Headlands Birding Festival
Headlands Birding Festival
Brought to you by
Friends of Headlands Beach State Park
September 19-21, 2025
Join us at the Headlands Birding Festival for a weekend of birdwatching, guided walks, and expert talks!
The annual Headlands Birding Festival will take place September 19 – 21, 2025, at Headlands Beach State Park. The event will celebrate the fall migration of bird species as they travel to their wintering grounds as far away as South America.
The Headlands / Mentor Marsh region hosts some of the highest diversity and volume of migratory birds in the state, with 352 species documented in Lake County.
Bird experts will lead field trips to some of the region’s best migratory bird hotspots as well as a boating ‘pelagic’ on Lake Erie. There will be presentations on bird identification, migrations, and related topics.
OHIO NATURE ARTIST AND WRITER TO KICKOFF HEADLANDS BIRDING FESTIVAL
The keynote speaker will be Julie Zickefoose, a writer, artist and naturalist at home in the Appalachian foothills of Ohio. You can read more about Julie on her website.
more info on Julie
Julie will be the keynote speaker that kicks off the festival. Her presentation will take place on Friday, September 19th, at 7:00pm at the Springbrook Gardenhouse.
Date and Time
September 19, 2025 · 5pm – September 21, 2025 · 12pm
Refund Policy
Refunds up to 9 days before event. Please email friendsofheadlandsbeachsp@gmail.com for refund requests.
Sponsors
Festival Highlights
Keynote Address by Julie Zickefoose
Julie Zickefoose will deliver the keynote address on Friday afternoon to kick off the festival.
Guided Bird Walks at Area Parks
Join a festival guide on a small group hike to look for birds at Headlands and nearby parks.
Lake Erie Pelagic Aboard “The Holiday”
Navigate the inland waters of Lake Erie in search of pelagic species.
Birding Mentor Marsh by Kayak
Take a guided kayak trip to look for birds in Mentor Marsh at Mentor Lagoons.
Fantastic Food from Local Area Food Trucks
Several local area food trucks will be onsite for your culinary enjoyment.
Guided Walks by Blackbrook Audubon
Get off the beaten path to look for birds behind the locked gates of Mentor Marsh.
Registration for the festival, individual field trips, and talks opens Friday, August 1, at 8 a.m.
Registration includes:
- Access to festival programs
- Festival t-shirt
- Festival sticker
- Satisfaction of knowing you are supporting the festival
Festival Grounds and Map
Headlands Beach State Park
9601 Headlands Road Mentor, OH 44060
The festival is presented by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Lake Metroparks, city of Mentor, Lake County Visitors Bureau, Friends of Headlands Beach State Park, and Blackbrook Audubon Society.
Here’s what attendees had to say about last year’s festival:
I think the whole event brought a lot of joy to people and showed them what a beautiful beach Headlands is, and what a gem the lake and Mentor are as well!
Nature walks and the tent workshops! The leaders and presenters were all excellent – very knowledgeable and friendly. The keynote speaker on Saturday was also wonderful!!
I loved the overall vibe, the food trucks, the vendors, the people
Everything I attended I enjoyed a great deal. I would say continue with that.
The camaraderie of gathering with other birders. The Keynote speakers were very knowledgeable and the social hour beforehand was a great opportunity to get acquainted with others. The Big Sit and variety of hikes was nice.
Headlands Birding Festival
© 2024 Friends of Headlands Beach State Park