Environmental Banquet at the Sierra Nevada Big Room – Thursday, March 25, 6-9:30 PM.  Activities include a social hour and silent auction, dinner, a presentation by Bill Jennings of DeltaKeeper, and an awards ceremony.  Cost is $25 in advance, $35 at the door – all proceeds go to support the Endangered Species Faire (which turns 25 this year!). Tickets are available at the Butte Environmental Council and from other co-sponsoring groups including Altacal Audubon Society. For more information contact John Merz at 345-1865.

The Aleutian Goose Festival - March 26-28, 2004 - Crescent City, CA. Choose from 80 guided birding, nature and heritage excursions, featuring coastal lagoon, river and ocean trips; more than 170 bird species during the weekend, and a coastal fly-off spectacle of 30,000 once-endangered Aleutian Canada Geese. Located in home of Redwood National & State Parks, Smith River National Recreation Area, and Lake Earl Wildlife Area. Contact: Redwood Economic Development Institute, 140 Marine Way, Suite A, Crescent City, CA 95531. Tel:  (800) 343-8300 or (707) 465-0880 or email soar2@northcoast.com. Web http://www.aleutiangoosefestival.org/.

Godwit Days Spring Migration Bird Festival - April 16-18, 2004 – Arcata, CA. Arcata, California welcomes you to the 9th Annual Godwit Days, the three-day Spring Migration Festival where amid our ancient redwood forests, marshes and the Pacific Ocean, 450 species of bird have been recorded visiting here annually. One can watch Marbled Murrelets, have face to face encounters with spotted owls, and take small boat tours of Humboldt Bay to view migrant shorebirds at their peak. More than 75 birding field trips and workshops are offered in the heart of California's Redwood Coast. Contact: Arcata Mainstreet, 791 8th Street, Suite 2-3, Arcata, CA 95521 Tel:  (800) 908-9464 or (707) 822-4500 Fax:  (707) 822-4555. Web http://www.godwitdays.com/.

Volunteer Opportunities for Birders at the Feather River Ranger District of  Plumas National Forest.  U.S. Forest Service wildlife biologists in Oroville are asking for volunteer assistance for songbird and raptor monitoring programs.  The volunteer positions available are described below:

• Breeding Bird Survey Route – a team of two volunteers is needed.  One volunteer must be able to identify Sierra birds by song and call, and the other volunteer will record data.  This volunteer position requires a two-day commitment of time in the latter part of June (one day to scout the route and one day to conduct the survey). This scenic route is located in the beautiful Bucks Lake/Meadow Valley area. The route encompasses 25 miles and there are stops every ½ mile. 
• Willow Flycatcher Survey – volunteers may work alone or in teams of two.  Surveys are conducted in June and July following a formal Protocol developed for this species. Willow flycatcher vocalization tape, tape-player, and megaphone will be provided. Strenuous hiking in wet and/or steep areas with uneven footing may be required.
• Monitoring of Bald Eagle Territories – volunteers may work alone or in teams.  Volunteers are needed to observe and record breeding behavior of bald eagles at four sites.  This monitoring work is done once a month for two-four hours from February through July.
• Monitoring of Peregrine Falcon Territory - volunteers may work alone or in a team of two.  A volunteer or team is desired to observe and record breeding behavior of a peregrine falcon pair at an eyrie within the Middle Fork Feather River area.  Monitoring is conducted in June and July. (The volunteer should not be afraid of heights.)
• Conduct Surveys and Update Bird Checklists - volunteers may work alone or in teams.  Four seasonal checks (spring, summer, fall, and winter) of the following areas:  Feather Falls Trail, Little Grass Valley Reservoir Recreation Area, Bucks Lake (Mt. Hough District), and Gold Lakes Basin (Beckworth District) are needed in order to update existing bird (wildlife) checklists.
• Aspen-songbird Species Associations - volunteers may work alone or in teams.  At least one person on each team must be able to identify Sierra birds by song and call to participate in this study of songbird use of aspen stands. Strenuous hiking in wet and/or steep areas with uneven footing may be required.

For more information, call Cindy Roberts at 530/532-7467.

10th Annual Kern River Valley Festival of the Bioregions - April 30 - May 2, 2004,  Kernville, Weldon, Wofford Heights, California. The oldest continuously held birding/nature festival in California is pleased to announce this year's world class festival. A big day of birding on Friday April 30th is followed by dinner and a keynote address by Kimball Garrett, Ornithology Collections Manager for the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum. Kimball will give an entertaining and informative program on "Woodpeckers and their ecological role in the Kern Bioregions".

Why woodpeckers you ask? Well, the BioFest is privileged to have as its official logo, an original painting of Woodpeckers of the Kern Watershed by world renown avian artist, N. John Schmitt. The 10th Annual BioFest t-shirts and posters will feature this beautiful full color image with 14 of the 16 woodpeckers found in California.

On Saturday and Sunday a full slate of activities are planned: Wildlife art, children's activities, field trips (birds, butterflies, geology, wildflowers, natural history, photography, and so much more), workshops, and demonstrations. On Saturday night a presentation by Joe Fontaine "Bioregions are Built from the Ground Up, Geology of the Southern Sierra" follows a sumptuous dinner.

Please consider joining the fun! Look for the complete program and registration form on the web at http://valleywild.org/bioregion.htm. For information contact: E-mail: krpfriends@lightspeed.net - Phone: (760) 378-3044.

Eagle Lake Field Ornithology – Summer 2004. This course will be listed through the CSUC Dept of Regional and Continuing Education (RCE) as a non-credit workshop entitled:  BIOL 296B:  Field Studies in Natural History:  Birds of Eagle Lake and the Western Great Basin Desert.  Dates for the course will be June 21 - July 2 at Eagle Lake.  The group will be staying at the field station. The cost, which covers transportation, student fees, instructor salary, and field station fees (room, board, and facilities usage), is $850. The course can be taken as either a non-credit workshop or for CSUC units.

Those wishing to enroll need not be CSUC students, although there may be an additional fee for non-students – contact Jay for specifics.

Registration is done through the RCE office on campus, but those wishing to sign up need to touch bases with Jay first.  Enrollment is limited to 10 participants.

Contact Jay Bogiatto at RBogiatto@csuchico.edu or 898-4490 for more information.