The 1999 Salton Sea International Bird Festival - February 12th - 15th, 1999 - will include speakers tours, and a host of other events. Programs include: Sonoran Desert Show III & Morocco (Sahara): Herb Williams I Found an Unusual Bird... Now What?: Kimball Garrett Radio/Telemetry Workshop: Dan Anderson The Natural & Unnatural History of Burrowing Owls: A Mascot of Conservation: Dan Rosenberg Birding With A Purpose: Ken Rosenberg Censusing the Birds of the Salton Sea: Barbara Massey "Birding Adventures in the Neotropical Rainforest": Ken Rosenberg (keynote speaker). There will, of course, be a number of great birding trips also! The Salton Sea is a great place for rarities and for a lot of species we don't often see here in the Central Valley, so it might be worth you while to chick this out! For more information, see http://www.imperialcounty.com/birdfest/, or call (760)344-5FLY.

The first Annual Aleutian Goose Festival - "A Celebration of Wildness" - March 26-28, 1999. Come join SOAR in celebrating the return of spring and the annual gathering of the world's entire population of Aleutian Canada Geese. Watch at dawn, when the birds rise from their offshore island's night rest and fill the sky with voice and wing as they move to feed in nearby mainland pastures. Down to less than 800 in the early 1970's and now numbering nearly 30,000, the Aleutian Goose is an Endangered Species Act success story.

Don't miss our variety of speakers, seminars, workshops, fieldtrips, kayak excursions and activities designed for everyone, from the most avid birder to the budding naturalist. At this time of year our coastal waters abound as well with marine mammals and migrating gray whales. Sign up and travel aboard a 36ft charter boat for an unforgettable offshore marine adventure. Drift to the estuary of California's pristine Smith River, for a water's-eye view of ducks, swans, herons, egrets and waterfowl. Join expert and credentialed guides and meet some of our area's other, more than 400 recorded, bird species; Tundra Swan, Eurasian Widgeon, Harlequin Duck, Ancient and Marbled Murrelet, Rock Sandpiper, Red-shouldered Hawk, White-tailed kite, Black Phoebe, Gray Jay, Black-capped Chickadee and Allen's Hummingbird.

The festival is part of the non-profit SOAR (Scenic Ocean And Redwoods) Project, which is sponsored by the Redwood Economic Development Institute (REDI) and the ROSE Foundation for Communities and the Environment. Partial funding is provided by a grant from the USDA Forest Service Rural Communities Assistance Program. The Aleutian Goose Festival is a not for profit community volunteer event centered at the Crescent City Cultural Center. It is hosted by the City of Crescent City and Chamber of Commerce with cooperating sponsorships and additional programs offered by Redwood National & State Parks, California Department of Parks and Recreation, Smith River National Recreation Area and California Fish and Game. For more information, see the web page at http://www.delnorte.org/soar/, or contact: Rick Hiser and Susan Calla, P.O. Box 156, Smith River, CA, 95567. (707) 487-2112 / calla@wave.net.

Come enjoy some great birdwatching and discussions with the Central Valley Bird Club!

Saturday, February 6th - Meet at 7 AM at the Golden Waffle Restaurant for breakfast. The restaurant is at 7th & Main Streets in Chico; from Highway 99, take the 8th St. exit and go west to Main; turn right and go one block.

After breakfast there will be three field trips:

• Upper Bidwell Park. Possible species include Swans, ducks and Geese flying over; Accipiters and other Raptors, Wild Turkey; Band-tailed Pigeon, 3 types of owl; numerous woodpeckers; wrens, thrushes, Phainopepla and Rufous-crowned Sparrows as well as our more common birds. Richard Redmond will lead this trip.
• Chico Oxidation Ponds and Sacramento River. The Chico sewer farm is more open to birders than most of those in the Central Valley area. Currently an expansion project is under way. The ponds provide excellent looks at most species of ducks that frequent the valley and have also yielded Oldsquaw, Surf and White-winged Scoters. Raptors and Sandhill Cranes are frequently seen here. The Sacramento River provides the normal winter riparian Species. Mike Skram will be your guide.
• Tree Improvement Center and Butte Creek Fish and Game Preserve. This will have many of the same species as Upper Park, except it has turned up some interesting sparrows amongst its winter flocks. Jim Snowden will lead this trip.

At 1 PM, we will convene at Butte College at for three or four talks on birding in the Central Valley.

• Jim Snowden will regale us with tales of crane and goose banding
• Debbie Peterson, naturalist at Gray Lodge, will show us the wonders of our local State Wildlife Area
• Joe Silvera of Fish and Wildlife will give a 1-hour presentation on the Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge, guiding us though its development.
• The fourth speaker will be Tim Manolis from CVBC whose subject is entitled "25 years later -- population changes of breeding birds at Bidwell-Sacramento River State Park".

Sunday February 7th - Meet at 7 AM at the Morning Thunder Café in Chico. From Highway 99, take the 8th St. exit and go west to Cypress Street. Turn right and go to the first light, which is Vallombrosa. Turn left and go through the first light; the restaurant will be on your right.

Fieldtrips to Gray Lodge and Llano Seco will depart from the restaurant after breakfast.