WETLANDS WINGDING The world-famous Wings Over the Rockies bird festival is back for its 19th year from May 4th through to May 10th, and registration for the 90-plus events offered this year starts on Monday, April 6th. Photo submitted
Submitted by CV Arts
The 19th annual Wings Over the Rockies Festival runs from May 4th to 10th in the Columbia Valley. With the theme Fossils and Feathers, the objective of the 2015 festival is to educate the public on recent scientific research and discoveries in our corner of southeastern B.C.
Leading the way will be Jean-Bernard Caron, Curator of Palaeontology of the Royal Ontario Museum and leader of the field team that discovered a wealth of scientifically significant fossils in the Burgess Shale formations of Kootenay National Park in the summer of 2012. In addition to delivering the keynote address at the Wings Gala Banquet, hell present at a luncheon and in schools, and participate in field trips and paddles. These are opportunities to learn about the formation of fossils, to gain insight into the operation of field research, and to meet Metaspriggina, one of our earliest relatives preserved in fossils.
The entire week will be filled with workshops, presentations, field trips, hikes and paddles that address bird life, wildlife, conservation measures, geology, history, ecologically friendly businesses, and travels of professional naturalists of the Columbia Valley. For exciting, detailed descriptions of the events, consult www.wingsovertherockies.org or the newsprint festival brochure distributed in local newspapers and shops.
Both the Wings website and the centrefold of the brochure provide instructions for event registration. Starting on April 6th at 9 a.m. sharp, you can register 24 hours a day online at www.wingsovertherockies.org; by telephone at 1-855-342-2473 toll-free or 250-342-2473; or in person at Pynelogs Cultural Centre. Note that volunteers take telephone or in-person registration on April 6th, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; April 8th to May 1st, Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; and May 4th to 9th, daily from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Historically, many popular events fill up on the first day of registration, so plan to register early. The quickest and most successful method of registration is online.
