Upcoming Meeting
MOS Spring Meeting
April 25–27, Mississippi Gulf Coast
The Spring 2025 MOS Meeting will be held on the western Gulf Coast of Mississippi in Hancock County, April 25–27, with special guest speaker Tom Stephenson, a professional birding guide and author of multiple books, including The Warbler Guide. Birding field trips will visit the migrant traps and salt marshes at Ansley, extensive freshwater marsh habitat on nearby private land seldom visited by birders, and coastal jetties and harbors.
ACCOMMODATIONS
We do not have a block of rooms at a single hotel for this meeting, because available prices are better when making individual reservations. We recommend making a lodging reservation online, using a travel website such as Hotels.com, Expedia, or AirBnB, within a reasonable driving distance of our Saturday morning field trip meeting spot, which is the Super 8 by Wyndham Bay St Louis (1000 US-90, Bay St Louis, MS 39520; map link). There are lots of good lodging options in Bay St. Louis, Diamondhead, and Pass Christian. A few options to consider are the Driftwood Motel in Bay St. Louis ((228) 497-0800), Super 8 by Wyndham Bay St Louis ((228) 220-1273), Motel 6 Bay St Louis ((228) 467-2511), and Ramada by Wyndham Diamondhead ((228) 641-1058). Camping near the Gulf shore is available at nearby Buccaneer State Park ((228) 467-3822, info link).
FRIDAY EVENING, April 25
~5:30 – ~7:30 p.m. Informal happy hour & food meet & greet at a local restaurant in Bay St. Louis or Pass Christian. Location will be announced by email, the week before the meeting. Cost is not included in registration–just show up to hang out; come and go any time. We will also send birding tips the week before the meeting, in case you want to head to the area early and get a head-start on your weekend of birding.
SATURDAY, April 26
7:00 a.m. Meet in parking lot of the Super 8 by Wyndham Bay St Louis (1000 US-90, Bay St Louis, MS 39520; map link), for departure on morning field trips.
Lunch: On your own, or with your morning group. One convenient option near the field trip locations is Kent & Sue’s Quick Stop, 7126 Lower Bay Rd, Bay St Louis, MS 39520 (map link). They have good po’boys, muffalettas, shrimp, burgers, etc.
1:00 p.m. Optionally meet back at the parking lot of the Super 8 by Wyndham Bay St Louis for departure for optional afternoon field trip destinations, which could include the beaches and harbors, Buccaneer State Park, and Henderson Point.
6:00 p.m. Dinner & Species Tally: Bacchus on the Beach, 111 W. Scenic Dr, Pass Christian, MS 39571 (map link). We recommend showing up early and birding Pass Christian Harbor, which is just across the road and can be very interesting. Banquet dinner will include choices among the following: House salad, blackened chicken alfredo, vegetable pasta primavera, pork tenderloin, creamed spinach, and non-alcoholic beverages. Alcoholic beverages can be purchased separately.
6:45–7:45 p.m. Program by Tom Stephenson:
“How to Study and Memorize Bird Songs (and just about anything else)”
Identifying the warblers and other species singing in the field is one of the most enjoyable and satisfying aspects of birding. However, trying to learn and remember the important ID points of bird vocalizations can be difficult and sometimes very frustrating. This lecture will cover many new techniques that make it easier to identify singing birds. Based on the system outlined in The Warbler Guide, the lecture will also explain how understanding a song’s structure, using objective, easy-to-hear song qualities, can speed up the identification process and make separating similar-sounding species much easier. Learning and remembering songs is another important skill for birders. The lecture will also cover the science of memory and learning, and outline a simple, 3-step system that works very effectively for memorizing bird vocalizations and anything else you’d like to remember!
SUNDAY, April 27
7:30 a.m. Meet for optional field trips. Meet-up and field trip location(s) will be discussed and announced on Saturday at the banquet.
COSTS
Lodging
Lodging rates will depend on where you make reservations. We do not have a single central block of hotel rooms for this meeting.
Meals
The Saturday evening banquet dinner cost (except alcoholic beverages) is included in meeting registration fee (see below). Alcohol during the banquet dinner, and all other meals, are at your own cost (unless included in your hotel reservation).
Meeting Registration
Registration fees are $25/person for all students and for all 1st-time attendees of an MOS meeting, $45.00/person for non-student MOS members, and $70 for non-members (but you can join MOS before the meeting to receive the member rate). Meeting registration includes the Saturday evening banquet and presentation. If you have special dietary restrictions please let us know by email: mcwulff@gmail.com
To register for the meeting, please scroll down to the online tool below. Registration is less expensive for MOS members, and you may join the Mississippi Ornithological Society on our website here:
https://missbird.org/membership-2/
If you have questions about your membership status, please contact Wayne Patterson, Membership Committee Chair, at wrp6@att.net
More information about special guest Tom Stephenson:
Read more about Tom in this excellent interview on the Bird Collective website. Tom Stephenson has been birding since he was a kid under the tutelage of Dr. Arthur Allen of Cornell University. His articles and photographs are in museums and many publications including Birding, Birdwatcher’s Digest, Handbook of the Birds and Handbook of the Mammals of the World, and Guide to the Birds of SE Brazil. He has lectured and guided many groups across the US as well as in Asia, where he trained guides for the government of Bhutan. He has donated many recordings of African and Eastern Himalayan rarities and other species to Cornell’s Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds. He was on Zeiss’s digiscoping team for the World Series of Birding and in 2011 his team won the World Series Cape Island Cup. Tom and team also hold the US record for a Photo Big Day, capturing 208 species on camera in a 24-hour period. As a musician he played concerts and did studio work for many years, working with several Grammy and Academy Award winners as well as performing with members of the NY Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra. His clients included the Grateful Dead, Phil Collins, and the FBI. He joined Roland Corporation in 1991, managed the recorder division, and retired recently as Director of Technology. His book, The Warbler Guide, is published by Princeton University Press and won the National Outdoor Book Award. The Warbler Guide App won the 2015 Design Award for AAUP Book, Jacket and Journal Show.
