Choose from four feather-filled festivals this spring

A combination of birdwatchers’ interests and marketing efforts to attract visitors has brought us dozens of bird festivals across the country.

Many of them focus on specific birds, and have those birds in their titles: owls, Sandhill cranes, eagles, brants, swans, prairie chickens, raptors, snow geese, woodpeckers, grebes, yellow rails, warblers and whimbrels.

Others focus on specific areas, such as the Everglades; or have catchy titles, such as the Birdiest Festival in America, Biggest Week in American Birding, Red Slough Birding Convention and Urban Birding Festival.

While nearly all of them have fees, and some have charges that can grow to a significant amount if you take several fee-based workshops or field trips, the L.L. Bean Birding Festival is free. Most festivals have keynote speakers, field trips, classes and family-oriented events; trips are led by local birders. Pre-registration is often suggested.

This year marks the centennial of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, an excellent time to honor it by attending a bird festival. Here are several options in April and May:

Grays Harbor Shorebird and Nature Festival (April 27-29). One of the best-known festivals in Washington, it features hundreds of thousands of shorebirds that rest and feed on the coast and estuary during migration northward, some coming from as far as Argentina.

The keynote speaker is “Welcome to Subirdia” author and crow expert John Marzluff. One field trip follows the shoreline along the coast, looking for 22 species, including the snowy plover and long-billed curlew. One class is on raptor banding research.

More at: www.shorebirdfestival.com

Olympic Peninsula BirdFest (April 13-15). For those who want an on-the-water or by-the-water experience, check out this gathering. Field trips are planned for Sequim Bay, Port Angeles Harbor, Ediz Point, Dungeness Spit, the Elwha River, Neah Bay and Protection Island.

Other choices: BirdFest Trivia Night, Dawn Chorus at Railroad Bridge Park (take this one!), Totem Tour, Day Creek Waterfowl Sanctuary Tour, Birding by Bike and an Owl Prowl.

The guest speaker is Claudio Vidal; topic is “Patagonia and Chile: Birds and Mammals at the End of America.”

More at: www.olympicbirdfest.org

Leavenworth Spring Bird Fest (May 17-20). The emphasis is on migratory birds in the peak of their travels. Some trips are in the quiet, beautiful Waterfront Park and Blackbird Island along the Wenatchee River. If for no other reason, go to hear All-World birder, author and artist David Allen Sibley.

This festival probably has the most modes of transportation for their outings. Bird by paddleboard, raft, pontoon boat, kayaks and bikes. Sing up for Birding by Ear to have a guide identify songs even if you can’t see the songbird.

There are also owl prowls and ecosystem-oriented walks, including wetlands, wildflowers, the Coulee, Blewett Pass, and Birds of Farm, Field, Pond and Woods.

More at: www.leavenworthspringbirdfest.org

Yakima River Canyon Bird Fest (May 11-13). Cliffs, shrub-steppe and riparian cottonwood forests are home to a broad variety of birds, including rock and canyon wrens, white-throated swifts, American kestrels, great-horned owls, 21 species of raptors and breeding pairs of golden eagles and prairie falcons.

Workshops and trips include: eagle nest photography, avian anatomy, birding by ear, Hayward Hill Wildflowers and Bluebird Boxes, and Get Intimate with the Shrub-Steppe with experts in history, beavers, archeology, insects and wildflowers.

More at: www.ycic.org/yakima-river-canyon-bird-fest

Out and about. Sighted in Skagit County: a barn owl just north of Rexville, a snowy owl on Calhoun Road and out by the tulip fields, a gyrfalcon on a snag off Dry Slough Road, and a taiga merlin off McLean Road, east of Best Road.

Trail closure. The Lake Serene Trail in the Skykomish Ranger District is still closed and is not expected to re-open until July 1. Heavy logging activity is in the area of the trail so it was closed due to safety reasons.

Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.

Remember

The 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal to destroy, possess or sell bird eggs, nests, parts and feathers of any bird native to or migrating within North America.