Come bird with KEEN for 3-days during the second weekend of May and discover the natural beauty of Central Washington State!
The Yakima River Canyon is an Audubon Important Bird Area (IBA) with some of the highest densities of passerines and birds of prey in the State. The Yakima River Canyon Bird Fest will offer expert-led field trips, vendors, extended field trips, lectures and keynote speakers, social events and music, and a plethora of bird watching during early spring!
Yakima River Canyon Bird Fest will be a family-friendly event targeting birders throughout the Pacific Northwest and from around the world. Birders travel thousands of miles to add to their life lists and our festival will fall right in between two complimentary festivals the Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival in late April and the Leavenworth Bird Festival in late May.
Birders plan their travel calendars to engage in as many birding opportunities as they can, and this festival in May is the best time to see colorful, diverse and rare bird species in the Canyon. Yakima River Canyon Bird Fest will feature Friday afternoon registration at festival headquarters based in Helen McCabe Park. Most attendees will stay overnight in hotel rooms, camp in the Canyon, or stay at the Yakima River RV Camp. In addition, we will secure partnerships with Canyon River Ranch Lodge and other local hotels to provide reduced and/or group rates for festival attendees. Friday evening activities will include owl hooting and bat field trips as well as music and drinks at a local venue to be determined. Saturday morning will begin with very early field trips, and activities will continue throughout the day capping off the evening with our keynote speaker.
Complementary Get Intimate with the Shrub-Steppe (another KEEN event) activities occur on Saturday as well. Sunday morning will have more early morning field trips and the festival will wrap up at noon on Sunday.
Date and Time
Location
Ellensburg
Helen McCabe State Park, Canyon Road, Ellensburg, Washington
The Yakima River Canyon is an Audubon Important Bird Area (IBA) with some of the highest densities of passerines and birds of prey in the State. The Yakima River Canyon Bird Fest will offer expert-led field trips, vendors, extended field trips, lectures and keynote speakers, social events and music, and a plethora of bird watching during early spring! 
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