The 8th Annual Port Susan Birding & Snow Goose Festival will be held on:

Saturday Feb 23
9:00AM to 4:00PM
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Sunday Feb 24
10:00AM to 4:00PM
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Festival Headquarters
27130 102nd Ave NW
Stanwood, WA 98292
Directions/Map _____________________________

To download maps, lists and other items that you can use for planning your Festival outings please visit our Downloads page.
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WSHRN Shorebird Celebration
Join us for this fun and informative event will include special speaker, food, art show, prizes, and silent auction. Click here to learn more and to purchase your ticket!

Port Susan Snow Goose & Birding Festival

The 8th Annual Festival - February 23 & 24, 2013


Port Susan Snow Goose & Birding Festival
> Festival Event Information

> Saturday Events
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Online Registration Begins Sunday Feb 3, 2013

Below is a complete listing of this year's activities sorted by activity type and beginning time.
To view detailed information and times - click on one of the "+" signs below.



Show: All Events___________Show: Sunday Events Only
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Speakers & Seminars

+ Bald Eagles 101

____Location: Festival HQ
____Registration: Not Required
____Cost: FREE!!

____Date:Sat Feb 23, 2013
____Time: 10:30 - 12:00 AM

As a Wildlife Research Scientist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Jim specializes in statewide raptor studies. He has also work on Oregon spotted frogs and Washington ground squirrels.  He has spent the past years studying raptors in the western United States and abroad.  His first research experience involved working with a graduate student studying golden eagles in Colorado, followed by research on rough-legged hawks in Idaho, and bald eagles in Oregon.

This presentation will provide an introduction to bald eagle identification, characteristics and status in Washington. Jim will focus on migration and ecology of eagles that winter here based on knowledge derived from satellite telemetry studies. There will be plenty of time to answer for bald eagle fact or fiction questions.   
More About Jim Watson


+ Meet Live Raptors with Kestrel Skyhawk

____Location: Four Springs Lake Preserve
____Date:Sat Feb 23, 2013
____Time: 12:00 - 1:00 PM
____Registration: Not Required
____Cost: FREE!
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____
Location: Festival HQ
____Date:Sat Feb 23 2013
____Time: 3:00 - 4:00 PM
____Registration: Not Required
____Cost: FREE!!!

Kestrel Skyhawk, from Sarvey Wildlife Center, returns to the Festival with some of her avian friends – birds that have been rescued by Sarvey, but are unable to be released back to the wild. This is a unique opportunity to see various birds at close range, and to learn about their unique characters and behaviors.  Learn more about Sarvey’s mission to rescue and rehabilitate injured wildlife, and what you can do to help.



+ Shorebird I.D. Class

____Location: Festival HQ
____Registration: Required
____Online Registration!
____Cost: FREE!!

____Date:Sat Feb 23, 2013
____Time: 10:30 - 11:30 AM

Guaranteed to help you identify common shorebirds found in North Puget Sound.  Participate in a fun-filled presentation where biologists will give pointers on how to differentiate shorebirds based on their feeding ecology, habitat, and morphology. Charles Duncan, the Executive Director the Western Shorebird Reserve Network and a keynote speaker at the Saturday evening celebration, will be on hand to help out.  Consider going on the shorebird tour following the class.

+ Shorebirds of the Greater Skagit/Stillaguamish Delta

____Location: Festival HQ
____Registration: Not Required
____Cost: FREE!!

____Date:Sat Feb 23, 2013
____Time: 1:00 - 2:30 PM

This talk will discuss recent and future shorebird projects focused on the vast estuary complex of Port Susan and Skagit Bays. We will share what we’ve learned and describe ways in which citizen volunteers can become involved in shorebird conservation and monitoring in this region and how these efforts tie in with larger scale shorebird conservation objectives.

Speakers:
Gary Slater is the founder and Executive Director of Ecostudies Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to understanding and conserving birds and their habitats. He received a B.S. in Wildlife Science from Purdue University and a M.S. in Wildlife Ecology (1997) from the University of Florida. Gary oversees a diverse program of ecological research and outreach activities in Washington and Florida. Some of Gary’s current research focuses on monitoring shorebirds populations and their use of estuarine and agricultural habitats in north Puget Sound. He currently is coordinating a citizen-science based shorebird monitoring effort in Puget Sound as part of the Pacific Flyway Shorebird Survey.

Ruth Milner received her BS and MS Degrees from the University of Washington in Wildlife Science. She has been the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife District Wildlife Biologist for Snohomish, San Juan and Island Counties since 1992. Ruth works on a variety of game and non-game species. She has been conducting various projects on shorebirds over the last five years, including leading the effort to designate the Greater Skagit Delta as a Site of Regional Importance in the Western Shorebird Hemisphere Reserve Network (WSHRN).

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Tours

+ Nature Conservancy Port Susan Preserve (Guided Tour)

ALL TOURS TIMES ARE FILLED
Please stop by the registration desk at the Festival HQ to check tour availability or to place your name on the "stand-by" list.

Not currently open to the public, the Port Susan Bay Preserve safeguards some of the finest estuarine habitat in the Puget  Sound. Its emergent marshes, vast mudflats, and tidally influenced channels support hundreds of thousands of birds, Western sandpipers, dunlins, and dowitchers swoop over the mudflats. Wrangel Island snow geese gather by the thousands on nearby fields. And raptors, from peregrine falcons to short-eared owls, add to the drama. Dress warmly and bring your binoculars.

+ Shorebird Tour (Guided Tour)

ALL TOURS TIMES ARE FILLED
Please stop by the registration desk at the Festival HQ to check tour availability or to place your name on the "stand-by" list.

Join us as we venture out towards the estuary to seek out the large flocks of Dunlin moving across the mudflats in Port Susan Bay.  We also will stop to see other iconic birds of the delta, such as swans, eagles, and other raptors.  A member of the Pilchuck Audubon Society will lead the tours, and Rob Butler and Charles Duncan, the invited keynote speakers for the Saturday evening celebration, will be on hand to help out.  Butler will help with the tour on Saturday and Duncan will be with us both days.  Before the tour, consider taking the shorebird I.D. class on Sat morning. 

+ Snow Geese and Trumpeter Swans (Bus Tour)

ALL TOURS TIMES ARE FILLED
Please stop by the registration desk at the Festival HQ to check tour availability or to place your name on the "stand-by" list.

Leave the driving to us! Take a bus to see thousands of Snow Geese and Swans feeding in fields and farmlands near Stanwood. Your tour guide is biologist who has been guiding these tours since the Festival began.  The relationship between farmers and birders is a delicate one, and we encourage you to join us on a tour designed to get you close to the birds without invading a working farm.

+ The Big Ditch, Stanwood (Self Guided Tour)

____Location: Festival HQ
____Registration: Not Required
____Cost: FREE!!

____Date: Sat Feb 23, 2013
____Time: All Day
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____Date: Sun Feb 24, 2013
____Time: All Day

A long walk along the dike between farmlands, a river and the bay, the Big Ditch is often a great spot to see snowy owls, short-eared owls, harrier hawks, dabbling ducks.  This can also be a good location to see snow geese passing by in large “V’s” or in the nearby fields.


+ English Boom, Camano Island (Self Guided Tour)

____Location: Festival HQ
____Registration: Not Required
____Cost: FREE!!

____Date: Sat Feb 23, 2013
____Time: All Day
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____Date: Sun Feb 24, 2013
____Time: All Day

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This newly renovated Island County Park with it’s boardwalk provides an ideal location for viewing eagles, diving ducks, loons, heron and more. Parking is limited

+ Iverson Spit, Camano Island (Guided Tour)

____Location: Festival HQ
____Registration: Not Required
____
Cost: FREE!!

____
Date: Sat Feb 23, 2013
____Time: All Day
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____Date: Sun Feb 24 2013
____Time: All Day

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This walk provides the opportunity to view a variety of habitats including marshland, bay and wooded walk.   Visitors will see dabbling and diving ducks, hunting raptors, heron and frequently snow geese. Dress warmly and bring your binoculars.

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Youth Activities

+ Birding Themed Arts & Crafts, Avian Science

____Location: Four Springs Lake Preserve
____Registration: Not Required
____Cost: FREE!!

____Date: Sat Feb 23, 2013
____Time: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
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____Date: Sun Feb 24 2013
____Time: 12:00 - 4:00 PM

Birding Themed Arts and Crafts and Avian Science Activities stations will be set up for you to work on the projects of your choice.
We’ll meet you in the Meadow Room at Four Springs - Local Art Students and Community Volunteers will be on hand to lead you through bird themed arts and craft projects. All supplies are provided. Helpers are on hand to assist you with supplies and ideas if you need a nudge to get started. Work on your own or ask for their help. All Ages Welcome!
____Birdie Bundles (Nesting material hanger)
____Creative paper projects
____Origami
____Owl Pellet Dissections
____(leader provided and supply donation accepted)
____Peanut Butter Pinecone Birdfeeders
____Twisted Pipe Cleaner Creations
____Hike around the park Bird Fact Scavenger Hunt & Drawing for prizes

Come learn and create! We have lots of information
and knowledge to share!


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Special Events

+ Pancake Breakfast and Silent Auction

____Location: Festival HQ
____Registration: On Site
____Cost: $5/person or $20/Family of 4 or more

____
Date: Sat Feb 23, 2013
____Time: 8:00 AM - Noon

____Click to Download Event Flyer

Safe Harbor Free Clinic for the 3rd consecutive year will be offering a Pancake Breakfast, Bake Sale & Silent Auction. 
___This years menu will be:
________* Pancakes
________* Sausage
________* Fruit
________* Orange Juice
________* Coffee or Milk

The 2013 Auction will feature well known local artists, vacation packages, decor items and construction materials.  Cash, checks & Credit cards will be accepted. 

Safe Harbor Free Clinic was founded in October of 2008 by community leaders and medical practitioners as a facility providing quality, respectful and loving free health care and referral service to address the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the underinsured in a safe and welcoming environment. Safe Harbor Free Clinic provides free medical urgent care to the uninsured and the under insured in a welcoming and respectful manner.

_____Clinic hours are:
________* Friday night from 6:00p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
________* The 1st & 3rd Saturdays rom 9:00a.m. to 12:00 noon.

The clinic provides free referral services and conducts specialized care for podiatry,chronic care and a women's clinic. We work together with Medical Teams International to provide a dental clinic once a month to our patients of record. The clinic is supported through donations from supporters who believe in our mission.

Learn More About Safe Harbor Free Clinic


+ The Great Northwest Glass Quest

____Location: Festival HQ
____Registration: Not Required
____Cost: FREE!!

____Date: Sat Feb 23, 2013
____Time: All Day
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____Date: Sun Feb 24, 2013
____Time: All Day

You're invited to participate in the greatest treasure hunt in the Pacific Northwest!  This is your opportunity to search for and find unique Glass Treasures hand-blown by Mark Ellinger, world-renowned glass artist. 

Now in it's fourth year, the Great Northwest Glass Quest joins an elite community of glass art treasure hunts, pioneered by Lincoln City, Oregon’s “Finders Keepers” and Jekyll Island’s “Island Treasures”.  

"Clueballs" will be hidden at a variety of host businesses and in community sites around the Stanwood-Camano area. Find a "Clueball" and return it to the location identified inside for an authentic limited edition Glass Treasure.  

The Official Event Guidebook identifying where the "Clueballs" are hidden will be available at both the Stanwood and Camano chamber offices and at both A Guilded Gallery & Snow Goose Bookstore in Stanwood and Camano Island Coffee Roasters starting February 15th. You can also find them at the Windermere Realtor offices at Terry's Corner. With booklet in hand you will be ready to start your Quest!

And don't forget -- when you go to businesses that are participating in The Great Northwest Glass Quest, but do not find a "Clueball", ask your business host to stamp one of the three Official Entry Forms found at the back of your Booklet.  Five stamps from five different host businesses will allow you to enter the drawing for one of the genuine Glass Treasures to be given away in March 2013.  You do not need to be present to win the drawing.  Your completed Entry Form also allows you to purchase a Glass Treasure at a reduced price, available at A Guilded Gallery,Camano Island Coffee Roasters, Glass Quest Hand Blown Art Studio.

+ Skagit and Stillaguamish Delta Celebration

____Location: Four Springs Lake Preserve
____Registration: Tickets can be purchased at the door.
____Cost: $17/person

____Date: Sat Feb 23 2013
____Time: 4:30 - 8:00 PM

Four Springs House and Meadow Room will host a special event to
celebrate the recent designation of the Skagit and Stillaguamish Delta
as a Site or Regional Importance in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird
Reserve Network (WSHRN). WSHRN is an international conservation
program for shorebirds.

The event (or your ticket) includes:
____* Hors d’oeuvres and a complimentary glass of wine or beer.
____* Art Show access - View the “Beaks and Bills” a fine art exhibit by
_____over 25 local artists.
____* Drawings for door prizes will occur over the course of the evening.
____* Official Recognition of landowners, volunteers, and the unveiling
_____of the WSHRN sign.

Two Keynote Speakers:
____* Dr. Charles Duncan, Executive Director of WHSRN, will confer the
____designation and speak about conserving shorebirds at grand scales.

____* Dr. Rob Butler, renowned shorebird expert, will weave a story
____about the migration of Western Sandpipers from its tropical winter
____home to the tundra breeding grounds.

Tickets are available for $17 through the Snow Goose Festival web site or the Snow Goose Bookstore in Stanwood. WA.


Celebration Events

4:30pm - 5:50pm__Social mixer
_________________Catered menu
_________________(includes one complementary glass of wine or beer)
_________________Art show
_________________Meet the speakers

5:50pm - 6:00pm
__Please be seated        

6:00pm - 6:50pm
__Welcome and Opening Remarks, Ruth Milner, WDFW
_________________Conserving Shorebirds at a Grand Scale,
_________________Dr. Charles Duncan, WSHRN
_________________Special Recognition of Our Partners,
_________________Bob Everitt, WDFW
_________________Sign Unveiling       

6:50pm - 7:10pm
__Coffee and Dessert

7:10pm - 8:00pm
__Birds on the Wind,
_________________Dr. Rob Butler, Pacific Wildlife Foundation


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Art Shows & Exhibits

+ Live Artist Demos

____Location: Four Springs Lake Preserve
____Registration: Not Required
____Cost: FREE!!

____Date: Sat Feb 23, 2013
____Time: 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM
____Date: Sun Feb 24 2013
____Time: 12:00 - 4:00 PM

Live Artist Demos - Inside the house at Four Springs Lake Preserve

+ 8th Annual Fine Art Exhibit & Sale

____Location: Four Springs Lake Preserve
____Registration: Not Required
____Cost: FREE!!

____Date: Sat Feb 23, 2013
____Time: 10:00 - 4:00 PM
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____Date: Sun Feb 24 2013
____Time: 12:00 - 4:00 PM

"Beaks and Bills" Art Exhibit and Sale – Admission: FREE!
Fine Art Exhibit. Photography, Sculpture, Ceramics, Watercolor, Acrylic, Oil, Mixed Media, Glass, and Jewelry

Festival Notes: