Birding Expert and TV Host James Currie to Appear at Indiana Dunes Birding Festival

Date: April 24, 2015
Contact: Brad Bumgardner, [phone]
Contact: Bruce Rowe, [phone]

James Currie, host of the popular TV series Nikon’s Birding Adventures on NBC Sports and Nat Geo Wild TV’s Aerial Assassins, will headline the inaugural Indiana Dunes Birding Festival set to take place May 7–10. The festival features more than 50 different activities including birding field trips, workshops, a live birds of prey talk, and special programs for children and beginning birders. Organized by the Indiana Audubon Society, the festival is hosted by both the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and Indiana Dunes State Park.

Currie, born in South Africa, but who now lives in Florida, will present the festival’s keynote presentation on Saturday, May 9, at the Spa Banquet Center. The keynote includes dinner, as well as silent auction and vendor marketplace. His presentation, “Not Your Grandma’s Audubon,” looks at Currie’s experiences hosting and producing his birding television series. Mr. Currie worked for over a decade in Africa as a wildlife and birding tour guide before becoming the managing director of the Africa Foundation, a nonprofit working to protect rural lands across Africa. After moving to the U.S., he created his first TV series in 2009 on a regional network in Florida before taking it national in 2012.

To register for the Indiana Dunes Birding Festival Registration go online at: www.indunesbirdingfestival.com. Children’s rates are available. In addition to the festival website, more information can be obtained at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center, located at 1215 N. State Road 49, just south of the intersection of 49 and US 20 in Porter, Indiana. Interested participants can also contact the information desk at 219-395-1882 or the State Park Nature Center at 219-926-1390. Visit the park’s on the web at www.nps.gov/indu or www.dnr.in.gov/parklake/2980.htm.