OTHELLO, Wash. — It’s the Sandhill Crane Festival in Othello, Washington this weekend. If you’re crazy about birds, you’ll love seeing the Sandhill cranes. One of the oldest living bird species on the planet, the Sandhill Cranes are graceful and fly with their necks outstretched not pulled back.
The spend a few days in the Columbia Basin Refuge and the surrounding farms in the area. The cranes start their journey in the Central Valley of California and gather in the Columbia Basin Refuge to rest and refuel before heading up to the Bristol Bay area in Alaska. They eat Corn and Alfalfa waste in the farmed fields as well as bugs in the cow patties and bugs and seeds in the tide flats.
Dan Haas, the Visitor’s Service Manager for the Columbia Basin Refuge for U.S. Fish and Wildlife, says “This is a very special time of year. We have a blend of 1,000 upon 1000’s of different types of birds here.” Lisa Wilson, the Refuge Manager for the Columbia Basin Refuge says that the cranes seem like they are “straight out of prehistory, they seem like dinosaurs” “Their call is like nothing else…that they might be like pterodactyls.”
The Crane Festival is a family-friendly event. There will be lectures, tours, and activities for kids. If you want to see these elegant travelers head to the Columbia Basin Refuge…you’ll be happy to see these wondrous flying birds that same say remind them of flying dinosaurs. The Crane Festival goes from March 22-24.
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