On Sunday, October 13, 2019, SMAS celebrated World Migratory Bird Day with a booth and kids’ activities at the Town of La Plata Fall Festival. Despite the drizzle, a big crowd turned out for the action, which included a petting zoo, pumpkin decorating, face painting, a bounce house, and many other treats.
At the SMAS booth, we told visitors about big losses in bird populations since 1970 (see 3billionbirds.org) and shared handouts describing 7 Simple Actions to Help Birds. Kids enjoyed our candy and coloring activities! This year’s theme for World Migratory Bird Day was “Be the Solution to Plastic Pollution.” To help reduce plastic in our waterways, our friends at Wild Birds Unlimited gave us reusable metal straws to give to all our booth visitors! Celebrating World Migratory Bird Day was one of many rigorous requirements that will ultimately help the Town of La Plata to become a Bird City Maryland.
Festivals are a great opportunity to reach more folks in our community, and attendees show a great, open spirit. Please come out and volunteer with us! We always need more bird lovers to work the booth!