EACH SPRING, hundreds of thousands of shorebirds stop to rest and feed in Grays Harbor estuary on their migration northward. Coming from as far south as Argentina, these Arctic-bound shorebirds are among the world's greatest migrants. Some birds travel over 15,000 miles round trip! Tens of thousands of shorebirds feed on the open mudflats in the estuary. This concentration of birds offers people a great chance to view a number of shorebird species, and with luck, to see the birds fly together in beautiful formations while trying to escape the fastest creature on earth, the Peregrine Falcon.
 
    The 13th Annual Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival will be held on the weekend of
May 2-4, 2008 in Hoquiam, Washington with headquarters at Central Elementary School.

Dr. Julia K. Parrish is the Keynote Speaker on Friday evening. Her talk is entitled Listening to the Birds: Seabird Ecology and Conservation in the Pacific Northwest. The talk begins at 7:30pm with a dessert reception prior to the talk starting at 7am. Tickets are $15. Click here for more information on the speaker.

   The banquet and live auction will be Saturday, May 3. Other activities include guided field trips, lectures, a Birder's Bazaar, nature fun fair, poster contest, and lots more.
 
   Sightings and counts of shorebirds will be reported daily during this year's migration which is from late April - mid May.

Swarovski Optiks Chief Naturalist Clay Taylor has just confirmed that he will give

2 talks on Digiscoping at this years Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival. Schedule as follows:

-- May 3rd 3-4pm at Festival Headquarters

-- May 4th 9-10am at Festival Headquarters followed by a field trip to the Boardwalk

viewing platforms by Clay with loaner scopes for your use, if necessary.