KENNEWICK — As many as 35,000 sandhill cranes will pass through Eastern Washington on their spring migration, and one of the best ways to see the birds en masse is at the Othello Sandhill Crane Festival.
Othello is about 50 miles north of the Tri-Cities and near the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, with the sandhill cranes attracted to croplands and wetlands in the area.
Tickets went on sale Monday, Feb. 5, for the March 21-24 celebration of one of the region’s most eye-catching wildlife events.
Tickets can sell out quickly for some of the most popular events — wildlife viewing and geology tours — so those who book first get the best selection. Some tickets sold out by 10 a.m. Monday.
This year’s event includes crane viewing tours, a crane tour by bike, boat tours to look for birds ranging from waterfowl to eagles, an organic pepper farm tour, and geology and birding hikes and tours.
The main day of the festival is Saturday, March 23, with 22 presentations, covering Washington wildlife such as leopard frogs and burrowing owls, the controversy surrounding wolves, the Ice Age floods and Eastern Washington’s unusual channeled scablands geography.
Children’s activities also are planned and the popular free photo booth with a digitized sandhill crane in the background will be available.
The events will be at the Othello Church of the Nazarene, 835 S. 10th Ave., Othello, and next door at McFarland Middle School.
Admission cost for the event is $10, with children ages 12 and younger free, and is required to register for tours. However, a Friday night presentation by the Washington State University Raptor Club at the middle school is free.
Admission tickets can be purchased at the door or online, but tour tickets are sold only online.
Tours and other events are priced individually. They include $25 for crane viewing tours, $90 for a boat tour on the Potholes Reservoir and $110 for sunrise and sunset photography workshops.
For more information, go to Othellosandhillcranefestival.org.
