Grays Harbor Shorebird and Nature Festival

Start planning to attend the next festival: May 1 - 3, 2026

StoryMaps

Click on this picture to see this Story Map

An Incredible Journey: Your Guide to Grays Harbor NWR and the Shorebird and Nature Festival

Learn about the Grays Harbor Shorebird and Nature Festival, Grays Harbor, and the incredible journeys of shorebirds moving through the Refuge. Grays Harbor is designated a site of hemispheric importance by the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network, where more than 500,000 birds, or 30% of the population, relies on the intertidal resources during migration. Click on this linked picture to learn more and be sure to visit the Sandpiper Trail at Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge:

This story follows the migration of a Dowitcher along the  Pacific Flyway , all while highlighting the local foods and cuisines encountered along the way. The yellow points on the map show locations of the bird recorded by a GPS transmitter. Click on one to see the exact date the Dowitcher was in the area! Zoom in and out of the map by clicking the +/- buttons on the lower right corner of the screen.
Track provided by Dr. Scott Flemming, Shorebird and Waterbird Biologist at  Environment and Climate Change Canada . Location data were collected from March 17, 2022 - September 15, 2022.

Click on this picture to see the video.

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USFWS Photo: Vanessa Loverti Click on this picture to see the video.

MOTUS, Revolutionizing Data Collection, One Bird at a Time
By Sarah Levy and Rylan Suehisa, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
March 18, 2020

The Motus Wildlife Tracking System is an international collaborative research network of automated radio-telemetry receiving stations. With this technology, we discover more about the movement of birds – what path are they taking, how long do they stay in an area to replenish their energy, and where do they stop during migration? Learn more about this amazing technology and its use in Grays Harbor by clicking on the picture below: