2012 Annual Meeting at Johnson City
May 18 - 20
The Bristol Bird Club, a chapter of TOS and the Virginia Society of Ornithology, invites state members and all other interested birders to the Joint TOS/VSO Annual Spring Meeting on May 18-20, 2012. The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Johnson City, TN, just a few miles south of the Tennessee-Virginia state line.
We offer, on all three days, opportunities for birding field trips in the high mountain woodland and wild cranberry bog environments, lake, river, and stream habitat. You will enjoy the beautiful Southern Blue Ridge and hiking. walking and birding along the Appalachian Trail in the Cherokee National Forest. In this cloudland birding will reach peaks near elevations of 6,286 feet.
Additional meeting features include paper presentations and a poster session and featured speakers on Friday and Saturday evenings. Several vendors have indicated their intention to provide displays. Among them will be Buteo Books & ABA Sales, the largest ornithological book dealer in the nation. Finally, all will have the opportunity to meet, socialize and bird with new friends from Virginia and Tennessee. You will bird with folks from a great area extending nearly a thousand miles from our Nation’s Capitol and the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Smoky Mountains and the mighty Mississippi River. Some Tennessee birders will travel 10 hours to reach the meeting site.
Banquet and Program
Saturday, May 19
Banquet buffet and program (admission $25.00)
Program: Trekking with the Birder
Speaker: Dr. Fred Alsop III, world-renowned birder, ornithologist for over 45 years, and
Professor of Biology at East Tennessee State University. Dr. Alsop has published over 100
articles and notes on birds in scientific journals and authored more than fifteen bird books
and field guides, including the Smithsonian Handbook: Birds of North America.
Field Trips
Field trips will leave from the Holiday Inn parking lot at 7:00 a.m. to several sites including high-altitude birding spots: Roan Mountain, Shady Valley, and Unaka Mountain. Field trip conditions will range from hiking along the Appalachian Trail in areas of warbler breeding habitat to walking along bog trails in Shady Valley to driving to successive spots and getting out of the car to bird each spot, requiring minimal walking. Click here for more information on the field trips.
Directions and Lodging
Traveling either north or south on I-81, exit to I-26 east just a few short miles south of Bristol. The Holiday Inn in Johnson City is at 101 West Springbrook Drive, just off N. Roan St. Come in on Interstate 26, take exit 20. Go north on N. Roan S., and turn left at the stoplight at N. Roan and Springbrook. Rooms at the Holiday Inn are $85 + occupancy tax (same price for 1 to 4 occupants). Reserve by calling the Inn at 423-282-4611 and mention that you are attending the state-wide birding convention. The block of rooms reserved for the meeting will be held until three weeks before the meeting. The Holiday Inn has a full restaurant and begins serving breakfast at 6:30 a.m. each morning. Breakfast is not included in the price of the room.
Schedule
Friday, May 18
All day field trips (for field trip information, contact Rick Knight
at 423-483-4204, email: rick@bristolbirdclub.org)
1:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Registration at Holiday Inn
5:30 to 6:00 p.m. VSO business Meeting
6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Social Mixer
7:00 to 7:30 p.m. Field Trip Announcements, Descriptions and Sign-ups
7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Program
Who Keeps Changing My Field Guide?
Dr. Andrew Jones, Director of Science
William A. and Nancy R. Klamm Endowed Chair of Ornithology
and Head of the Department of Ornithology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, OH
Saturday, May 19
Breakfast on your own
7:00 a.m. to noon, Field trips assemble/depart from Holiday Inn Lot
10:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Registration continues
12 noon to 1:30 p.m. Lunch on your own.
12 noon to 1:30 p.m. VSO Local Presidents’ Luncheon by invitation only.
1:30 to 4:00 p.m. Paper Presentation Session
4:00 to 5:30 p.m. TOS Board of Directors meeting
5:30 to 6:00 p.m. Poster Session
6:00 to 6:30 p.m. Social mixer
6:30 p.m.—Dinner and Program
Trekking with the Birder
Dr. Fred Alsop III.
East Tennessee State University
Sunday, May 20
Breakfast on your own
7:00 a.m. to noon, Field trips assemble and depart from the Holiday Inn Parking Lot.
No field trip compilation meeting. A master list will be posted to TOS and VSO birding lists.
Other Nearby Motels
Ramada Inn, 2606 N Roan St., Phone: 423-282-4011
Best Western of Johnson City, 2406 N Roan St., Phone: 423-282-2161
Doubletree Hotel, 211 Mockingbird Lane, Phone: 423-929-2000
Red Roof Inns, 210 Broyles Drive, Phone: 423-282-6841
Super 8 Motel, 108 Wesley St., Phone: 423-282-8818
Registration
The meeting registration fee is $25 per person. The Saturday Banquet Buffet and Evening Program is an additional $25 per person. To be assured of a reservation for the Saturday banquet and evening program, have the envelope with your check and completed registration form in the mail and postmarked by Friday, May 11, 2012.
Contact Information
For registration: Janice Martin, Club Treasurer 423-573-1829, email: janice@bristolbirdclub.org
Other information: Dave Worley 276-971-7244, email: dave@bristolbirdclub.org; Wallace Coffey 423-360-2532, email: wallace@bristolbirdclub.org
Other Information
Johnson City Holiday Inn website
