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Monterey Bay Birding Festival The 2006 festival, was a major success. Over 250 birders took advantage of excellent weather, birding hotspots in beautiful settings, highly experienced trip leaders, and myriad bird species (211, to be exact) over the three-day festival period. Another 250 took part in Family Days at Watsonville’s Ramsay Park. Exciting destinations included: world-famous Elkhorn Slough; the extensive slough trail system in Watsonville; Pajaro Valley birding hotspots; the Monterey coast, including Pajaro Dunes and the Santa Cruz/north coast region; Big Sur, including banding demonstrations at Big Sur Ornithological Lab; the Pinnacles; coastal state parks and beaches, such as New Brighton and Natural Bridges; and UCSC Arboretum ("Hummer Haven"). These will all be offered in 2007, and some great new destinations will be added to registration, which begins online July 1. Boat Trips: The 2006 trips were hot ticket items and sold out fast. These included Shearwater Journeys pelagic trips out of Monterey, Elkhorn Slough Safari, and Kayak Connection’s Elkhorn Slough trips. More trips will be offered this year, including kayaking in Monterey. Workshops are a great way to sharpen birding skills, and we had excellent ones in 2006: Birds of Prey ID with Clay Kempf and Shorebird ID with Alvaro Jaramillo. The 2007 festival will have expanded workshop offerings at beautiful Pajaro Dunes and Fitz Wetlands Educational Resource Center. Who could ask for better evening speakers? Jeff Davis astounded his audience with “Spectacular Journeys: The Migration of Monterey Bay Birds,” and Monterey Bay area specialist David Suddjian added to the picture with “Riding the Winds of Change: Bird Populations in the Monterey Bay Area.” We know that Ron LeValley’s shorebird talk this year will be just as entertaining and enlightening. And, bring the checkbook, because you won’t want to miss out on the gems in our silent auction, being repeated in 2007. Finally, the stars of the show, the birds! The 211 species included such treats as: Black-footed Albatross, four shearwater species, White-faced Ibis, CA Condor, Red Knot, three jaeger species, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Oak Titmouse, CA Towhee, and Tricolored Blackbird, especially for you out-of-staters. No matter where you live, though, we and the birds are waiting for you. Join us for three great days of birding!
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