Fourth annual Hummingbird Festival draws crowd to Rotary Park | PHOTOS

CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The fourth annual Hummingbird Festival took place Saturday at Rotary Park, bringing together families and nature enthusiasts for a day of learning and outdoor activities.

The event, originally held at Dunbar Cave State Park, has grown over the years and now fills Rotary Park with nature exhibits, vendor booths and children’s activities.

A highlight of the festival was live hummingbird banding by master bander Cyndi Routledge of the Southeastern Avian Research Group. Routledge has trapped more than 11,000 hummingbirds in her career and recently trapped the oldest known ruby-throated hummingbird on record, a male at 9 years and 1 month old.

Katie Nettie, natural resource and program supervisor for Montgomery County Parks and Recreation, explained what the banding process has shown: “In the past we’ve banded anywhere from one to 39 hummingbirds, and we have recaptured hummingbirds that we’ve caught in previous years. … So that means that the birds flew all the way to Mexico and all the way back to Rotary Park to be in the exact same feeder.”

The festival also featured lectures in the Nature Center’s Community Room. Visitors could tour booths hosted by more than a dozen organizations, including the Warioto Audubon Society, CMC Master Gardeners Association, CMC Sierra Club, CMC Beekeepers Association, Healthy Yards Program, Bird Alliance at APSU, Cumberland River Compact, Clarksville Christian School: Future Farmers of America, Riverlands Alliance, Tennessee Naturalist Program, Tennessee Trails Association, Wade Bourne Nature Center, Airie Outdoor Academy, and the Southeastern Avian Research Group.

The festival was hosted in partnership with Montgomery County Parks and Recreation, the Wade Bourne Nature Center, the Warioto Audubon Society, and the Southeastern Avian Research Group.

| MORE: For more Clarksville things to do, check out the Summer Fun Guide, Farmers Markets and the Clarksville Events calendar.