Wrangell’s annual birding festival is gearing up for a week of activities late next week.
This year’s Stikine River Birding Festival will be the 21st, put on cooperatively each year by Wrangell’s Convention and Visitor Bureau and the United States Forest Service. Highlighting birding opportunities on the Stikine River, the event also encourages wildlife conservation and is an opportunity to hone new skills.
“This year we’ve brought back more of the art and photo aspects of the festival,” said Corree Delabrue, an interpreter with the USFS Wrangell office.
Speaking with school teachers, an artist who came strongly recommended was Evon Zerbetz, a Ketchikan-based artist and illustrator who had participated in Wrangell’s festival a decade ago.
She will be brought up for next week, and in addition to birding festival activities Zerbetz will be working with students at Evergreen Elementary on various art projects. These works will be put on display at the Nolan Center next Friday and will be up for the weekend. The April 27 unveiling will be at the festival’s reception, set for 6 p.m.
Geared more toward adults, Zerbetz will also be teaching a six-hour course in relief printmaking, a medium of her specialty. Class size will be limited, so those interested in attending will need to reserve a spot, either by calling Delabrue at 874-7550 or Rushmore at 874-2381. The first two-hour introductory session begins April 26 at 6 p.m., while the follow-up lesson goes from 2 to 6 p.m. on April 28.
“It will be a great opportunity to work one-on-one with a really great artist,” said Delabrue.
The city was successfully awarded some Recreation Advisory Committee grant funding for this year’s festival, allowing it to reach further out for guest speakers and presenters. Headlining in a sense, researcher Julia Parrish will be presenting on the effects of a warming ocean on marine bird populations, as well as how “citizen scientists” can aid research and conservation efforts.
A professor at the University of Washington, Parrish runs the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team, which for the past 18 years has enlisted the help of volunteers to observe marine avian populations along the Pacific coast. The data they collect and submit can help inform scientists’ understanding of different populations.
Such efforts can be important to researchers, as in the case of the common murre, which saw a die-off associated with the warm “blob” that developed in the North Pacific in 2013. Five mass mortality events were able to be identified over the next three years through the help of citizen scientists, living along the coasts from California up to Alaska. These have since been linked to ecological effects related to the warm mass.
“I think it’s an awesome way (to get involved), especially now because of technology,” said Delabrue. “Now it’s getting much easier with apps.”
Phone applications have in some ways simplified birding, giving participants ready access to charts, profiles and even calls that can identify individual specimens. Other apps simplify the reporting process as well, which can be a cost-effective approach to research and management efforts.
Parrish’s talk will be at the Nolan Center on 7:30 p.m. on April 27, to follow a presentation by photographer Mark Kelley that starts at 6:30. Kelley is an award winning Alaskan photographer, and will be presenting a slide show of the state’s wildernesses, including Denali and Glacier Bay national parks. His portfolio also includes subjects from the Pribilof Islands, aurora borealis, whales and Wrangell’s own Anan Creek.
A regular presenter with the Birding Festival, biologist Gwen Baluss with the USFS will discuss the results of recent bird surveys in the Tongass on Saturday, in the Nolan’s small theater at 3 p.m.
“We have some really good speakers,” said Carol Rushmore, Wrangell’s director for economic development.
The speakers will also be hold workshops through the festival. Kelley will put on a workshop on photography Saturday inside the Nolan’s small theater at 2 p.m. Before that, at City Park at 8:30 a.m. Baluss will be holding a bird banding workshop, allowing participants to net, log and release songbirds. At the USFS office the next day, Parrish will be holding a citizen science training session at 9 a.m.
A number of other events are planned for the four-day festival, with a schedule of events included in this week’s issue of the Wrangell Sentinel. The festival’s organizers also maintain a site with more detailed information about activities and speakers, but also containing helpful guides to spotting birds in the area. That site is at http://www.wrangell.com/birdingfestival.
Associated closely with the festival’s feathered focus, local members of conservation group Ducks Unlimited will be holding its annual fundraiser dinner Saturday. For further information or to buy tickets, call Keene Kohrt at 874-3877.
Special tours will also be offered during the festival to look for birds and wildlife on surrounding islands and up the beautiful Stikine River. Seats are limited. Contact Breakaway Adventures at (888) 385-2488 or Alaska Charters & Adventures at (888) 993-2750 for more information. Other operators may also be offering tours and you can find out more by contacting them directly through the local business directory.
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