As a terrific group of “early birds” arrived for the Birding Class in the MBG Wisdom Wood Classroom on Saturday, June 21, 2025, they were greeted by the energetic, friendly face of Mr. Chris Joe of The Joe Farm in Newbern Alabama. Starting the class an hour earlier than usual to accommodate the likely presence of a variety of birds was a risk, but an enthusiastic crowd showed up ready to look and learn. Mr. Joe and his family own the Joe Farm where they raise black angus cattle and where he hosts visitors as “Connecting with Birds and Nature Tours, LLC. His website address is: www.connectingwithbirdsandnaturetours.com. He encouraged individuals and groups to come to the farm and take a nature tour.
Chris began with a very descriptive and entertaining demonstration of how to use your binoculars to see birds when you find them. He used as references for his talk some of the gorgeous photographs of birds that Mrs. Jewel Pitts had prepared for the class. He also described how to make and place bird feeders and what types of bird seeds are attractive to various types of birds. After the instructions and a question-and-answer period, the majority of the attendees joined in a birding walk through the beautiful botanical gardens and a portion of the undeveloped portion Oak Park. All enjoyed the class and the birding walk and learned a lot of useful information about birding and enjoying nature.
Chris is also a talented photographer and demonstrated some of his techniques for capturing great photos of birds on the walk. Later he posted a short video of the bird walk at MBG on his Instagram page. It was a fine morning in the gardens with our feathered friends!
