The Environmental Journal of Southern Appalachia
Tuesday, 20 August 2024 11:02

Ijams pays homage to our flying friends at science soiree

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ijams2The live animal shows and educational lectures were a big draw during the annual Ijams Nature Center Hummingbird Festival held Aug. 17 at the center in Knoxville.  Photos by John White/phocasso for Hellbender Press
 

Annual Hummingbird Festival showcases Appalachia’s airborne denizens

KNOXVILLE Jane Willard loves it when people put a name to the face of a butterfly. Or a bird. Or a bat.
She and Sarah Parker were crewing a booth of natural relics on Aug. 19 at the 2024 Hummingbird Festival at Ijams Nature Center, an annual celebration of all winged things.
Their display of items from the Ijams collection ranged from fierce and sharp owl talons to carefully curated moth and butterfly collections and a somewhat forlorn version of a long-gone little brown bat rendered relatively immortal by a long-gone taxidermist.
Passersby, their interests piqued, stopped and chatted in the humid late-summer morning. Some recognized butterflies and moths that had formerly forever remained nameless in their minds. Connections were made.
“People love stopping by,” and getting hands-on with native flora and fauna, said Willard, an AmeriCorps member who typically works on urban water quality issues with the Water Quality Forum.
 
ijams4Children learn about the four seasons during one of many immersive educational activities available during the Aug. 17 Hummingbird Festival at Ijams Nature Center.
 
What people have often said is that, ‘oh, this is stuff you wouldn't be able to see up close, you know,if you just saw it out in the wild.’”
“Especially,” she said, “the bird feet.”
Learning is indeed the order of the day at the nature center’s largest annual educational event, which is just now getting fully back on its feet following peak COVID.
“You've got hummingbird lovers, people who love to see the animal shows andpeople who love to see the different educational vendors,” Ijams Development Director Cindy Hassil said Saturday near a longish line for live native animal displays and accompanying infotainment. “It encourages them to protect and preserve nature and become good stewards.” On an intergenerational level, too: Children, many of whom seemed delighted at their science Saturday, delved into the basics of aquatic biology at a nearby dip-netting station.
Hassil said this year is the first time since 2020 the event has featured speakers and hands-on workshops on the property. Merchants also returned this year and peddled their many crafty wares from colorful booths.
 
ijams7Stained-glass artist sharon Wise was among the artists and merchants offering their wares for perusal and purchase at the Hummingbird Festival.
“It’s getting back to what it was,” Hassil said. Ironically, Ijams posted record numbers of visitors at the height of the COVID pandemic as people sought social distance in the natural 320-acre oasis in the middle of a large urban center in the midst of school and workplace closures and lockdowns. 
The festival does bring in some money for Ijams, which is managed as a nonprofit, but the nature center’s main annual fundraiser is Twilight at Ijams, set this year for Sept. 5.
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Last modified on Wednesday, 28 August 2024 19:33