Fowl festival hampered by foul weather

Last weekend's 19th Annual Stikine River Birding Festival proceeded despite unhelpful weather conditions, with heavy rains and whipping winds keeping most of Wrangell's feathered denizens and their admirers close to home.

Three events planned for the festival ended up being cancelled as a result, including a morning breakfast and bird walk on April 30, and a special songbird banding demonstration scheduled for Sunday.

Forest Service interpreter Corree Delabrue explained the weather made spotting birds unnecessarily difficult, while also making the mist net to be used during the banding session plainly visible – and so easily avoidable.

A Stikine River jetboat tour planned for April 30 was also jettisoned due to rough conditions.

"It's kind of disappointing how we had to cancel a few things," Delabrue said.

Other activities went without a hitch, however. Simon Fraser University researcher Marlene Wagner presented findings from her dissertation research into the relationship between salmon and songbird populations.

Due to their unique spawning cycle, the nutritious fish bring nutrients from the ocean back to their originating watersheds. Predators such as bears, wolves and eagles tend to spread salmon carcasses further afield from the rivers and streams they are caught from, which greatly improves the fertility of the surrounding soil.

This process boosts tree cover, which along with providing a greater of abundance of insects and nesting materials make for good songbird habitat. At her study area near Bella Bella, British Columbia, Wagner found a correlation between the number of birds in an area and the presence of salmon in nearby streams.

Other habit variables – conifer composition, shrub cover and watershed size, for instance – were also considered, but none correlated more strongly than a robust salmon population.

Author Vivian Faith Prescott hosted the Flying Island Storytelling event at the Nolan Center. Community members were invited to share favored passages of poetry and short stories celebrating birds. Much can be made of their flight, musical disposition and colorful charm, serving ably as an allegory for a number of emotions and ideals.

An author as well as a birder, Bonnie Demerjian led participants through the basics of bird identification on April 29. Further presentations included a demonstration by Delabrue and her husband, Joe, of listening equipment used for monitoring bats; a how-to on beach birding the following day at City Park; and a bird feeder building workshop outside the Nolan Center.

Saturday evening was crested by the Ducks Unlimited annual banquet, which raises money for the conservation group through raffles and a silent auction. A final tally of how much was raised is still being calculated, but over 100 guests attended the dinner.

Celebrating the Stikine River's many bird varieties, the annual Birding Festival is put on each year by the Wrangell Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Nolan Center and USFS. Prizes, materials and other support are provided by an assortment of local businesses.

"I am always so impressed with this community," Delabrue commented. "Businesses are so willing to support events."

In part because of the weather's impact on this year's festival, she explained the organizing committee will consider changing the way next year's festival will be held.

"Instead of putting our eggs in one basket, we might need to revamp it," Delabrue said. One option would be to spread the festival more broadly over the month of April, with special events held when conditions are more favorable to bird watching.

"The variety isn't there when they're hunkered down," she explained.