Crane festival enthralls weekend visitors

OTHELLO - Cranes were not plentiful during the Friday night tour, but spirits were high.

A bus, packed with birders, set off from downtown Othello in search of the sometimes-elusive Sandhill Crane, and the often-elusive Burrowing Owl.

Dan Haas, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employee said he and colleagues had tracked cranes in the area and knew of four owl burrows.

Dan Haas said seeing the small flocks is just how it goes sometimes.

"That's the nature of wildlife observation," Haas said.

Small flocks were seen and observed south of Othello as dusk began to fall Friday evening.

For Roberta Feins, of Seattle, seeing the cranes was part of a 30-year birding hobby.

"My husband and I met birding in Wenatchee," she said.

Feins stood near a sighting scope mounted on a tripod, sharing the scope and watching the flock in the chill wind.

"They're just moving," Feins said of the experience.

She and her husband used their scope and binoculars to observe the birds for several minutes. Feins said packing around gear was all part of the hobby of birding.

"You've got to be prepared to see (birds) at a distance," Feins said.

Others on the tour were new-comers to the Sandhill Crane Festival but were no less excited about the opportunity to see as many birds as they could.

Cheryl Rohret, of Yakima, drove to Othello with a friend visiting from Pennsylvania for the nature show.

"We're not birders," Rohret said.

Rohret has seen the Sandhill Crane migration in Nebraska and believed her trip to Othello would be a good companion trip.

Approximately 22,000 birds travel along the route allowing them to make stops in Othello, organizers said.

Haas said the migration stopping in Othello is a relatively new phenomenon.

"It only began in the late 1970s," Haas said.

For Haas, the Othello Sandhill Crane Festival is a chance that he is not normally afforded to work with the public and it makes helping with the festival enjoyable.

"I love this. Especially trips likes this," Haas said. "Everybody is excited to be here."