Just as migratory birds return to the area every spring, so too does the annual Stikine River Birding Festival. Events start Wednesday and run through Sunday, April 22-26.

The festival is more than learning about birds, it’s also about sharing their beauty with photographs. Entries in the festival photo contest are due by 5 p.m. Sunday, April 26, with a prize for the “best picture of any bird species from the Stikine River and Wrangell Island.”

The prize had not been decided as of last week.

No AI-generated photos or heavy digital editing are allowed. Entry information is available at travelwrangell.com/birdingphotocontest.

If you would rather look at someone else’s art rather than your own, Evergreen Elementary School students will display their art at the Nolan Center during the entire five-day run of the festival.

The Nolan Center also will be the site of a museum open house from 5 to 6 p.m. Thursday, April 23. Admission is free, and there will be snacks and beverages.

The festival’s keynote speaker will follow the open house at 6 p.m. Thursday. Michael Wierda, from Utah State University, will present “40+ Years of Environmental Toxicology with Bald Eagles.” The event is free.

The presentation will review “the onset of pesticides, the bald eagle’s decline, highlights insight from over 40 years of monitoring, and looks ahead to the program’s future.”

Other events at the Nolan Center include Wrangell’s monthly community market 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday; birdhouse building, 11 a.m. to noon Saturday outside the center; a demonstration by a U.S. Forest Service wildlife technician on banding birds for research, 11 a.m. to noon Saturday, outside the center; and a free showing of the animated movie “Migration,” about a family of traveling ducks, at 1 p.m. Sunday.

For people who would rather be outdoors, two-hour explorer walking tours will be offered at 9 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Thursday from downtown to Petroglyph Beach. Meet up at the Nolan Center lobby; limit 10 walkers per tour; no reservations, so get there early and sign up.

The Birdfest Golf Tournament will be played Saturday and Sunday, starting at 10 a.m. each day but sign up before 9:30 a.m. Call 907-874-GOLF.

And on Saturday, Bonnie Demerjian will lead a two-hour, early morning bird-watching walk at Muskeg Meadows Golf Course. The walk starts at 7 a.m., so get there on time so that everyone is off the course before the tournament players start hitting the fairways.

The full schedule is at travellwrangell.com.birding-festival.