CALIFORNIA REDWOODS
BIRD & NATURE FESTIVAL

(Formerly the Aleutian Goose Festival)

WELCOME
We invite you to attend our newly redesigned and updated festival. We continue to offer you exceptional birding, nature, and heritage events. Our exclusive workshops and guided excursions explore the wildness of Del Norte County's outstanding and globally recognized natural and cultural areas:

CALIFORNIA'S WILD REDWOOD COAST
When attending our festival you'll encounter the rugged beauty of California's most northwest corner, Crescent City and Del Norte County located on California's wild redwood coast. We know that you'll be amazed at this remote island of nature, which has a feeling of being suspended "outside of time" — for this is a place where rivers run free, where wild salmon spawn, and where endangered species recover, rather than disappear. You'll also visit original tribal lands and learn of the culture of the region's indigenous people, the Yurok and Tolowa, who exists as a vibrant part of the community and continue to practice their traditional way of life here.

THE GALAPAGOS OF NORTH AMERICA
You'll discover how the complexity and diversity of species goes beyond birds. Explore why our Klamath-Siskiyou region is called "the Galapagos of North America". On our wildflower and native plant fieldtrips, you'll experience the botanical variety that is almost unparalleled around the globe.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER –
MICHAEL FAY, National Geographic's Explorer-In-Residence
On Friday evening, our Festival's keynote speaker, conservationist Mike Fay shares discoveries from his most recent project and newest adventure Exploring the Redwood Transect. Fay spent a year along the redwood coast walking over 700 miles (1,000 kilometers)—the entire range of Sequoia sempervirens (the coast redwood).


INTERNATIONAL MIGRATORY BIRD DAY
With our better weather dates in early May, we coincide with International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD), held annually on the second Saturday of May throughout North, Central, and South America. Learn about this year’s IMBD, which focuses on the thousands-of-miles-long bird migrations that occur between cooperating countries. The IMBD 2010 theme celebrates “The Power of Partnerships” in protecting and conserving species and habitat. When out in the field with our Audubon leaders, you are guaranteed a sampling from our county bird list of 421 species—our seventh annual Aleutian Goose Festival bird list recorded 184 species.

EXPERT LEADERS
We are all about partnerships. Our Festival's expert leadership includes Redwood National and State Park interpreters, biologists, geologists, and foresters, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service researchers and staff, Redwood Region Audubon ornithologists, California Native Plant Society botanists, local conservation group volunteers, and Tolowa and Yurok Tribal members. Our offerings will tempt everyone, from the most avid birder or botanist to the generalist nature lover or history buff.

Come, we'd love to share it with you.

• The aleutian goose festival reinvents itself •

Aleutian GooseThe Aleutian Goose Festival has been reinvented with a new name and date: the "California Redwoods Bird & Nature Festival" premieres May 7,8,9, 2010

Every March from 1999 to 2008, the Aleutian Goose Festival celebrated the return of these endangered birds. Thousands of small Aleutian geese flocked to Castle Rock National Wildlife Refuge and the verdant fields of Del Norte County as a stopover on their spring migration route. Festival participants who joined the pre-dawn "goose fly off" witnessed firsthand the growing population of Aleutian geese each year and celebrated their recovery from near extinction. Today the Aleutian goose is a fully recovered species with a population surpassing 100,000. Sadly, the majority of geese that once visited our Crescent City shores each spring have moved on to "greener pastures" and now find nourishment in the rich bottom lands of Humboldt County.

The California Redwoods Bird & Nature Festival promises a better festival in many ways, notably because the festival shifts from wet March to warmer May. More birds will be migrating, courting, singing, and nesting. Alan Barron, Del Norte County's premier birder, reports that a single 'Big Day' foray one recent May observed 160 bird species. The new May date coincides with, and highlights, International Migratory Bird Day, celebrated every year on the second Saturday in May throughout the Americas. In addition, wildflower shows in Crescent City and Humboldt County occur on the adjacent weekends, assuring prime botanizing for native plant enthusiasts.

Rhododendrons will be glowing in the redwood forests and wildflowers everywhere will be showing off their blossoms. The high country of the Smith River watershed will be more accessible. The Klamath and Smith rivers will still be full of water for drift trips. Last, but not least, the weather will definitely be better-dry and warm (Organizers and participants remember only two sunny Goose Festivals in 10 years. This is no small thing as the horizontal rain cancelled ocean, lagoon and river boat trips).

Like its predecessor, California Redwoods Bird & Nature Festival will continue to focus on the outstanding natural features and cultural treasures of Del Norte County while offering many new programs and field trips. Keynote presenter Mike Fay, National Geographic's Explorer-in- Residence, will share discoveries from his recently completed yearlong 700-mile hike - Transecting the Redwood Forest. The weekend fare includes bird watching, nature excursions, plant walks, and local native heritage workshops. Much-loved community daytime and evening events from the Aleutian Goose Festival era will continue to delight attendees, such as the Wine & Food Tasting Gala, Wings & Whales Vendors Fair, Kid's & Goslings Corner, and Wild Birds of Prey on display.

So mark your calendars for this coming May 7-9, 2010.
We hope to see you there!