Eagles, warblers, mergansers: Tours to take watchful to best birding spots

SEQUIM — They both come for that elusive thing: calm. People and birds flock to the North Olympic Peninsula in springtime — so the local Audubon Society is getting them together this weekend during the fifth annual Olympic BirdFest.

Today through Sunday, 16 field trips will cover the Peninsula’s best — and most serene — bird-watching spots, said Powell Jones, an educator at the BirdFest’s launch pad, the Dungeness River Audubon Center just west of Sequim.

These trips are for birders of all stripes, Jones said, “and they’re a great introduction to the sites.

“You’re with expert birders who know what to look for,” in wild, open places: Sequim Bay, Dungeness Spit, the Elwha River mouth, Salt Creek, Dungeness Bay.

“We can show you a map and tell you where to go birding,” any time of year, Jones said.

“But the neat part about the festival is that you go with trip leaders who help you with spotting, and who talk about bird behavior and bird biology.”

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