Exploring The Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival

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By Kate Scriven

QuinaultSpring is here and with it comes a host of outdoor celebrations and festivals throughout our area.  And while we all have our favorites here in Thurston County, your family may choose to pack up head to the beach for the weekend to experience something new.

One such opportunity is the Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival, held Friday, April 26 through Sunday April, 28.  The Festival, in its eighteenth year, celebrates the amazing migration of hundreds of thousands of shorebirds.  (Complete shorebird photo set can be found here.)

dunlin closeup eatingMarian Bailey, a Wildlife Biologist at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge also oversees the Grays Harbor Wildlife Refuge where the Shorebird Festival is centered.  She explains the importance of our area to the migrating birds.  “Grays Harbor is the second largest estuary in Washington and the migrating birds, coming from Central and South America, are very focused and driven to get to Alaska to breed.  With such a long migration, stop over sites are very important.  Grays Harbor is one of the places that is important for them as it’s a very shallow estuary and provides excellent forage and resting for them.”

You only need to view a map to appreciate the vastness of this estuary and the large amount of shelter and food it provides.  An estimated thirty-five to sixty thousand birds each day stop in the estuary during the migration to rest and feed.  Where does the Grays Harbor Wildlife Refuge fit in to this large migratory rest stop?  “As the tide rises twice a day, the birds get forced off the huge estuary.  The Refuge sits just a bit higher in elevation, so the birds can come to the Refuge and forage for about two hours longer than they could in the remainder of the estuary.  We get a tremendous amount of birds flocking to this one small bit of land and the show is absolutely spectacular,” Bailey explains.

western sandpipers with water reflectionThe migration continues for two weeks, but the festival is held when tides are the highest, forcing birds closer to the shore.  Excellent viewing is found throughout the Refuge’s fully accessible boardwalks and trails.  The flat, well-maintained boardwalks are easy to navigate with strollers.  The total 1 ½ miles round-trip, an easy walk for even tiny legs.  No bikes, dogs or jogging are permitted.  During the Shorebird Festival, access is made even easier with shuttles from Hoquiam High School to the trail head, eliminating parking headaches.

To learn more about the activities at the Festival, I spoke with Grays Harbor Audubon Society President, Arnie Martin.  The Audubon partners with US Fish and Wildlife Department to organize the event.    An avid birder, Martin cites the link to local education as one of the main reasons for the festival.  “Teaching school aged kids about the estuary and the birds that migrate through is important and really, so much fun, too,” he adds.  The Audubon Society uses monies raised at the festival to fund the AmeriCorp position at the Refuge and outreach programs and fieldtrips for local schools.

With education at its heart, the festival is jam-packed with fun activities for kids.  Saturday features the Nature Fun Fair at Hoquiam High School where kids can create a shorebird on a stick, a life cycle necklace, or a custom shorebird button.  Face painting and games are offered, along with a variety of vendors displaying items from birdfeeders to binoculars.  Winners of the annual poster design contest will be announced and you can check out a “Mudflat Meal” through a microscope, learning what all those shorebirds are eating.

flying dunlin closeup  2And don’t miss the new-this-year, “Procession of the Shorebirds”.  A play on the Olympia favorite, Procession of the Species, the parade will be held 1:30-2 pm in front of the High School and all are welcome to participate.  Just don’t forget your beaks, wings and feathers!

Throughout the weekend, guided tours are offered to a variety of prime birding locations.  Pre-registration is required along with a small fee.  A keynote speaker talk is held Friday night and a fundraising auction and dinner are held Saturday.   Martin recommends the Tokeland Field Trip on Friday as his top pick for bird-watchers with the Point Grenville Trip on Saturday a close second.

His best advice?  “Spend as much time as you can on the boardwalks.  Take a bird book and your binoculars and really immerse yourself in the amazing site of so many birds in one place at one time.  The interactions of the shorebirds and raptors is a site few will forget.”  The best time to view the birds is during the hours just before and just after the high tide.

With some much to see and do, an overnight stay in the area might be in order.  With Ocean Shores just up the road, a night at the beach makes for an easy weekend vacation.  Options for lodging are many, however, Quinault Beach Resort tops the list with beautiful oceanfront rooms, a great indoor pool for the kids, and a variety of onsite dining options from burgers to prime rib.  A flat-screen and fireplace might be just the ticket after a day of birding!

Whether for the day or the weekend, the Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival offers a family adventure that will take you out of the county and into an experience you’ll not soon forget.

Special thanks to Tom Rowley for the photos.  To see more shorebird photos, click here.

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