Godwit Days Press Release
The Godwit Days Spring Migration Bird Festival is making a partial return this year, with both in-person field trips and virtual events. The hybrid festival consists of twenty-three 10-person field trips that include the most popular sessions from past years, plus four virtual sessions.
To avoid indoor crowds, there will be no “brick-and-mortar” presence: no opening reception, exhibitors, silent auction, or art show.
The registration deadline is Wednesday, April 13 at 5 p.m. Pacific Time. For current information on trip availability, visit www.godwitdays.org. (As of this writing, Sunday, April 17 has the most available slots.)
To keep registrants and volunteers safe, Godwit Days is a “COVID Cautious” festival. Please read the health and safety information on the Events page before registering.
Keynote Speaker
Stuart Mackenzie will give a virtual lecture on Saturday evening. (All virtual events are included in the $10 basic registration fee.) As director of migration ecology for Bird Studies Canada, he will explore bird, bat, and insect migration by researchers using new technological tools. Stuart will focus on a tracking system that allows scientists to follow winged animals throughout their life cycle as they travel around the globe. With over 800 monitoring stations across 28 countries, more than 20,000 animals of 200 species have been followed on their migrations.
More on Field Trips
Spotted Owls and Arcata Marsh Shorebird Spectacle and Dawn Chorus will occur each day. New trips include a Women’s and Girls’ Birding Trip and Slow Birding the V Street Loop (Arcata Bottom).
Events for Children
Friends of the Arcata Marsh (FOAM) plans to hold free drop-in family nature crafts at the Arcata Marsh Interpretive Center on April 16 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Awards for winners in the 19th Student Bird Art and 17th Student Nature Writing Contests will be presented at the Marsh amphitheater at 11 a.m. on April 16. And children registered for the Kids’ Nature Walk at 9 a.m. that day (session SA11) will receive a free Arcata Marsh sew-on patch and junior naturalist booklet, courtesy of FOAM.
Event Sponsors
To at least break even, Godwit Days needs more than registration fees, which is where our generous community sponsors come in. Many media outlets are providing time or space to advertise our event, particularly Supersponsors Bicoastal Media, Eureka Radio, and the Times-Standard. Eureka Natural Foods has selected Godwit Days as a recipient of its Change 4 Change fundraiser, where patrons are asked to round up their purchases, with the difference donated. Godwit Days plans to table at the Eureka store April 1 – 5 (with a display in McKinleyville), handing out 200 kids’ goodie bags provided by FOAM. Other corporate and organizational sponsors, plus individual donors, are listed at www.godwitdays.org.
Merchandise
Purchase Godwit Days shirts, hoodies, hats, totes, mugs, water bottles, linens, cards, stickers, buttons, and even face masks at www.cafepress.com/godwitdays. Three different Marbled Godwit designs are available.
A Message from the Board
“The Godwit Days Board hopes that our supporters will welcome this opportunity to experience our most popular trips in-person this April,” says Board chairperson Alex Stillman. “When the time is right, we look forward to offering the full range of festival activities and experiences that we all have enjoyed for so many years.”
Questions? E-mail godwitdaysreg@yahoo.com or leave a message at 707-826-7050.