SPANISH FORT, Ala. — Only three days remain to register for the seventh annual John L. Borom Alabama Coastal BirdFest, expected to attract thousands of enthusiasts to the state’s shores for the annual migratory extravaganza.

John Borom, BirdFest chairman and president of Mobile Bay Audubon Society, said although organizers remain vigilant of the “immediate and long-lasting effects of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf,” he hopes participants in the four-day festival will focus on the region’s resilience.

Festivities begin Oct. 14 with an opening reception at 5 Rivers Delta Resource Center in Spanish Fort, featuring photographer Lisa Comer’s “A Birder’s Life in Photos.”

 “One good thing that may come out of this oil spill is increased awareness about the vital role that estuaries, beaches, and marshes play in our entire ecosystem,” Borom said, noting BirdFest will offer no shortage of experts qualified and prepared to address the topic.

Dauphin Island Sea Lab’s John Dindo, for instance, will deliver the keynote address about the oil’s impact on nesting habitats during the festival’s Oct. 15 dinner.

The 2010 BirdFest will also include more than 20 expertly guided walking and boat tours to prime spots along the Alabama Coastal Birding Trail. The scheduled boat tours include two new kayak/canoe paddles in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, two new Middle Mobile-Tensaw Delta pontoon boat trips and a new Saturday Weeks Bay trip.

Avid birder Connie Lawson of Spanish Fort said she worried for months that BirdFest would fall prey to the oil spill’s reach, but instead she sees the 2010 event as an opportunity to celebrate Mother Nature’s triumph in the face of adversity.

“I know it will be decades before we know what real impact the spill had on our ecosystems, but I’m certainly thrilled to know it didn’t knock out this wonderful event. Most people really don’t realize what a unique and blessed spot we inhabit to be able to share in this beautiful process each year,” Lawson said.

Since 2004, the Alabama Coastal BirdFest has attracted participants from 18 states and Canada and has donated more than $50,000 toward habitat protection and preservation in Baldwin and Mobile counties.

Registration for the event closes Monday.