Sandhill Crane Festival registration opens Friday
Jay and Janice Berube, Kettle Falls, scan the range for birds during the 2022 Othello Sandhill Crane Festival. Registration for the 2023 festival opens Feb. 6.
FILE PHOTO
Sandhill cranes cross a field south of Othello in spring 2021. The birds are the focus of the Othello Sandhill Crane Festival every March; registration opens Feb. 6.
OTHELLO — Registration opens Feb. 6 for the 25th Othello Sandhill Crane Festival, scheduled for March 24 to 26.
“Silver Anniversary, Celebrating our Annual Visitors” is the theme for 2023. Advance registration is encouraged, and is available at the festival website, www.othellosandhillcranefestival.org.
On-site registration and festival lectures will be at the Othello Church of the Nazarene, 835 S. 10th St., and children’s programs and other activities will be at McFarland Middle School next door at 790 S. 10th St.
The festival has been an almost-yearly event in Othello since 1998 – the COVID-19 pandemic forced a cancellation in 2020 and a virtual event and self-guided tours in 2021. In every other year – this year included – the festival features tours and hikes of geological, ornithological, and paleontological interest. Tours are scheduled for all three days and are by bus, boat and bicycle, by car and on foot.
“Guided crane viewing tours will be back, with self-guided tours an option as well. Some tours will be available over two weekends,” festival organizers wrote in a press release.
A series of lectures is scheduled for Saturday. Presenters will talk about cranes and other birds, desert-dwelling animals, habitat, the geological makeup of the Columbia Basin and the ancient floods that carved the current landscape, among other topics.
Traditionally there are featured lectures on Friday and Saturday nights. The 2023 Friday lecture will be at 7:30 p.m. at the Nazarene Church and features Kaeli Swift, who will talk about crows.
Swift will discuss how crows have adapted to humans and what crows demonstrate about the nature of intelligence. Masks will be required.
The featured Saturday lecture also is at 7:30 p.m. at the church. “Sandhill Crane Nests – Experience Matters” is the title; the speaker is Cathy Nowak.
Saturday also features games and activities for children in the MMS gym, from crafts to making bird masks to art projects. Information booths and vendors will also set up in the gym, and the gym will host a display of children’s art.
The Othello Rotary Club will sponsor its traditional fundraising breakfast Saturday morning at MMS.
People who want more information can visit the festival website.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.
