Mid-Columbia sandhill crane festival goes virtual. See the birds with self-guided tours
The spring migration of the sandhill cranes through the Mid-Columbia will be celebrated virtually this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Participants will miss out on guided tours to see the cranes, but they can take a self-guided tour and also hear speakers.
Sandhill cranes usually leave their wintering areas in California’s Central Valley from January to mid-March on their way to breeding grounds to south-central Alaska, according to the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife.
They may spend a couple of weeks, usually in March, in the Mid-Columbia to rest, feed and restore their energy before resuming their migration.
Speakers will discuss the sandhill cranes, ice age floods and burrowing owl habitat 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 20. Webinar registration is $10. Go to othellosandhillcranefestival.org.
A free lecture is planned 7 to 9 p.m. March 19 on the Othello Sandhill Crane Festival’s Facebook page on global climate change and the response of organisms to the stress of warming.
An online auction also is posted on Facebook.
A photography contest is planned with prizes of up to $100. Submit photos to the festival’s Facebook page or at othellocranefest@gmail.com.
Each week a children’s art project will be posted to the festival’s Facebook page.
The organization also will be posting self-guided tours for people who want to see sandhill cranes and Eastern Washington geology.