TOS Spring Meeting April 26-28, 2024

Join us in Knoxville for the TOS Spring Meeting April 26-28, 2024. Great birding, great people, great part of the state, what’s not to like?

We’ll have a Friday evening reception, field trips Saturday and Sunday mornings (and possibly a Saturday afternoon outing), Board of Directors Meeting Saturday afternoon, and a banquet and plenary speaker on Saturday evening. Saturday’s business meeting, dinner, and speaker will be on the grounds of the historic Ramsay House (https://www.ramseyhouse.org/) in east Knoxville. We will only be able to accommodate 70 people for the dinner and speaker program on Saturday evening, so register soon.

KTOS will provide a potluck dinner at the Hampton Inn Knoxville -East (7445 Sawyer Lane, Knoxville, 37924, 865-525-3511) from 6:30-8:30 pm for those not looking to search up a local restaurant. Registration packets, name badges, and field trip sign-ups will be available during the reception as well as in the morning prior to field trips.

Our speaker will be Tiffany Kersten of Nature Ninja Birding Tours. Tiffany is a professional bird guide based in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. She is a Wildlife Ecologist, certified Interpretive Guide, and long-time environmental educator. She did a Lower 48 States Big Year in 2021, and her presentation “Birdie Big Year: Elevating Women Birders” will touch on the adventures inherent in such an endeavor with emphasis on a woman’s perspective and the special challenges women face chasing birds near and far. Learn more about Tiffany.

The host hotel will be the Hampton Inn Knoxville-East (7445 Sawyer Lane, Knoxville, 37924, 865-525-3511). The Friday reception will be at the Hampton, and all field trips will leave from there. This is at Exit 398 off of I-40. A room block is being held at the Hampton at a rate of $149/night. Use this link to reserve a room:

Hotel

There are a number of other hotels available at Exit 398.

Dinner on Saturday evening will be catered by Bissel Catering. The menu will include grilled chicken, pork tenderloin, grilled portobello mushrooms (for non-meat eaters), red mashed potatoes, green beans with almonds, house salad, rolls, and banana pudding.

Expect Saturday and Sunday morning field trips to local hotspots including Sharps Ridge and Seven Islands State Birding Park, among others.

To register, complete the registration form below and mail it and payment to:

KTOS (c/o Dawn Headrick)

1512 Hall Acres Drive

Knoxville, TN 37918

Make checks payable to KTOS.

Click for Registration Form

If you have any questions please email Chris Welsh at cwelsh@retiree.utk.edu or Dawn Headrick at mdheadrick@aol.com