Othello Sandhill Crane Festival--this weekend!

One sure sign of spring is the passage of sandhill cranes through Washington state, on their way to breeding grounds to the north.  Right now, many of these magnificent birds have congregated in the fields around Othello, WA.  

To see them up close, come to the 14th annual Othello Sandhill Crane Festival, March 25-27, 2011!   It's a fun weekend full of talks, tours of the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, bike birding, geology, vendors and artists, the WSU Raptor Club, and (of course!) numerous tours to see sandhill cranes and burrowing owls.

For more information, check out their website at www.othellosandhillcranefestival.org, or call 1-866-SANDHIL (1-866-726-3445).  Hope to see you there!

Northern Flicker hybrid or integrade?

This flicker has been visiting our feeders recently. For how long, I don't know - I just noticed him a couple days ago. I have looked for images of flickers similar to this one but have not seen one quite like this. Maybe they are all different? It is orange shafted, like the flickers of the west usually are. However that marking on the back of his head is not like the the other hybrids I've seen in photos. They usually show a crescent shape. This is more of a v with the two lines barely coming together in the back. It's not real even and almost looks like someone used a magic marker on this bird.

I'd appreciate any comments on flicker hybrids from folks that have experience with them.

Sage-grouse field trip

Sage-Grouse field trip

March 5th

Leave the Easy Street Park and Ride at 5:00 AM in Wenatchee

It may be possible to meet the group somewhere along the way

Yes, 5:00 AM.

Visit a lek.

Return to Wenatchee by noon.

Led by Dr. Dan Stephens, Biology Professor, Wenatchee Valley College

Contact Dan for more info at (509) 682-6752 or dstephens@wvc.edu

The Great Backyard Bird Count has started!

This weekend, Feb. 18-21, is the 14th annual Great Backyard Bird Count.  This is an event where Citizen Scientists all across the US and Canada count birds and upload their observations to a central website.  You can participate for as short as 15 minutes or for all 4 days; it's free, it's fun, and it helps scientists and the birds.  You can watch the counts grow in real time as the weekend progresses, which gives us all a snapshot of where birds are and how many of each species.

To find out more, and to participate, you can go to the NCWAS website or to the Great Backyard Bird Count website:  http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/.

There are also field trips taking place this weekend in North Central Washington, as part of the GBBC.  For details, see the Birding page of the NCWAS website.

 

We look forward to seeing your observations online!