GRAFTON - For the first time since its inception, the Hummingbird Festival at Pere Marquette Lodge lacked a public display of bird-banding. 

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Bird-banding is a technique hummingbird researchers use to keep track on the migration patterns, health and population of hummingbirds. Previous festivals featured an expert banding birds, but a statement from the Bird Banding Laboratory has discouraged public displays of banding, and threatened to take away the banding permits from anyone who does the activity in public. 

Despite that loss, Pere Marquette Lodge Marketing and Events Director Leslie Franklin said the festival was a success. 

"We are having a pretty good time up here," Franklin said. "We aren't doing everything we had planned, but that's OK." 

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The Lodge featured several fun activities for the entire family including balloon twisting and arts and crafts for children. 

"They can make puppets, and they're having a lot of fun with those," Franklin said. 

The adults could do a wine tasting at the Lodge's winery and enjoy the the sounds of American Originals, a band playing covers of several classic hit songs. Several local vendors were at the festival as well, selling handmade crafts, kettle corn, and fresh fruit and vegetable grown locally. 

Hummingbirds were still a focal point for the event, Franklin assured. The feeders were buzzing with birds and placed around the lodge for people to enjoy the views. An award-winning documentary called "Hummingbird Magic" was also shown for visitors interested in the tiny, nectar-craving birds, which can defy physics and fly backwards. 

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