds and purple martins were abundant.