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Accommodations
Our primary hotel is the newly remodeled Hilton Lafayette, located on the outskirts of downtown. It is less than a ten-minute drive from the Lafayette Regional Airport, with 24-hour airport shuttle service by the hotel. All convention activities will originate at the Hilton Lafayette, including meals, field trips and workshops. Features of the hotel are a full service restaurant, an outdoor swimming pool, a fullyequipped exercise room, and a free parking lot with plenty of spaces. Each room has either a king or two double beds, with conveniences of a coffeemaker, hair dryer, and high-speed internet access. Check out time is 12 noon. We have arranged for the ABA rate to include two days before and after the convention for your extended visit. Their website is www.Lafayette.Hilton.com.
Our secondary hotel is just across the river, and an easy fiveminute walk along a sidewalk that crosses the Vermillion River bridge. The Best Western Hotel Acadiana has all the amenities of the Hilton, plus a covered pool and hot tub, with mini-fridge and wet bar in each room. This hotel also offers rooms with king or two double beds, at a slightly lower rate than the Hilton. Their website is www.bestwestern.com/hotelacadiana.
Both hotels are surrounded by several choices of restaurants within two blocks, and there are many flavorful Cajun restaurants within a mile of these properties.
The Lafayette Convention and Visitors Bureau has a plethora of information on local events and attractions. Contact them at www.LafayetteTravel.com.
Our convention will be hosted in the heart of Acadian country. The French influence is reflected in the restaurants, shops, downtown architecture, and is woven into the language of the locals. There are boulangeries nearby with fresh baked goodies to tempt your diet, so be sure to give in! Plan to extend your stay long enough to immerse yourself in the Cajun culture, the Creole food, and the spirit that is Acadiana. Bon temps!
ABA Sales
ABA Sales will feature a complete selection of bird books, checklists, bird song recordings, videos, software, binoculars, scopes, a variety of other accessories, and some very special new items. They will also have the Convention 2007 T-shirt featuring a Great Egret by Doug Pratt. ABA Sales will be open daily, Monday through Saturday, and for a brief time after the evening programs, except Wednesday and Saturday.
ARTISTS AND EXHIBITS
A number of artists and exhibitors will display a variety of optics, birding products,tour services, bird art, photos, and other bird related items.
The following exhibitors are currently expected to attend:
Alpen Optics
ANCON Expeditions of Panama
Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program
Bird Uganda Safaris
Birders' World
Borderland Tours
Brunton
Bushnell Performance Optics
Canopy Tower
Carl Zeiss Sports Optics
Fantastico Sur/Trogan Tours
Field Guides, Inc.
Guyana Tourism Authority
Houghton Mifflin
Kowa Sporting Optics
Leica Sport Optics
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Manu Tours/Talon Tours
National Geographic Handheld Birds
Neblina Forest
Nikon Sport Optics
Ntaba Tours
Panama Le Verde
Paradise Birding
Pentax
Princeton University Press
Seriema Nature Tours
St Paul Island Tours
Swarovski Opitk, N.A.
Swift Instruments
Tropical Birding
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ABA AWARDS
ABA Ludlow Griscom Award for Outstanding Contributions in Regional Ornithology.
Given to individuals who have dramatically advanced the state of ornithological knowledge for a particular region. Sponsored by Leupold Optics, honorees receive a binocular, and the ABA Education fund receives $1000.
ABA Roger Tory Peterson Award for Promoting the Cause of Birding
Given for a lifetime of achievement in promoting the cause of birding. Sponsored by Nikon Sport Optics, honorees receive a binocular, and the ABA Education fund receives $1000.
ABA Robert Ridgway Award for Publications in Field Ornithology.
Given for excellence in publications pertaining to field ornithology. Sponsored by Zeiss, honorees receive a binocular, and the ABA Education fund receives $1000.
ABA Chandler Robbins Education and Conservation Award.
Given to an individual who has made significant contributions to birder education and/or bird conservation. Sponsored by Leica, honorees receive a binocular, and the ABA Education fund receives $1000.
ABA Claudia Wilds Distinguished Service Award.
Given to any member who has given long and useful service to the organization, either paid or as a volunteer. Sponsored by Pentax, honorees receive a binocular, and the ABA Education fund receives $1000.
PRE- AND POST-CONVENTION FIELD TRIPS
Commercial tour operators conduct all tours below for ABA. Please contact the individual companies for further information and reservations.
PRE-CONVENTION TOURS
Trans-gulf Migration Watch - Mississippi and Mobile Bay, Alabama
19-23 April 2007
Every year millions of birds leave their tropical wintering grounds and fly, non-stop, across the Gulf of Mexico to re-occupy insect-laden northern forests. This migration is surely one of the more humbling and awe-inspiring natural phenomenon that occurs in the United States, and there is no better place to see it than the central Gulf Coast states of Mississippi and Alabama. Since migration is always an iffy thing, our short tour is designed to give ABA Convention attendees more time in some of the Gulf Coast’s best “fall-out” areas in hopes of witnessing this world-class avian spectacle.
We’ll spend the two days around the mouth of Mobile Bay, exploring Dauphin Island and the Fort Morgan peninsula. While there, we will have an opportunity to visit one of North America’s busiest banding stations. These coastal locations also offer excellent opportunities to water and migrant shorebirds. After our time in Southwestern Alabama, we will move to the Mississippi Coast, birding along the coast and stopping at the largest remaining patch of coastal Long-leaf Pine forest on the Mississippi Sandhill Crane NationalWildlife Refuge. On our last day, we’ll return to Lafayette via the magnificent Pearl River bottomlands, recently given prominence in the Ivory-billed Woodpecker searches.
The leaders for this trip will be Gavin Bieber of WINGS, an ex resident of Mississippi and Ron Blackwell, a long-time resident and Mississippi’s expert on the birds and history of the area. The trip will start in New Orleans and end in Lafayette.
Contact: WINGS at www.wingsbirds.com or 888-293-6443.
Texas Hill Country Springtime 2007
17-22 April 2007
Our tour begins and ends in San Antonio, on the edge of the Edwards Plateau, better known as the Texas Hill Country, Texas’ most beautiful natural region. Our primary goal will be to visit with two very special endangered species, the Golden-cheeked Warbler and Black-capped Vireo, both of which restrict their entire breeding range to the plateau. In addition to these two gems, we will also seek out other Texas specialties such as Green Kingfisher, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, and Cave Swallow, and we will experience the Frio River Bat Cave with its evening exodus of 10 million free-tailed bats. The tour includes a day on the western edge of the plateau where we will sample a host of birds considered typical of the desert southwest, including Zone-tailed Hawk, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Bell’s and Gray Vireos, Verdin, Curve-billed Thrasher, Canyon Towhee, Black-throated Sparrow, and Pyrrhuloxia.
Contact: Stephen Shunk at Paradise Birding, 541-408-1753, or steve@paradisebirding.com.
POST-CONVENTION TOURS
East Texas Woodpeckers & High Island Migrants
30 April-4 May 2007
Join woodpecker expert Steve Shunk of Paradise Birding on a quest for seven of the Lone Star State’s ten nesting woodpecker species (see two of the remaining three on our pre-trip tour!). We will spend two nights in the Texas Pineywoods observing breeding behavior of Red-cockaded, Red-headed, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers in particular, while we are surrounded by Hairy, Downy, Flicker, and Pileated. Pine habitats will also feature nesting Hooded and Pine Warblers, Brown-headed Nuthatch, and Bachman’s Sparrow. Our other two nights will have us based on the upper Texas Coast, with visits to Brazos Bend, Quintana Sanctuary, High Island, Bolivar Flats, and Anahuac Refuge. The Texas shores and adjacent environs will feature an abundance of nesting waterbirds, along with hordes of migrants, including Yellowbellied and Acadian Flycatchers, plus 20 different warblers and nearly two dozen shorebird species still in their peak of spring migration.
Contact: Stephen Shunk at Paradise Birding, 541-408-1753, or steve@paradisebirding.com.
MEALS AT THE CONVENTION
While your breakfast and lunch is included on your field trip days, you will be able to take in some local cafes and bakeries on Wednesday and Friday. Also you can sample some tasty cuisine on Wednesday evening for dinner with several choices of restaurants within walking distance of the hotels.
Boxed breakfasts and lunches will have a vegetarian option if desired – just check the appropriate box on your registration form. If you have special dietary needs due to medical reasons, allergies, or taste buds, please bring your own food on field trips. We cannot provide special menus or dietary choices other than those choices listed below. Convention registrants can select from the entrees below for each dinner offered, according to the following legend: (m) beef or pork option, (f) seafood or fish option, (c) chicken option, and (v) vegetarian option. All entrees include a salad or soup, seasonal vegetables, rolls and butter, dessert.
MONDAY
(c) Cornbread dressing stuffed Semi-Boneless Cornish Game Hen, Saffron Rice
(f) Pan Sauteed Snapper Filet Cajun style, Parsley Potatoes
(v) Vegetable Lasagna Neapolitan with Fresh Tomato Concasse
TUESDAY
CAJUN BUFFET: Chicken & Sausage Gumbo, Cajun Stuffed Pork Roast, Chicken Fricassee, Steamed Rice, Smothered Potatoes, Corn Maque Choux, Smothered Okra, Old Fashioned Smothered Green Beans
THURSDAY
(c) Seafood stuffed Chicken Breast with Lemon Crème Sauce, Wild Rice
(m) Double Cut Pork Chop Stuffed with Crawfish and Tasso, Sweet Potatoes
(v) Pasta Primavera with Roasted Garlic Alfredo Cream Sauce
FRIDAY
(m) Prime Rib au Jus, Stuffed Potato
(f) Pecan Crusted Tilapia with Shrimp and Artichoke Meuniere Sauce, Sweet Potatoes
(v) Veggie Stir Fry over Steamed Rice with Vegetarian Egg Roll
SATURDAY
SEAFOOD BUFFET: Seafood Gumbo, Creamy Cole Slaw, Tossed Green Salad, Golden Fried Catfish, Stuffed Crabs, Crawfish Etouffee, Seafood Cakes, Corn Maque Choux, Sauteed Garden Vegetables
TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS
The Lafayette Regional Airport was voted “Louisiana Airport of the Year” in 2005, and is serviced by Continental (through Houston), Northwest (through Memphis), American (through Dallas) and Delta (through Atlanta) Airlines. The airport is less than 2.5 miles from the hotels, and both hotels provide free shuttle service. Car rental agencies on premises are Avis, Budget, Hertz, National, and Enterprise. If you like the ease of a small airport, you will like this one.
If you choose to fly and drive, the airports of Baton Rouge (about 1 hour away) and New Orleans (just over 2 hours away) are larger, and provide interesting scenery to Lafayette. Houston is 3.5 hours away if you don’t stop to bird – however, it would be difficult to pass through such prime birding territory without stopping.
To assist you with any travel needs, ABA has partnered with Academy Travel & Tours, Inc., located in Colorado Springs. Nancy Heck at Academy Travel is our dedicated representative and can be contacted at (719) 598-5552 or nancy@academytravel.biz. She can assist you with any air and car travel arrangements you have, including the special convention discounts described here.
We have negotiated with Continental Airlines for discount travel to the Convention. Should you choose Continental Airlines, our Z Code is ZBCY, Agreement Code CDSMMG, which can be used online (offer code="zbcycdsmmg") as well as with Academy Travel. For rental cars, we have a group discount number with Avis (#A843099), and Budget (#U070109).
CONSERVATION PROJECT
Following a record year of devastating hurricanes, numerous areas that were once life-sustaining sanctuaries for both migratory and resident birds have been dramatically altered by surge tides, flooding, and extreme winds. Bird clubs, conservation organizations, and Audubon chapters across Louisiana have taken on the daunting task of redeveloping these areas as quickly as possible to minimize the impact on these birds and their habitats.
It is estimated that nearly 60% of migrants traveling to North America fly over Louisiana’s coastline and can fall out by the hundreds after an exhausting journey across the Gulf of Mexico. These coastal areas, adversely affected by the hurricanes, are critical to the successful migration of our breeding birds. The havens where migrants have historically sought refuge have been tremendously impacted. While financial support has already been obtained from numerous grants, foundations and private citizens – the task is not nearly complete.
As part of the ABA Annual Convention, a Conservation Project fund has been established that will collect a minimum of $10,000 to be donated to a selected project. Several proposals have been received, which will be reviewed and then a recipient will be selected by the ABA Board of Directors.
The ABA looks forward to sharing with you the full scope of the selected project during the Lafayette Convention and how your contributions will aid the necessary improvents to this essential habitat. To attain our goal, the ABA will donate $15 of each registrant’s registration fee to the Lafayette Convention Conservtion Project.
BIRDERS' EXCHANGE
Birders’ Exchange collects new and used binoculars, spotting scopes, field guides, backpacks, and other material from individuals and businesses in North America and redistributes the equipment, free of charge, to researchers, educators, and conservationists working to preserve birds in the Neotropics. Birders’ Exchange has supplied equipment to many programs in the following countries: Antigua, Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay.
Please consider bringing something to the Convention to contribute to Birders’ Exchange. Optics must be in good working order—free of alignment difficulties and other problems. We are especially in need of rubber-armored, and/or waterproof optics that can stand up to harsh, neotropical climates. Equipment donations or financial contributions can be left at the Birders’ Exchange table at the Convention. Contributors will receive a letter of acknowledgment, which can be used for personal tax returns.
CORPORATE SPONSORS
The ABA appreciates the continued support of the following sponsors. More information will be forthcoming in your confirmation packets.
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Leupold is the Lead Sponsor of the 2007 ABA Convention in Lafayette, LA. |
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Additional support provided by:
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