New KWF website helps keep birders well informed

 
By ALICIA EVANS

The Kirtland Community College website is an asset to many students, staff, and faculty. However, unbeknownst to many at the college, a small but growing element of the site has been serving serious birders for years.

In fact, the number of hits to Kirtland’s website by those looking for information about the endangered bird from whom the college takes its name has risen so dramatically in recent years that webmaster Marj Esch has totally redesigned the KWF site into a kaleidoscope of informative, entertaining and interactive pages designed to help anyone looking for information on the bird, and how to check it off their life lists.

“We made the decision to expand the site last year and since then there have been some wonderful changes,” said Jim Enger, festival committee chairman and Kirtland’s marketing director.

“The Warbler website has been in existence for a while,” Esch said, “but this year I have given it a totally new design.”

The website includes facts, pictures, and other related links about the warbler, and provided up-to-date information months in advance about the 2004 Kirtland’s Warbler Festival.

All of this information can be accessed off of Kirtland’s homepage by simply clicking on the 2004 Warbler link provided, said Esch.

From December to May, the site receives thousands of hits, Enger said, adding that not only is the website useful to people looking for facts about the bird, but it is also an easy and accessible way to publicize the Warbler Festival.

“People have become much more internet oriented and by having the warbler website it has helped to promote the festival,” said Enger, “Word has gotten out in the ‘birding community’ that we have a pretty cool festival and it’s gone from being a local event to being a nationally known event – thanks in large part to our website.”

For further information on the Warbler or the Festival, check out Kirtland’s website at http://warbler.kirtland.edu.