Bird watchers, wine lovers, and nature enthusiasts are invited to the Fifth Annual Fern Ridge Wings and Wine Festival scheduled for Saturday, May 8, 2010 near Veneta, Oregon, west of Eugene. A wide array of activities will be held throughout the day at Domaine Meriwether’s new winery and nearby Fern Ridge Reservoir, one of Oregon’s best birding areas. Some Activities Will Require Pre-Registration and Fees. Some events have space limitations, so register now to ensure the events you are intersted in are available.
Wings & Wine Bird Festival
Fern Ridge is located 10 miles west of Eugene, in Oregon’s southern Willamette Valley. The extensive wetlands provide unique habitats for a variety of wildlife, including an unusual array of breeding birds. The reservoir is managed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineeers and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and provides thousands of acres of habitat for raptors, upland birds, shorebirds, passerines and woodpeckers. Other wildlife include deer, river otter, western pond turtle and red-legged frogs.
Fern Ridge offers a large variety of birding opportunities from advanced shorebird identification to enjoying the many species of ducks. As always, timing makes a big difference but spring is a fun and exciting time at Fern Ridge, when you may see a wonderful mixture of north bound neotropical migrants and early breeders. By April, many geese already have nests or chicks and Stilts have usually arrived. Come May, the breeders are in full force and include Stilts, Phalaropes, Yellow-headed Blackbird, American Bittern, Redhead, and the list goes on.