Festival marks return of sandhill cranes to Mid-Columbia

In a few weeks, about half of the 35,000 lesser Sandhill cranes that migrate each spring through Washington may be feeding in the fields of the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge.

If you’d like to see the birds and learn about them, plan to attend the Othello Sandhill Crane Festival, which runs from March 18-20.

The theme of this year’s festival is introducing children to nature and more activities that will appeal to children have been added to the already full list of nature-themed lectures and tours.

The lesser Sandhill crane, a species listed as endangered by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, winter in California’s Central Valley. As they migrate north in the spring to nesting sites in the Matanuska River Valley and Bristol Bay areas of south-central Alaska, they pass through the Columbia Basin.

Many will stop to rest and refuel in the farmlands around Othello, including the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, with concentrations of the birds peaking in late March and early April. Some will spend a few days, others several weeks, before flying north by the end of April.

You may see them flying through the Mid-Columbia. They can be distinguished from herons — which look similar but are no relation — by their outstretched necks as they fly.

The birds are varying shades of gray with red skin on their forehead and crown. Lesser Sandhill cranes, the subspecies of Sandhill cranes that comes through Eastern Washington in the spring and fall are fairly small for a Sandhill crane, standing about 3 to 3.5 feet tall. They can live 20 years or more and mate for life.

Guided tours to see the cranes, plus other tours offered by the festival, are filling up fast. Full information on the festival and registration forms are posted at www.othellosandhillcrane festival.org. To register for a tour, call 866-726-3445.

March 18

An all-day tour of the Gloyd Seeps Unit of the Columbia Basin Wildlife Area will focus on areas used for bird nesting and roosting. Cost is $35.

There is no charge for an 8:15 p.m. lecture by Nick Zenter of Central Washington University on “Central Washington is Disneyland for Geologists” at the Stevens Funeral Home, 511 S. Seventh St., Othello. The tour also leaves from the funeral home.

March 19

A full day of lectures, field trips and activities are planned. General admission is $10 for adults and $5 for seniors, with children under 12 free with an adult. Tours are an additional cost and tickets range from $5 to $35.

Events at Othello High School, 340 S. Seventh St., start at 9 a.m., with at least one lecture each hour through the day planned to appeal to children.

Jimmye Firefighter will be drawing cartoons, activities will include making binoculars, and lectures on insects and birding will be geared toward children.

Other lectures among the two dozen planned will cover burrowing owls, monarch butterflies, genetic modification of crops, geology, choosing binoculars, geology and, of course, Sandhill cranes. Photographer Dave Showalter will talk about his new book, Sage Spirit, at 4 p.m.

The keynote lecture will be by photographer and biologist David Moskowitz, who will discuss his book Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest at a 7:30 p.m. banquet. Cost is $30.

Several tours to see cranes are planned and cost $14 for adults and $8 for seniors and children. An Introduction to Birding tour for children will cost $5. Participants can bike to see cranes on a $15 tour. Another tour will combine crane viewing with a visit to the Puget Sound Energy wind farm, including a look inside a tower. Cost is $35.

Participants can take home a free souvenir, a photo booth snapshot with a digitalized crane, from the festival.

March 20

Tours include birding on Lower Crab Creek and tours to look at Ice Age floods geology, with costs from $25 to $45. The $14 crane tour also will be offered again. Tours leave from the high school.

This story was originally published March 9, 2016 at 9:32 PM with the headline "Festival marks return of sandhill cranes to Mid-Columbia."