| |
About
Godwit Days is a three-day spring migration bird festival celebrating the Marbled Godwit and all the birds of the coastal redwoods, bays, marshes, and mudflats of California's Redwood Coast. Choose from over 100 field trips, lectures, workshops, and boat excursions. Pre- and post-festival trips are available for an extended stay and opportunity to explore all the birds of the North Coast and Klamath Bioregion.
Join us at the Opening Reception and Art Exhibition at the Arcata Community Center, where you can meet celebrated wildlife and nature artists, talk to our expert field trip leaders, and hear our keynote speaker. Perhaps you would like to make an inquiry about a particular species. Included with your registration are two days of compelling videos, beginning birding seminars, and breath-taking live birds of prey to see. View the beautiful selection of art by our top North Coast artists. Browse the Bird Fair and see the products and information you can't be without -- and don't forget to purchase a Godwit Days shirt or cap as a remembrance.
|
|
| The City of Arcata has been exceptional in its efforts to establish and promote a comfortable environment for birders of all skill levels. From 1999 to 2004 the festival was operated by Arcata MainStreet. In 2004, a nonprofit organization was formed to run the festival. The City of Arcata continues to support the festival and the Birdbox (707-822-LOON), a clearinghouse for rare bird sightings in the area, in partnership with the Redwood Region Audubon Society. |
|
Areas of special interest to explore during the festival:
|
- The Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary - 307 acres of ponds, lakes, and marshes (225 acres open to the pubic) where over 250 species of birds have been sighted just blocks from the downtown.
- Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge
- Redwood National and State Parks, including the breathtakingly beautiful Fern Canyon
- The Egret rookery on Indian Island
- Elk Head and Castle Rock
- Headwaters Forest Reserve
|
|
Keynote Speaker 2008 - Andrew Farnsworth, PhD, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
|
Many species of birds migrate nocturnally, and the only method for
identifying these migrants as they pass is to listen to or to record
their flight-calls. However, flight-calls can be challenging to
identify, both by ear (listening) and by eye (spectrograms). In this
presentation we'll focus on this exciting way to study and to experience
nocturnal bird migration from broad and new perspectives.
See the keynote speaker page for more details and Dr. Farnsworth's biography.
Keynote Speaker during the 2009 festival will be Pete Dunne, director of the Cape May Bird Observatory.
|
|
Lots to take in at the Arcata Community Center
|
- Sign in, get information, directions, or maps.
- See rehabilitated raptors up close with no barriers from Wildlife Images of Grants Pass, Oregon, including a Golden Eagle.
- View the Art Exhibition - See and bid on the work of North Coast nature and wildlife artists.
- Browse booths from vendors, local non-profit groups, and government agencies - birding books, optics, gear, information, and merchandise.
- A banquet preceding the Saturday Keynote lecture.
- Wildlife Demonstration Garden provided by Miller Farms Nursery.
- Student Bird Art Contest entries.
- Early morning through mid-afternoon beverages and food at the Redwood Region Audubon Society's Godwit Cafe.
|
Godwit Days baseball cap, visor, and knit cap for sale during the festival
|
Men's and women's 100% cotton T-shirts -- with the 2008 poster art on front -- will be sold at the Arcata Community Center during the festival. Other various Godwit Days merchandise will also be available for purchase.
|
|
Fun for kids at the Community Center
|
Kids make pine cone bird feeders at the Arcata Community Center during Godwit Days. |
Drawing is always a favorite among the youngsters.
Photos by Beth Deibert. |
|
On Saturday, April 19, Friends of the Arcata Marsh will host free family activities in the arts & crafts room at the Community Center as part of the Festival. Activities will be held between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Over 160 children participated in 2005 in activities such as making fish prints, birdfeeders, water cycle bracelets, buttons, and 3-D paper birds and butterflies. On Sunday, the Humboldt Wildlife Care Center will offer family nature activities from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. All children must be accompanied by a responsible adult.
Student Bird Art Contest Returns
For the fifth year, Redwood Region Audubon Society and Friends of the Arcata Marsh are once again teaming to sponsor a children’s art contest at Godwit Days. Some $400 in prizes will be awarded in various grade categories. All entries will be displayed in the Community Center, with the winners receiving their awards at the Opening Reception.
Local wildlife artists and educators will serve as judges. Entry rules are available at the Arcata Marsh Interpretive Center or Strictly for the Birds in Old Town Eureka or by sending a SASE to Sue Leskiw, 5440 Cummings Rd., Eureka, CA 95503. The deadline for receipt of entries will be Monday, March 31, 2008.
|
 |
|
Godwit Days 2007 Student Bird Art Contest winning entries.
|
|
Registration Features for 2008:
|
- Research and select trips by species. Select the desired species from the Species List and all trips during the festival that have in past years observed that species will appear. You can choose which of those selections you would like to add to your registration.
- If you select trips that have a time conflict, you will be warned of the scheduling conflict.
- You can be wait listed for sold-out events.
|
|
Registration Instructions
|
See the Registration Details page for instructions on signing up.
|
|
You will be e-mailed a confirmation letter detailing your itinerary. Always feel free to call our office at 1-800-908-WING or 707-826-7050 if you have questions or need assistance. |
 |
|
Friends of the Dunes has been selected as the 2008 Spotlight Organization to receive $2 of each full registration for the festival. Friends of the Dunes is dedicated to conserving the natural diversity of coastal environments through community supported education and stewardship programs. Friends of the Dunes has been actively involving the community in the conservation of dunes systems since 1982. Originally a volunteer arm of the local chapter of The Nature Conservancy, Friends of the Dunes became incorporated as a separate non-profit 501(c)3 organization in 1996. The Friends of the Dunes office is located in Manila California and is supported by individual memberships, donations, grants and contracts. Friends of the Dunes is a unique and knowledgeable resource for coastal dune education, restoration and land conservation and serves as a catalyst for public involvement in dune conservation.
|
| |
