Othello Sandhill Crane Festival in March

The 17th Annual Sandhill Crane Festival will take place March 28, 29, 30, 2014, in Othello. The festival will include over 30 lectures on everything from birding to wolves. Tours entitled Sandhill Crane, Burrowing Owl, Ground Squirrel, Palouse Falls and several others are offered starting Friday and run through Sunday.

Saturday night features a banquet with a keynote speaker and a silent auction.

The three-day nonprofit festival includes a variety of entertaining, educational and memorable activities for the whole family.

Featured guest speakers include Max Smith and Sarah Swanson, authors of “Must-See Birds of the Pacific Northwest.” Noah Strycker, author of “The Thing with Feathers” and “Among Penguins,” will lecture on bird behavior.

Crane tours will guide guests to areas where sandhill cranes inhabit the Columbia Basin and provide knowledge and information on them and their habitat.

At the Saturday night banquet, featured speaker Noah Strycker presents his popular talk “Bird World: Insights for Humans from the Amazing Lives of Birds,” while guests feast on Cathy Will’s (of Cathy Jo’s Catering) culinary delights and participate in the silent auction.

The Othello Sandhill Crane Festival highlights the spring return of sandhill cranes to the greater Othello area and the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge.

To learn more about the Sandhill Crane Festival, please visit othellosandhillcranefestival.org or call 1-866-SANDHIL.