L O C A L
A T T R A C T I O N S
Grays Harbor Shorebird May 6 - 8, 2016 Hoquiam, Washington
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There's Something for Everyone! Keynote Speaker on Friday Night. The 2016 keynote speaker will be Robert Michael Pyle, author, naturalist, and world renowned expert on butterflies. The keynote includes a dessert reception prior to the talk. Field Trips with expert birders to birding hotspots in Grays Harbor County Lectures on shorebird identification. The Birding Marketplace with numerous vendors and exhibitors. Saturday Night Annual Dinner and Speaker at the Elks Lodge in Hoqiuam. This year's speaker is Ken Bevis. Nature Fun Fair with lots of hands on activities is great for kids and families. Shorebird
viewing is of course 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. Click
here to download the detailed list of birds seen on the 2015 Field
Trips and by observers at the Refuge. 
About the Festival Grays Harbor Audubon Society,
Grays Harbor National
Wildlife Refuge, and the City
of Hoquiam work with a host of other local sponsors to bring
you the Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival. This event is timed to match
the annual migration of hundreds of thousands of shorebirds as they
pause at the Grays Harbor estuary to fee This wildlife spectacle happens every year
at Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge and other parts of Grays
Harbor County. People from around the world come to view this event
of hemispheric importance. The Shorebird Festival works to bring
people together for this incredible natural phenomenon. Best Shorebird Viewing Times At Grays Harbor NWR, shorebirds can be viewed best during the period about 2 hours before to 2 hours after high tide. During high tide, birds are closer and more concentrated for better viewing. The peak in migration typically occurs the last week in April. Best viewing times at GHNWR during the 2016 festival are:
NOTE: Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge is open from sunrise to sunset. |
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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. 
d and rest before departing
for their nesting grounds in the Arctic. 
| call (360) 289-5048.
Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival
Page last updated March 11, 2016 |