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Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex Hosts Shorebird Festival in Coos County
Pacific Region, September 4, 2004
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Participants at the 18th Annual Oregon Shorebird Festival Beautiful weather on the Oregon south coast during the Labor Day Weekend was a bonus for the 18th Annual Oregon Shorebird Festival. 2004 marks the first year that the Festival was hosted by the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Festival attendance increased by over 25% from the previous year, with 82 participants from as far away as Great Britain and Florida with the majority from throughout the Pacific Northwest. Project Leader Roy Lowe, Refuge Operations Specialist Dawn Grafe, and South Coast Refuge Manager Dave Ledig greeted participants, presented speakers, accompanied field trips, and handled all the logistics and tour arrangements for the festival. Field trips to Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge and the New River area, led by local ornithologists Dave Lauten and Kathy Castelein, enjoyed highlights including Baird's sandpiper, pectoral sandpiper, western snowy plover, ruddy & black turnstones, wandering tattler, surfbird, and black oystercatcher. Expert birder Paul Sullivan led field trips around Coos Bay, including a special excursion to Pony Slough which was closed to the public a few years ago and opened only to the festival field trip. The birding was slow in Pony Slough but the group did get good close-up looks at least sandpipers and a distant view of a peregrine falcon. Although the sought-after buff-breasted sandpiper was not found at the Weyerhaeuser ponds on the north spit, the group did see Wilson's snipe, red-necked phalarope, pectoral sandpiper and a variety of ducks including ruddy duck, ring-necked duck, bufflehead, scaup and hooded merganser. The three American wigeons observed in Jordan Cove may have been the first fall arrivals of this species in the area. Other highlights from the Coos Bay trip include marbled godwit, whimbrel, common loon and lots of California brown pelicans. The Bird Guide, a local company, sponsored a pelagic trip on Saturday afternoon and the 42 participants were happy to see a breeding plumage tufted puffin, sooty, pink-footed and Buller's shearwaters, northern fulmar, black-footed albatross and a mola mola (sunfish). On Friday and Saturday evening, guest speakers presented their latest field research. Dr. Sue Haig from Oregon State University presented data on the cutting edge technology now being used for tracking shorebird movements throughout the Great Basin and the Pacific coastline, and researcher Deborah Jacques gave a presentation on the communal roosting habitats of endangered California brown pelicans along the Pacific coast. Partners were instrumental in making the festival a success. The local Friends Group Shoreline Education for Awareness, Inc., provided assistance with brochure design, printing, and distribution, and the Cape Arago Audubon Society handled the financial transactions. The Oregon Field Ornithologists provided mailing lists and field trip leaders, the Bandon Chamber of Commerce donated printing services, and the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve organized concurrent family activities. Lodging, dining and meeting room facilities were provided by the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, and the Red Lion Hotel Coos Bay donated lodging for festival speakers. The refuge plans to continue hosting the Oregon Shorebird Festival, with increasing participation by partners in the future.

For more information, visit the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex Web site at: http://oregoncoast.fws.gov

No contact information available. Please contact Charles Traxler, 612-713-5313, charles_traxler@fws.gov


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