WATSONVILLE — The 14th annual Monterey Bay Birding Festival took place last week in Watsonville, opening a window to the plethora of waterways, sloughs and riparian channels around the Central Coast for locals and visitors to get a taste of the wealth of bird life and the habitat that supports them.
“Attendance was definitely up this year and we’re excited about that,” said Dobie Jenkins, a volunteer with the program. “We had some marvelous field trips, probably about 45 of them. The weather was fantastic. I went over to San Benito County where we toured up against the hills, which was a fabulous outing.”
Elizabeth Van Dyke of Santa Cruz said she has participated in the festival for several years.
“For me this is just the perfect environment for this kind of event,” she said. “The slough system out here is one of the best kept secrets. With the recent huge surge in eco-tourism, this is a great spot for locals and visitors to come check out the bird life and learn more about it; it’s all right here.”
The event included field trips, lectures, workshops and social gatherings of avian theme.
Sightings included golden eagles, California condors, cheeky bushtits, Townsend’s warblers, American white pelicans, nesting ospreys, peregrine falcons, snowy plovers, sooty shearwaters, migratory grackles, Anna and rufous hummingbirds, and a host of other avian treasures.
