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A SERVICE OF THE OUTDOOR WIRE DIGITAL NETWORK
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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013
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Swarovski's Clay Taylor to Appear at the 2013 Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival
Wednesday January 16, 2013 |
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Taylor serves as the Naturalist Market Manager at Swarovski Optik N. A., which means "I fly around the country showing birders great birds through great binoculars. I do a LOT of Digiscoping, giving workshops and online advice," he said.
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 banquet and live auction held on Saturday night is a very important fundraising event for the festival. In 2012 $2,422 was raised for the Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival. This money is used to fund the next festival and fund the AmeriCorps position at Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge. During the auction, the education program at Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge also brought in $2,750 in donations, ensuring the support of another year of field trips and classroom presentations throughout Grays Harbor County. This was the most donations ever raised! Thanks to all those who participated in the past! We hope to see you again this year!
Of course seeing shorebirds is why most people participate in the Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival. Shorebird migration in Grays Harbor County begins around April 21 and continues for about 3 weeks. Each year, field trip leaders and observers at the Refuge post their bird sightings.
For more information, go to: www.shorebirdfestival.com