Online Tour Ordering Closed

The online tour ordering for the Spring Wings Festival is officially closed for this year. There are plenty of spaces available for the Friday night show, so if you'd like to attend, please inquire when visiting the Registration booth. The following are the only remaining seats available as of Tuesday, May 15:
Wild Images: Nature Photography 5/19/12 Saturday 7:30am-11:30 Follow Your Dream with a Camera - for both digital and film formats. Bring own equipment. 3 seats

Wet ‘n Wild! - Stillwater NWR/Tribal Wetlands 5/19/12 Saturday 7:30am–11:30am Stillwater NWR - see what's new on the refuge and the Tribal wetlands with a knowledgeable biologist. 2 seats

Wet ‘n Wild! - Stillwater NWR/Tribal Wetlands 5/20/12 Sun 7:30am–11:30am Stillwater NWR - see what's new on the refuge and the Tribal wetlands with a knowledgeable biologist. 1 seat

Rare video of Great Blue Herons

Check out this fascinating video of Great Blue Herons hatching in the wild:
Great Blue Herons Hatching

Below is some additional background information provided from the website www.allaboutbirds.org

About the Herons

This Great Blue Heron nest is in a large, dead white oak in the middle of Sapsucker Woods pond, right outside the Cornell Lab's Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity. Herons have nested here since summer 2009, hatching and fledging four young each year and raising them on a steady diet of fish and frogs. Though neither bird is banded, you can identify the male by the absence of a hallux (the rear-facing toe) on his right foot. Adult herons can be up to 4.5 feet tall, with a wingspan up to 6 feet. Despite their large size, they typically only weigh around 5 pounds.
Herons usually lay 2-6 eggs and share incubation duties for 25-30 days. Incubation begins with the first egg, and the young hatch asynchronously (not at the same time) over 2-5 days. After hatching, it'll take 7-8 weeks before they fly from the nest for the first time.

About the Nest

In 2009, the herons brought in the first few twigs that would become the first known Great Blue Heron nest in the history of Sapsucker Woods. Early in the spring of 2012 we installed two cameras to bring the hidden world of their nesting habits into full view. The nest itself is nearly four feet across and a foot deep, and wraps almost entirely around the trunk of the tree. The birds have slowly built up the nest over the last three years.

A pair of exceptional tours for all birders

The following tours present a fun way to learn about the birds in and around Churchill County. Whether you're visiting, just getting into birding, or having a hard time identifying the abundant amount of birds in this area, these are the tours for you. And the great news is, not only do they run at just $10 per seat, there are 6 spots left on each. This means you can bring along a few friends or family members with a budding interest in birding.

Country Birding – Mike Goddard, local birding expert and former manager of Stillwater NWR and Dr. Will Richardson of the Tahoe Institute for Natural Science will lead you on this local 'hot spot' tour to the local hangouts for raptors and songbirds. Saturday, May 19, 7am – 11am. 9 seats. Cost = $10.

Birds of Town and Country – Close, fun and easy, this popular tour is geared for all levels of birders. Trips offer quality birding time with local experts. Sunday, May 20, 7am –11am. 8 seats. Cost = $10.

Sign up today at www.springwings.org!

Tour count update as of 4-16-12

 The following numbers indicate how many seats remain on each tour. If you'd like to be put on a waiting list, we'll mark your name and let you know if there are any cancellations.

We just added a van for the 2-5pm Owl Prowl tour (making 9 more seats available) and another van for the Sunday Meander the Marsh Float Tour (making 6 more seats available as 2 have already been claimed). So don't miss out! Purchase yours today!
Sign up at www.springwings.org

Heavy Metal Birds; Friday 5/18/12 1:00 - 5:00: 1

Carson Lake Wetlands Loop #1 5/18/12 Friday 1:30 - 4:30: 1

Country Birding - bird tour #1 5/19/2012 Saturday 7am-11am: 1

Secrets of Massie Slough - 5/19/12 Sat 7am–11pm: 4

Wild for the Woodies! Wood duck nest box study tour 5/19/2012, Saturday 7am-11am: 0

Wild Images: Nature Photography 5/19/12 Saturday 7:30am-11:30: 4

Meander the Marsh: Float tour ** (10yrs and older) 5/19/2012 Saturday 7:30am-12noon: 0

Wet ‘n Wild! - Stillwater NWR/Tribal Wetlands 5/19/12 Saturday 7:30am–11:30am: 10

Whoo’s Where? Owl Prowl 5/19/2012 Sat 2pm - 5pm (van 1): 9

Whoo’s Where? Owl Prowl 5/19/2012 Sat 2:30pm - 5:30pm (van 2): 0

Whoo’s Where? Owl Prowl 5/19/2012 Sat 3pm - 6pm (van 3): 1

Birds of Town and Country - Churchill Co. bird tour #2 5/20/2012 Sun 7am-11am: 8

Wild Images: Nature Photography 5/20/12 Sun 7:30am-11:30: 0

Meander the Marsh: Float tour ** (10yrs and older) 5/20/2012 Sun 7:30am-12noon: 6

Wet ‘n Wild! - Stillwater NWR/Tribal Wetlands 5/20/12 Sun 7:30am–11:30am: 2

Carson Lake Wetlands #2 5/20/12 Sunday 8am–11am : 0

Birding 101: Field Tour, 5/20/12 Sunday 7:30am–11:30: 21

Into the Wild! – Raptor Release 5/20/12 Sunday 10:30am–12:30pm: 46

Premiere of Friday Night Show

Click on the following link for a sneak preview of the Friday evening show on May 18, at 6 pm at the Multipurpose building at the Fairgrounds:
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 50th Anniversary Video Trailer

It's an exclusive showing for Spring Wings. Seating is limited so reserve yours ahead of time at www.springwings.org or buy your tickets at the door. Adult tickets cost $5, student tickets cost $2 and ages 10 and under are FREE. Doors open at 5:30 pm.

Tour count update for Spring Wings Festival

As of 4-5-12, the following tours are limited to the space listed:
Wet and Wild (Sunday) has 3 SEATS left;
Heavy Metal Birds (Friday) and Carson Lake Wetlands (Friday) each have 1 SEAT LEFT;
Wild for the Woodies (Saturday), Carson Lake Wetlands (Sunday), Meander the Marsh (Saturday), Owl Prowl--the 2:00-5:00 (Saturday), and the Wild Images (Sunday) are SOLD OUT
but...there are 3 SEATS on the Owl Prowl 2:30-5:30 (Saturday) and
2 SEATS on the Owl Prowl 3:00-6:00 (Saturday) tours
as well as 6 SEATS on the Wild Images 7:30-11:30 Saturday tour.

8 SEATS HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE Meander the Marsh Float Tour on Sunday!!! Claim yours before they're sold out again!!!

The Festival is just around the corner, so don't miss out. Go to www.springwings.org to reserve your seats today!

Spring Wings Schedule of Events 2012

Click on the link below for this year's events. All the free workshops, shows, and more are listed along with times. And remember, reserve your seats at www.springwings.org before the day of the event to ensure that the tours aren't full. The added Owl Prowl tour has freed up about 7 spots, so get them before they sell out, too!

Here's the link: Spring Wings Schedule of Events 2012

A fun birding website

Just came across this site: http://twofistedbirdwatcher.com

There are all kinds of fun resources on the site for birders--photos, stories, and more.

So if you get a chance, go check it out!

Owl Prowl Seats Added to Spring Wings Fest

Due to a high demand, we've added a van for the 2:30-5:30 Owl Prowl Tour on Saturday.
As a result, this makes 7 more seats available on that tour (2 have already been reserved) and it frees up 2 seats on the 3:00-6:00 tour.
So go to www.springwings.org to claim your opportunity to witness these spectacular creatures!

Spring Wings Festival Tour Availability

March 16, 2012 Tour Availability Update for Spring Wings Festival 2012

All of the Owl Prowl and both of the Meander the Marsh tours are sold out. If anything changes, we’ll inform you as soon as we know, but for now, it looks like they’re completely full.

Sunday Wild Images is sold out as well.

The Friday Carson Lake Wetlands Loop has 1 seat left.

The Saturday Wild for the Woodies has 2 seats left.

Don't wait! Go to www.springwings.org to reserve your seats today!