Olympic Peninsula Birdfest

This festival provides participants the opportunity to view a wide variety of birds normally seen on the Olympic Peninsula. Field trips are planned for Sequim Bay, Port Angeles Harbor, Ediz Hook, Dungeness Spit, the Elwha River, Salt Creek and at Neah Bay, as well as trips through wooded areas to view songbirds and locate owls in the evening. Boat trips to Protection Island are also planned. The North Olympic Peninsula is widely known as a great place for bird watching. The weekend of the Olympic BirdFest is timed to overlap wintering birds and the beginning of spring migration. In addition to the field trips, birders may participate in presentations, workshops and a banquet. This year’s keynote speaker will be Claudio Vidal and his topic “Patagonia and Chile: Birds and Mammals at the End of the Americas.” See www.olympicbirdfest.org for a full schedule, costs, lodging recommendations, and other information.

There is a festival pre-trip this year:  a three-day, two-night birding and sightseeing cruise of the San Juan Islands April 10-12.  Register separately at www.pugetsoundexpress.com/audubon. Extend your festival with a Neah Bay post-trip April 16-17:  two days exploring northwest coastal Washington.