May 1st E-Newsletter

Programs

An illustration of a mother and child birding

Bird Fest Family Day

Saturday, May 18th

10:00AM-2:00PM

Looking for an easy way to drop by Bird Fest? Gather the whole family and visit Bird Fest Family Day on the WRI Lawn! This free vendor fair will feature local businesses, organizations, artists, and live music from Eric Link.

Family Activities Here

LAST CHANCE: Pre-Order Your Bird Fest Souvenirs!

Orders close TONIGHT!

Want to show your love for Bird Fest? Grab yourself a Bird Fest souvenir! Take home a shirt or sweatshirt from Evergreen Gift Shop. Thank you to Evergreen Gift Shop and R Digital Design for creating a beautiful graphic! Pre-order yours today and pick up at WRI any time during Bird Fest. Please note that merchandise will not be available for purchase at Bird Fest, you must pre-order your shirts and sweatshirts by tonight, May 1st. If hats are more your style, order one from Recaps to have it shipped right to your door. Hats will not be available for pickup at Bird Fest, but you can order them throughout the entirety of the festival to be shipped to you later.

Order Here

Spring Fungi Field Trip

Saturday, May 4th

8:00AM-4:00PM

What a rare occasion! We have 2 spots remaining on our Spring Fungi Field Trip with Puget Sound Mycological Society. Start at WRI to meet with a funguide (see what I did there) and explore the surrounding area looking for mushrooms. While we can't promise you'll find morels, you'll learn the basics of foraging and have an invite to a group potluck in the evening. Register below

Shroom it up Here

Birding by the River

Wednesday, May 8th

8:00AM-9:30AM

Go birding with knowledgeable WRI staff around the WRI campus! All birding skills are welcome and we have loaner binoculars available. This is a FREE activity and no registration is needed.

Bird Here

Photograph of people looking at birds with binoculars

Naturalist Hike with Chelan-Douglas Land Trust

Wednesday, May 8th

4:30PM-6:30PM

Join WRI and the Chelan-Douglas Land Trust for a guided walk at mountain home ridge. Learn about local plants, wildlife, and history on these free Wednesday outings. Instruction will be in both English and Spanish. Registration is not required, but is appreciated. Learn more below.

Hike Here

Small bird on a log with a white backdrop

22nd Annual Leavenworth Spring Bird Fest

May 16th-19th

Don't freak out, but Bird Fest is getting closer by the minute! We are so excited for another year of celebrating the return of Leavenworth's migratory birds. Birders of all levels are encouraged to explore one of our 40+ birding trips, workshops, and other activities. Trips are filling up fast, but there are still many trips with space! Learn more and register below.

BIRD FEST!!

Illustration of mother and child birding

Bird Fest Trip: Pontoon Exploration on Fish Lake

Friday, May 17th

6:00PM-7:30PM

Every pontoon birding trip sold out within days, so we decided to add an extra one! Explore a 500-acre lake by pontoon, courtesy of The Cove Resort. We will visit a variety of bird habitats in search of eagles, osprey, swallows, and more. Find registration info at the Bird Fest Schedule page below.

Pontoon Here

Plant Foraging Workshop Series: Nettle

Thursday, May 30th

6:00PM-7:30PM

Join WRI for a series of instructional evenings where instructors will teach about identification, harvesting, and medicinal uses of various native plants. This month's workshop will focus on nettle. You may know it as "stinging" nettle but is highly nutritious if prepared correctly. Register for this Pay What You Can class below.

Forage Here

Youth Programs

A child wearing a patterned sweatshirt looking at a tree

Traveling Naturalist Field Days

As part of our Traveling Naturalist program this spring, 388 4th and 5th grade students from schools all around North Central Washington participated in our Traveling Naturalist Field Day programming. Young naturalists from Ancient Lakes, Rock Island, Brewster, Orondo, Manson, and Morgen Owings elementary schools explored the natural world around them through our Wild Birds curriculum. Our teams of Field Educators and volunteers taught with scenic backdrops like WRI, Confluence, Bridgeport, and Chelan State Parks.

Students learned how to use binoculars, identified wooden birds, went on a bug hunt, embarked on a hike, and reflected on their growing connection to nature in a journaling exercise. As part of an ongoing grant this year, we are excited to be joined by cultural educators Sylvia Peasely, Julie Edwards, and Amanda Northwind as they share their cultural practices and lived experiences with our students and educators.

After School Programming with Lincoln Elementary

One of our Field Educators, Fern, spent part of their spring visiting Lincoln Elementary for after school programming. They saw a group of fifth grade students for a variety of lessons over 8 sessions. Students learned about binoculars, bird calls and identification, explored the gardens on their campus, went on a bug hunt, and connected with the habitat around their school. "It was a lot of social-emotional learning," says Fern. "They learned how to be outside, cooperate, and ask questions together."

Place

Upcycled Fabulosity at the Trashion Show

Watch out Met Gala, we're coming for you! To celebrate Earth week, over 250 people gathered on the River Haus Lawn and watched another year of upcycled couture creations strut down the Green Carpet. We had 17 teams compete, with 5 winners.

People's Choice: Renewderhosen modeled by Aria and Ansel
Adult: Trash Dragon modeled by Marsha
High School: Dark Floral modeled by Aliya
Youth: School Style modeled by Adele
Families: Bride of the Sea modeled by Sola and Addie

The magic of Trashion Show hinges on the hard work of our wonderful volunteers. Thank you to this year's volunteers, Ann Colley, Gro Buer, Carol Cade, Claudia Cockerham, Lisi Ott, Karen Haire, Paul Sozio, Ariel Edwards, and Katie Houser.

Thank you again to our sponsors: Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort,

Ludwig's German Restaurant, Pine Village KOA, Icicle Brewing Company, Obertal Inn, SOUTH Restaurants, Munchen Haus, Gustav's, Hotel Pension Anna, Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce, Syndicate Smith, Rhein Haus, and Winton Manufacturing. Additional thanks to our prize sponsors The Bubblery, Das Sweet Shoppe, Waste Management, Colchuck Consignment, and Winton Manufacturing. Their support not only makes this event possible, but helps us make it better every year.

Be sure to check out our Facebook photo album to view professional photos from Cameron Hein.

Diary of a Land Steward #6

What’s this plant called? I don’t know. Does anyone? What’s a name? What kind of Land Steward doesn't know every single species?? As this bimonthly stewardship blurb evolves I’ll experiment with a little call to action with this one and suggest that you go find some plants/birds/frogs/etc. that you don’t know the name of, and rather than figure out the name, come up with one on your own. Observe its behavior, see how it moves, smell it, touch it, talk to it. Check it out across multiple seasons. I’ll try my hand at the plant pictured above (which you can find at WRI located in the woods east of the River Haus). Perhaps one could call it Smoothleaf, Feathertip, Shade Spear (Shakespeare?), Soft Underbelly, Indoor Houseplant Escapee, or Botany Teacher’s Example Of Opposite Leaf Pattern.

Entry and photo by Sean Eriksen, Land Steward

Thank you to our donors from the past 2 weeks!

Dave and Nancy Bartholomew - Sustaining

Kurt and Celeste Peterson - Sustaining

Calbom & Schwab Law Group PLLC

Ann and Gary Colley

Lisi Ott - Sustaining

Gordon and Linda Congdon

Jacob Houser

Gro Buer and Bruce Williams - Sustaining

The Nature Conservancy

Lynn Dickinson - Sustaining