Tag Archives | Winter Wings Festival

Winter Wings Festival

By Larry Jordan on January 4, 2018 in

The Klamath Basin Audubon Society (KBAS) produces the annual Winter Wings Festival to celebrate THE LARGEST WINTERING POPULATION OF BALD EAGES IN THE LOWER 48 STATES, as well as the abundance of all the birds that make the Klamath Basin their home. The Winter Wings Festival welcomes all birders and wildlife enthusiasts to hear keynote speakers, take field trips and enjoy the other activities that enhance the appreciation of the spectacular beauty of the Klamath Basin. Any surplus from the festival is used to support community outreach, wildlife, and youth education programs in the Klamath Basin.

The Festival will be celebrating its 39th year in 2018. We are one of the largest festivals in the nation that is an all-volunteer effort.

38th Annual Winter Wings Festival

By Larry Jordan on November 26, 2016 in

More particulars on the festival will be posted in early December

Winter Wings Festival 2016 – Registration Now Open

By Larry Jordan on December 4, 2015 in

Klamath Falls, Oregon, Headquarters – Oregon Tech
The 2016 Winter Wings Festival is open for registration! Enjoy winter birding and photography at its best in the scenic Klamath Basin located in Southern Oregon and Northern California. We are consistently rated as one of the best organized and friendliest festivals you will find. Come experience it for yourself at our 37th festival!

Enjoy close-up looks at raptors, such as Golden Eagles, Ferruginous Hawks, Rough-legged Hawks, both Peregrine and Prairie Falcons, as well as other Basin specialties like White-headed Woodpeckers, Black-crowned Night-Herons, Sandhill Cranes, and Northern Shrikes.

February is a great month to see thousands of migrating waterfowl on the Pacific Flyway. And we’re at the heart of the flyway where more than a million waterfowl migrate through each year. Cackling, Snow, Ross’s, and Greater White-fronted Geese are abundant and as many as 20 duck species can be found in a single day.

See Bald Eagles in town, at the refuges, and pretty much everywhere! About 500 eagles winter here. Go out on one of our field trips and you may even see a leucistic Bald Eagle that sometimes visits the Basin

You can see the festival and activity schedule here and you can register now here.

Winter Wings Festival 2015

By Larry Jordan on December 12, 2014 in

The Winter Wings Festival will once again host four days of activities in Southern Oregon for birdwatchers, photographers, families and those just looking for a good time learning about nature. We hope you can join us! As in years past, we have some great national talent that will be taking center stage.

Winter Wings Festival at Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex

By Larry Jordan on March 3, 2014 in National Wildlife Refuges

To quote the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service “National wildlife refuges make great bird festival locales because they’re bird magnets; many protect important bird habitat along the country’s major flyways.” Their website lists 34 birding festivals for 2014, including the Winter Wings Festival from Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex.

This festival not only caters to birders but photographers as well. Not knowing much about landscape photography, I began my festival with an awesome field class taught by one of the best professional nature photographers in the Northwest, Jack Graham. Click on photos for full sized images.

The weather couldn’t have been better for landscape photography, the light was beautiful, and I learned plenty that morning.

Photographers come to Klamath Basin from distant lands to get shots of Bald Eagles which are certain to be found here in large numbers.

However, this was the first time I had encountered a leucistic Bald Eagle! Word from the locals was that this bird returns every winter and stays for a few months, then it’s gone. I followed their directions later in the afternoon and got some good shots of this very interesting eagle.

Heading out on the auto loop at Lower Klamath NWR, just beyond the row of Cottonwoods that support the large Bald Eagle contingent, I spotted this light morph Rough-legged Hawk trying to go unnoticed.