This President’s Day weekend, join KBO and thousands of other bird enthusiasts for the 31st annual Winter Wings Festival in Klamath Falls, Oregon.   Renowned by photographers and nature enthusiasts for its beauty and sheer numbers of wintering raptors and waterfowl, Upper Klamath Lake  is the perfect setting to celebrate birds in the heart of winter.  Sponsored by the Klamath Basin Audubon Society, Winter Wings will feature an array of bird-related activities and educational workshops for all ages.

Klamath Bird Observatory will be an active participant in the festival, staffing a table for the full three days.  Stop by and learn about KBO's research and education programs. In addition, KBO and Klamath-Siskiyou eBird will sponsor an interactive eBird booth at Winter Wings.  Festival bird walk leaders will continuously submit their checklists to the eBird booth, where the data will be entered and displayed for festival goers.  KBO staffers will be on hand to discuss the latest bird observation data, answer questions, and get new users started on eBird.  Whether you're an active eBirder or simply curious about eBird, we hope to see you there!

On both Saturday and Sunday, KBO board member and raptor expert Dick Ashford will be leading a Hawks for Beginners workshop.  A morning classroom presentation on raptor ID will be followed up by an all-day field trip to the lower Klamath Basin for hawk ID in practice.   On Saturday morning, KBO Executive Director John Alexander will be leading a Birding by Ear workshop, helping participants learn how to identify songs and calls using a variety of techniques.  On Saturday afternoon, John will be presenting a discussion on the  State of the Birds, a national report released last year that assessed the state of bird populations across the country.  The report resulted from a collaboration between many government and conservation organizations, including KBO.  John's discussion will highlight the report's implications  for birds of the western United States, and  conservation opportunities for birds and their habitats.  On Saturday morning KBO educators will be leading a Family-friendly Birding half-day field trip. Families with children are welcome.

Saturday evening will feature keynote speaker, naturalist and author Scott Weidensaul’s presentation Living on the Wind: the World of Migratory Birds.  For more information on any of these events and a for complete schedule of speakers, workshops, and field trips  at Winter Wings, click here.