The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: Arcata Community Center

  • Godwit Days Spring Migration Bird Festival

    Godwit Days Spring Migration Bird Festival

    Community members gather to watch the mesmerizing flights of shorebirds dancing on the wind at the Godwit Days Spring Migration Bird Festival.

    The natural habitat of the North Coast includes the Pacific Flyway. The Pacific Flyway spans the Pacific Coast from South America to the Arctic, making Humboldt Bay a stopover for millions of shorebirds on their migration.

    Mark Colwell is a Humboldt State ornithology professor. While watching the spring migration at the Arcata Marsh on Sunday, Colwell describes the multitude of bird populations.

    “Western sandpipers are one of the most spectacular aspects of bird migration in the Pacific Flyway,” Colwell said. “There are over 100,000 western sandpipers going north every day. They will spend three to four days in Humboldt Bay and then fly on.”

    The Godwit Days Spring Migration Bird Festival is a week-long event. Godwit Days has many ways to explore bird species, field trips, lectures, workshops and boat trips, led by expert local guides. The tours include rivers, bay mudflats, redwood forests and the rocky coast.

    The Arcata Marsh is a great place to bird watch. The marsh is close to HSU and just a few minutes walk from downtown Arcata. There are hundreds of species of birds that visit and live in the marsh that can be seen from the trails that meander through it.

    Samantha Bacon teaches Birding 101 for Godwit Days.

    “The marsh is one of the premiere birding places in California,” Bacon said.

    Bacon spends an hour in class with her group going over the descriptions, habitats and behavior of birds. Bacon pulls apart the bird families, characteristics and names so the group of beginning birders can learn them better.

    Bacon also gave information on bird feeding.

    “Hummingbird liquid is four parts water and one part sugar,” Bacon said. “Make sure to keep the hummingbird and other bird feeders clean. Birds can get conjunctivitis from bird feeders and go blind.”

    Birding 101 then spends a few hours viewing and identifying birds in the Arcata Marsh. Part of the excitement of birding is identifying or confirming rare sightings of bird species that are not frequently found in this region.

    A green heron local to the San Francisco Bay has taken up residence in a tree at the Arcata Marsh.

    “The green herons have been coming to the Arcata Marsh for the last three to four years. There is between one to four green herons a year at the Arcata Marsh,” Bacon said.

    Citizen science helps identify and maintain reviewed listings of bird sightings on eBird, an online collection of sightings, maps and bird migration routes.

    After confirming quite a few bird sightings, the group ends at the Arcata Marsh parking lot. There are numerous tripods mounted with telescopes along the path by the parking lot where people are viewing the tens of thousands of shore birds lifting off, flying back and forth and landing back down on the bay.

    “This is called shuffling the deck,” Bacon said. “A peregrine falcon will fly down upon a flock of shorebirds and try to pick one off.”

    Rob Fowler is a HSU alumnus and local editor for the quarterly ornithological journal North American Birds, and the eBird reviewer for the area.

    While at the marsh parking lot viewing the shorebirds, Fowler refers to the scope of what is visible in the distance.

    “This is a sight you don’t see often in nature — 200,000 shorebirds at once,” Fowler said.

    The Godwit Days keynote speaker Sharon Stiteler is from Minnesota. Stiteler has seen 1 million snow geese at once while in Hardy, Nebraska.

    “Shorebird-wise, this is exceptional,” Stiteler said.

    The Arcata Community Center was “birding headquarters” for Godwit Days on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. At the community center, there were vendors, non-profit groups and government agencies. In addition, there were exhibits, workshops and live birds of prey on display.

    Carson is a 16-year-old peregrine falcon. Carson was out in front of the community center with his handler, Amanda Harwood, a senior at Arcata High School. Carson is the fastest animal on Earth, reaching speeds up to 273 mph.

    “Carson is named after Rachel Carson the conservationist,” Harwood said. “He was found in the Arcata marsh with a broken femur and taken into the Humboldt Wildlife Center.”

    People were fascinated by Carson. Spike Ciotti attends Fuente Nueva Charter School in Arcata and thought Carson looked fast.

    “I think Carson can build a nest in about a minute,” Spike said.

    You can see the shorebird spring migration on Humboldt Bay from the Arcata Marsh until mid-May.

  • A labor of love

    A labor of love

    Humboldt Homebrew Festival

    Kristina Watson served a lot more than just beer at the eighth Humboldt Homebrew Festival on April 7 at the Arcata Community Center.

    Watson was one of seven brewers from Triple Junction Brewing, who were one of 69 groups and individuals who served their best homemade and unique beer, cider and kombucha recipes.

    For Watson’s first time pouring at the festival, she showcased a juniper based Sahti-Graha beer based off a Finnish recipe.

    “Sahti recipes are traditionally passed down from Scandinavian mothers to their daughters,” Watson said. “So this is kind of like a women empowerment beer.”

    Watson said the juniper she used to make this beer came from her grandmother’s tree, who passed away recently. She said being at this festival is always awesome and it’s neat to to get the opportunity to showcase beers and talk with other brewers.

    Brewer Joseph McKinzie brought three beers based off Girl Scout cookies, and he and his crew played the part. Each pourer, including McKinzie himself, was dressed as a Girl Scout at a booth titled “Camp WannaBeer.”

    The festival serves as a benefit for the North Coast Professional Chapter of Engineers Without Borders organization in the Humboldt area. They also work directly with the Humboldt State University EWB chapter and sometimes hire students.

    EWB’s mission is to partner with developing communities to try and improve their way of life. EWB volunteer Patrick Sullivan said the festival came about as a result of a lot engineers who are also brewers combining their passions.

    “I like to tell my friends that we are turning beer into water,” Sullivan said.

    Sullivan said he is grateful for the support of the brewers and volunteers who make the benefit possible.

    Meanwhile, brewers and attendees alike enjoy the variety found at the Humboldt Homebrew Festival. Brewer Pete Carlson said the festival showcases rare beers that you’ll never find again.

    “This is my favorite festival in the area,” Carlson said. “Period.”

    Attendees like Britney Newby and Shannon Mondor dubbed this their favorite festival respectively.

    “It is a real privilege to try a homebrewer’s labor of love,” Newby said.

    Every attendee receives a meal ticket, a tasting glass and bottle caps for voting at the door. Brewers received playing cards to vote with as well. At the festival’s close, three recipes were named Best Damn Beer, Brewer’s Choice and Best Damn Cider.

    Brewer Dave Breyer and the Oh My Goodness Rye Whiskey Brown Ale won Brewer’s Choice. Brewer Ira Salmon with a Mango Sticky Rice won Best Damn Beer and Joshua Holland and John Tremblay and their New Pilgrim Pineapple Cider won Best Damn Cider.

    You can find more information about the Humboldt Homebrew Festival at http://www.humboldthomebrewfest.com.