Coastal birding camp fledges next generation of wildlife experts, researchers

Thwacking through tall grasses, the young students use their ears more than their eyes. A per-wee-tee-o from a white-eyed vireo, a drink-your-teeeee from an Eastern Towhee, they call out mnemonic devices they've memorized to identify by sound the small birds — nearly invisible — flitting through the dense tree canopy.

Their bus driver called them young Wikipedias, but the 17 students are actually the 2023 class of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources' Camp TALON: Teen Adventures Learning Ornithology and Nature. The camp is a consistently sold-out, annual week-long program on the Georgia coast dedicated to birding and natural science education for teens.

But beyond spotting winged wildlife, the camp is nurturing the next generation of Georgia researchers, naturalists and outdoor professionals.

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New and old faces in birding

Birding in Georgia has some new, youthful faces thanks to Camp TALON. Georgia DNR ornithologist Bob Sargent said he started Camp TALON while he was an officer with the Georgia Ornithological Society in 2009 to create a space for young birders. Since then, the program has become more popular, now housed under the Georgia DNR with support from the DNR's "friends group", The Environmental Resources Network and nonprofits like Georgia Audubon.

Sargent said Camp TALON is in part modeled after teen birding camps in other states, but its popularity has grown over the years from interest at the Georgia DNR's Youth Birding Competition and through word of mouth among campers and fellow birders, attracting young people from across the country.

"We don't just talk about birds," Sargent said. The students learn a whole slate of topics, such as habitat management like prescribed fire, forestry and invasive species control. They also learn about journaling, wildlife photography and more from different professionals such as state park employees, U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologists and academic researchers who join the camp on any given day to expose kids to jobs in the industry.

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A growing trend and an added boost

"One of the few upsides that we've seen in this profession is that a whole lot of people took up birdwatching because they were shut in (during COVID-19)," Sargent said.

This was the case for campers and brothers Ellis and Henry Halgren. Ellis Hargrem said they are both avid fishers, hikers and outdoor lovers and when they got bored during the pandemic they stumbled across the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which hosts bird guides and live nest webcams scattered around the world, including Savannah.

The National Audubon Society and Georgia Audubon have both noted an uptick in youth birders in recent years. In the heat of the pandemic, the activity was en vogue in an entirely new fashion. The National Audubon Society has been growing its Audubon on Campus program which can be found in Georgia at the University of Georgia and Morehouse College.

Georgia Audubon is engaging young birders by offering a series of teen birding trips, its Georgia Urban Ecologists program as well as its Conservation Careers Series for young birders.

Satisfaction, euphoria: Young birders take interest through curiosity

With binoculars and cameras strapped around their necks, the students make their way through trails at the Harris Neck Wildlife Refuge to a wood stork rookery, a span of trees where hundreds of wood storks build wide, flat nests. They are joined by professionals like Georgia DNR outreach coordinator Linda May and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service biologist Chuck Hayes.

En route, Sargent peppers them with questions. How do cattails spread through their rhizomes? What's the difference between a federally endangered species versus one that is just threatened?

The campers volley back and forth with Sargent analyzing the connections between birds, their ecosystems and how those spaces are conserved. They are energetic and curious and pleased to pull each other or Sargent aside when they hear or spot something of interest.

"There's a satisfaction, a euphoria when you identify something that nobody else can," said Sophia Haakman, a 13-year-old birder who started by reading field guides as a child. "It's not about being better than everyone else; it's not a competition. It's always nice to know about what you're seeing."

For many of the birders, their love of the outdoors and other topics came before their specific knowledge of birds.

Katie Curlee, a rising senior in high school, said she's only been birding for two to three years and is looking to study environmental science in college specifically because it is academically broad.

"I've always liked animals and wanted to be a marine biologist — I've gone through everything," Curlee said. She's learned all about plants, mammals and birds, getting into the weeds on each topic. Through Camp TALON, Curlee said she's been able to see and chat with wildlife and outdoor professionals that have given her a better idea of the wide scope of potential jobs in the industry.

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Future focused talents

For Georgia's industry of wildlife biologists, environmental scientists and outdoor specialists, the future is fostered at Camp TALON. Sargent has a giddy pride explaining that he's already seen many of his campers go on to become wildlife and outdoor professionals, whether it is conducting research or working right in the Georgia DNR's office.

John Deitsch is one of those former campers, this summer joining camp as an intern. He graduated from Cornell University last May and has been working short-term field biology jobs and is headed to the University of Texas El Paso in the fall to study ecology and the impacts of light pollution on insects and birds.

"A lot of people I met at this camp I'm still friends with now," Deitsch said. While there's much more of a community for young birders nowadays, his camp friends have also entered outdoor-related jobs, some even in other countries studying birds.

For Deitsch, there's something sweet about returning. He said it is great to be able to help young birders have a similar experience to his own, and work alongside the camp's operators Sargent and May to do so.

Marisa Mecke is an environmental journalist. She can be reached at mmecke@gannett.com or 912-328-4411.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia DNR Camp Talon youth birding ornithology program