Wings and Wildlife Festival sure to draw a crowd

Laughlin hosts the second annual Wings and Wildlife Festival scheduled for March 11-15, an award-winning event created by the Southern Nevada Birding and Wildlife Trails Partnership. Participants explore a tri-state region rich in varied Southwestern habitats on guided nature walks and hikes, during seminars and workshops conducted by experts and while on field trips led by knowledgeable guides. During the festival weekend, at least 20 special exhibits by federal and state agencies and organizations concerned with nature, the environment and conservation will be open to the public free of charge.

Festival participants pay a $30 registration fee, which entitles them to a wide range of activities, including a wine tasting and art in nature social March 12. Only registrants may attend the March 13 banquet featuring a prominent keynote speaker. Ted Floyd, naturalist, author and editor of the American Birding Association's publication Birding, will speak. Special field trips arranged with local outfitters for reduced fees will be available to limited numbers of those registered. Sponsored in Laughlin, the Aquarius and the Riverside offer registrants attractive room packages during the festival.

Organized in 2006, the 120-member Southern Nevada Birding and Wildlife Trails Partnership supports conservation through ecotourism, which introduces nature enthusiasts to the Southern Nevada region's birds and wildlife. The coalition's first Wings and Wildlife Festival drew an award for outstanding promotion of rural tourism from the Nevada Commission on Tourism. It brought 150 participants from across the United States and Canada to Laughlin in March 2009. Hundreds of requests for information on the second annual Wings and Wildlife Festival already logged by the partnership's Web site indicate even greater interest in 2010.

Many of the nature walks scheduled explore areas along the Colorado River near Laughlin where wetlands and varied riverine habitats attract hundreds of species of birds, as well as many desert-dwelling creatures. Local parks, a nature preserve and Big Bend State Recreation Area provide plenty of opportunities for walkers to observe birds and wildlife, especially during this season of still-wintering species and returning summer migrants.

Popular seminars and workshops cover wide-ranging subjects. Become more familiar with area bats, Mojave reptiles, rescued raptors, endangered native fish, big horn sheep, burrowing owls, hummingbirds, dragonflies and damsel flies, ancient cultural treasures and regional plants. Learn the basics of birding, handling binoculars, taxidermy and falconry.

During the festival, field trips will take registrants into the varied environments of the region by bus, van, kayak, canoe, raft and river taxi. The schedule of field trips starts on March 10, with many popular trips scheduled more than once. Field trips head south into Topock Gorge and Topock Marsh in the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge and the Bill Williams National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona. One heads east to the wooded slopes of Hualapai Mountain Park near Kingman, Ariz. Another visits the Willow Beach, Ariz., area with its many waterfowl and its fish hatchery for native and endangered species. One field trip takes visitors north to the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve, an important Nevada birding area. Others explore the Black Canyon of the Colorado River just south of the Hoover Dam by motorized raft or in kayaks. One field trip occurs at night so participants can assist in monitoring bats at a spring site using mist netting.

Wings and Wildlife Festival participants should dress for the activity in layered clothing and sturdy footwear. Use sun block and wear a hat. Hats should have tie-downs on the river. Use a small day pack to organize your belongings. Don't forget your camera, binoculars and field guides. Take bug repellent just in case. Bring trail snacks. Carry at least a gallon of drinking water on a day-long outing. The price of some longer field trips includes a box lunch. Some outfitters provide waterproof bags on river trips. Check details on the Web sites at www.snbwtp.org or www.WingsadWildlifeFestival.org.

Margo Bartlett Pesek's column appears on Sundays.