LAKE COUNTY — In preparation for the 17th annual Heron Festival the Redbud Audubon Society took an early run with pontoon boats on Saturday to seek out prime bird watching areas.
Herons were out in abundance as well as many other majestic birds, including a bald eagle battling with two osprey.
Grebes ducked in and out of the water. A lone pelican hung out with some crows. Red-winged blackbirds and yellow-headed blackbirds darted and sang.
Five turtles sat comfortably on a log and stretched their heads toward the midday sun in one of the coves.
A black-crown night heron carefully eyed passing fishermen in the channel at Corinthian Bay as a green heron passed overhead.
A tiny, curious tree swallow peeked from a hole in a tree to greet boaters.
The Heron Festival features a plethora of educational opportunities highlighted by keynote speaker Lyle Madeson on Saturday morning. His talk will be illustrated with his stunning photographs of herons and egrets. Madeson”s presentation will be given at the Visitor Center Auditorium at 10 a.m.
The Wildflower Brunch and pontoon boat tours on Clear Lake are popular features of the festival. The schedule is filled with a wide-variety of nature-oriented speakers, walks and displays.
Each year new Heron Festival activities are added to the mix of perennial favorites to keep the event fresh and interesting.
A slide presentation, “Those Amazing ?Dancing” Grebes,” will be given by Redbud Audubon Chapter President, Marilyn Waits. Learn about the behaviors of the grebes that frequent Clear Lake by the thousands each year during the breeding season. The talk will take place in the Visitor Center Auditorium on Saturday at 2 p.m. Additionally, the Redbud grebe project team will have a display booth on both days explaining the grebe conservation project being conducted jointly with two other Northern California Audubon chapters. The display booth will be located on the Visitor Center porch.
Always entertaining and informative, Harry Lyons will present “Myths and Music of Clear Lake” on Sunday at 10 a.m. in the Visitor Center Auditorium. The one-hour program mixes biology, music and humor to tell the story of Clear Lake and its more than two million years of existence.
The Heron Festival is in its 17th year and since its founding by the Redbud Audubon Society, the event has grown to become one of Northern California”s most popular nature festivals.
The Heron Festival will be held at Clear Lake State Park at 5300 Soda Bay Road in Kelseyville. All events except the pontoon boat tours and the Wildflower Brunch are free and open to the public.
The Heron Festival website features a full schedule of events. Visit the website at www.heronfestival.org.
Registration for boat tours and the Wildflower Brunch are encouraged and can be made by going to the festival website or call 263-8030.
