SEQUIM — Calling all nature lovers! The nearly two-dozen guided trips, workshops, classes and tours offered during the 2015 Olympic Peninsula BirdFest are filling up fast.
“BirdFest registrations continue to pour in,” said coordinator Vanessa Fuller.
She said a few events have already been sold out for the festival, which will be based at the Dungeness River Center, 2151 W. Hendrickson Road in Sequim, this coming weekend, Friday, April 10, through Sunday, April 12.
Fully booked events include a cruise of Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday, both Owl Prowls on Friday and Saturday night, the second Dungeness Spit tour on Saturday afternoon, a bird-drawing class on Saturday and an all-day trip Friday from the Elwha River to the Dungeness River.
However, “that is a small percentage of all our field trips,” Fuller said.
“We still have a lot of room across the board.”
Registration is online at www.olympicbirdfest.org.
The website also offers a complete catalog of activities along with availability and prices.
Raffle tickets for a pair of Vortex Viper compact binoculars valued at $420 are $5 each and are available at the river center.
Proceeds derived from BirdFest activities and the raffle will help support the center’s educational programs.
Unique event
A unique event with plenty of tickets still available are private tours Saturday — at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. — of the licensed waterfowl breeding sanctuary operated by Arnold and Debbie Schouten near Port Angeles.
The sanctuary maintains and raises 15 species of “sea ducks” that are rarely seen in captivity. They spend most of their lives in salt water, coming to fresh water only during the breeding season.
The two tours will be the only opportunity for the public to visit the sanctuary this year, Fuller said.
“So it is actually a pretty big deal,” she said.
“It is so nice that they open that up to us. They really do a wonderful job out there.”
Something for everyone
No matter what a person’s experience level with bird-watching, there will be something to accommodate everyone, said birding trip organizer Bob Boekelheide.
“Our field trips are designed to accommodate birders at all levels.”
He added that three hours of birding at John Wayne Marina, Dungeness Spit or Three Crabs may be more enjoyable and productive for a beginning birder or someone with limited stamina than some of the longer trips.
The Northwest Raptor & Wildlife Center will host a free live raptor presentation at 7 p.m. in the Sequim Middle School cafeteria, 301 W. Hendrickson Road.
A few openings remain for a nature photography workshop Saturday taught by Hal Everett and for the Jamestown Tribal Totem Tours on Friday and Saturday.
The tours, limited to 16 participants, will be led by tribal members and will include “up-close” views of totem poles and a visit to the House of Myths, where the totem poles are created.
Banquet
The 2015 BirdFest banquet will be from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Saturday at the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Center on Sequim Bay.
The guest speaker will be Lynsy Smithson-Stanley of the National Audubon Society, who is visiting from New York.
The topic will be “Not Your Grandfather’s or Nana’s Climate Change — A New Path Forward.”
Kokopelli Grill will cater the event with salmon as the main course, while That Takes the Cake will provide the dessert cupcakes.
Tickets are $45. Advance reservation is required.
The Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society, a partner of the Audubon center, created BirdFest in 2004 to help support the educational programs and operations of the center and Railroad Bridge Park.
Donations funding
“Because the center and park receive no tax support, funding is provided by partner members and other generous donors,” said Eftin Strong, BirdFest’s founder and a lifetime member of the Audubon Society.
“So, BirdFest not only gets people outdoors for birding, it also helps with supporting the valuable river center programs.”
The center is a partner with the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe and the Audubon Society.
For more information about the Olympic BirdFest, see www.olympicbirdfest.org or call the center at 360-681-4076.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
