Thursday night

2010 BirdFest poster photographer Lisa Comer credits the Alabama Coastal BirdFest with her interest in birding and photography. “In 2005, I went on the Sand Island trip more interested in shelling than birding, but it fun to see how excited the birders got when they saw a Reddish Egret. The next year, I went again, and brought a little point-and-shoot camera so that I could get photos if we saw any unusual birds.”

By the 2009 BirdFest, Lisa says she had added quite a few birds to her own life list and upgraded cameras four times. “Now I’m taking photos with a Nikon D90, and one of my favorite places to shoot is actually my own backyard, where I’ve taken pictures of an amazing variety of birds. Photography is strictly a hobby, but I enjoy sharing photos with friends and family on my web site, www.lcomer.com, and in photo books I’ve created. I’ve also made an iMovie called “A Birder’s Life List in Photographs.”

Lisa has worked at Stapleton Elementary in Baldwin County for 16 years; she taught 3rd grade for eight years before earning her Master’s Degree in Library Science, and now works as School Librarian/Computer Lab Instructor. She has had photos published on the WKRG-TV web site and in Outdoor Alabama magazine. She’ll share some of her bird and nature photos in a slide show at the opening night reception for this year’s Alabama Coastal BirdFest.

Friday night

Dr. John Dindo is Senior Marine Scientist, Associate Director of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, and Founder of DISL's Discovery Hall programs, which introduce more than 12,000 students and teachers a year to the principles of marine science and conservation. He was one of the prime resources in the creation of the Alabama Coastal Birding Trail. 

A native of Vermont, Dr. Dindo earned a B.S. degree in fisheries science at the University of Alaska after being stationed there with the U.S. Army. He earned his master's and Ph.D. in biology from the University of Alabama-Birmingham in 1990 and 1991, respectively, working through the graduate program at Dauphin Island Sea Lab. He has done significant research on on larger wading birds (herons and egrets), with respect to population dynamics and the interaction of large and small-scale weather events on mortality

"I've studied the migration patterns of a colony of herons and egrets on Cat Island, which has been a critical nesting site for more than 50 years and is the only known nesting site in Alabama for the tri-color heron. A key factor on any island, whether you are studying humans, plants, or birds, is the impact of hurricanes. We've had two major hurricanes in the past 10 years - Georges and Katrina - that directly impacted the site of my studies and stripped the island of vegetation."

Dr. Dindo will also address the ongoing situation with the oil in the Gulf of Mexico.