Yellow Pages
CONCRETE — The annual Upper Skagit Bald Eagle Festival this weekend will offer visitors a chance to learn about the eagles that migrate to the Skagit River each winter from Alaska and British Columbia to feed on spawned out chum salmon.
The festival is a way to send off the bald eagles as they migrate to their next destination, said Judy Hemenway, Skagit River Bald Eagle Awareness Team board president. The nonprofit organization coordinates the festival.
Bald eagles arrive in Skagit County in late December and early January. The birds begin to leave the Skagit River at the end of January when their food source begins to dwindle.
“It’s a big wrap-up celebration,” Hemenway said. “… It is a send-off celebration, to thank them (the eagles) for coming, and having people have the opportunity to hear speakers or take a short day trip.”
The festival’s purpose is to educate visitors about the bald eagles and Skagit watershed so people can continue to enjoy them without invading their space, Hemenway said.
The majority of festivities will be held throughout the Concrete school complex.
Whether or not eagles remain on the river, visitors are guaranteed to see an eagle at the live bird show “Hunters of the Sky,” which is presented by the Sardis Raptor Center. The organization rehabilitates raptor birds like hawks, owls and eagles and will offer shows Saturday and Sunday.
“It’s amazing being that close to an eagle,” Hemenway said.
Other offerings include presentations by experts in local wildlife, geography and photography. That includes Sedro-Woolley-based wildlife photographer Lee Mann, who will speak Saturday morning.
Mann will show pictures he has taken of wildlife, locally and in Africa, Antarctica and the Canadian Barren Lands.
He will be among more than 30 artists participating in an artisans’ gallery.
An interesting aspect of the festival, Mann said, is the opportunity for the public to learn about local and regional conservation groups.
“I think from a public viewpoint, all the nonprofit conservation groups have booths there, and you get to see a lot of ideas people have,” he said.
Other activities include guided walks and bus tours to view bald eagles. The Bald Eagle Interpretive Center, located at Howard Miller Steelhead Park in Rockport, will be open to visitors. A guided nature walk will be held at the park Sunday.
For admission, festival staff are requesting a $1 donation for singles or a $5 donation for families. Donations will go toward next year’s festival, Hemenway said.
For more information, visit http://www.skagiteagle.org.
