Othello Sandhill Crane Festival back in action
Sandhill cranes survey a field near Othello in March 2021. The cranes are the focus of the Othello Sandhill Crane Festival, which returns in person for 2022.
File Photo
Sandhill cranes make a dinner stop in a field south of Othello in March 2021. The cranes usually breed in northern climates but head south for the winter for places like Texas.
Cindy Nunez, of Tacoma, photographs the scenery at Drumheller Overlook near Othello during the 2021 Sandhill Crane Festival.
Kyle (left) and Corday Wilkinson, of Spokane, scan for birds at the Royal Lake Overlook near Othello in March 2021.
Birdwatchers Kyle (back) and Corday Wilkinson, of Spokane, check the area at the Royal Lake Overlook during the 2021 Othello Sandhill Crane Festival.
OTHELLO — After two years of self-guided tours, the Othello Sandhill Crane Festival is back in-person for 2022. The festival is scheduled for March 25 through 27.
“It feels good to come back and have a presence again,” festival committee member Chris Braunwart said.
There will be some changes for 2022, including new venues and a scaled-down lecture and tour schedule. Registration and lectures will be at the Othello Church of the Nazarene at 835 S. 10th Ave., and the children’s program and other activities will be at McFarland Middle School next door, 790 S. 10th Ave. Access to MMS will be through the front doors only. A shuttle service will be available between MMS and the Nazarene church.
Advance registration is recommended, and registration information is available on the festival website, www.othellosandhillcranefestival.org. General admission tickets are $12 per person, which includes admission to the Saturday lectures. Many of the tours and hikes have a separate fee, which varies depending on the event. Tickets can be purchased on the festival website.
Even though state mandates will be lifted, festival organizers are asking attendees to wear masks indoors and while riding on the buses. People taking the bus tours must provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19. Jenn Stevenson of the festival committee said masking was not a requirement of the Othello School District, but decided by the festival organizers.
The festival has been around since 1998 and always features tours and hikes of geological, ornithological, and paleontological interest. Tours are scheduled for all three days and are by bus, boat and bicycle.
Tours will feature a look by boat at birds of the Potholes Reservoir, a bike tour of good spots to watch birds around Othello, a trip to a woolly mammoth excavation site, and a look at Palouse Falls, among other options. Hikes will explore the geologic history of the Columbia Basin and the flora and fauna of the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge.
A walking tour is scheduled for Othello neighborhoods, allowing walkers to get a look of how wildlife lives in town. Tours of the Othello Community Museum with museum board chair Eric Morgan are scheduled for Friday and Saturday.
Ornithologist Gary Ivey is the featured speaker. He will be talking about sandhill cranes along the Pacific Coast at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Nazarene Church.
Other lectures are scheduled for Saturday at the church. Subjects include bird database management, the history of woolly mammoths in the Columbia Basin, wildlife photography and the geological history of Ice Age floods, among other subjects. People who can’t attend the lectures can watch via the festival’s social media. There is a $10 charge.
The documentary “The Secret Life of the Deserts of the Pacific Northwest” will be shown at 4:30 p.m. at the Reichert's Showhouse, 130 N. Broadway Ave. Walla Walla birder Mike Denny will be available to answer questions after the movie.
Children’s programs are scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the MMS cafeteria. Activities include crafts and making bird masks. Activities are free for children who attend with a paying adult.
The Othello Rotary will be serving its fundraising breakfast at 6:30 a.m. and ending at 9 a.m. Saturday in the MMS gym. The Othello Eagles will be offering its spaghetti dinner fundraiser from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the lodge, 127 E. Larch St. The annual banquet has been canceled, however, and food trucks will be providing lunch Saturday.
Sandhill Crane facts:
- The Sandhill Crane’s call is a loud, rolling trumpeting call with a unique tone caused by the bird’s anatomy. They have long windpipes that coil into the sternum and help the sound hit a lower pitch.
- The cranes are known for their dancing skills and courting cranes stretch their wings, pump their heads, bow and leap into the air when dancing for potential mates.
- Some Sandhill Cranes may reach seven years of age before breeding.
- Sandhill Crane chicks can leave the nest within 8 hours of hatching, and are even capable of swimming.
- The oldest Sandhill Crane on record was at least 36 years, 7 months old. Originally banded in Wyoming in 1973, it was found in New Mexico in 2010.
(SOURCE: AllAboutBirds.org)
