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>> What does it to make nature
and cultural heritage come alive?
In spring, three groups of students from Seattle,
Mount Vernon, Bellingham and Newhalem, Washington loaded
up on buses to do just that at the Third Annual Migratory Bird
Festival at Ebey's Landing on Whidbey Island.
Here, specialists from the North Cascades Institute
and the Forest Service took about 80 youth and 15 elders,
touring four distinctive wildlife habitats
and a historical lighthouse
on the Ebey's Landing National Historic Reserve to find
out just what it takes to be a migrating bird.
In one group activity,
participants experienced migration
from a bird's perspective.
Here, they are learning what are the resources that birds need?
What makes up quality habitat?
Everyone plays in an interactive game and pretends
to be bird along the migratory pathways.
>> Funnest thing I did in the festival was
when we saw all the birds.
>> Youth go on an expedition to look
for migratory shorebirds along Crockett Lake.
Migratory shorebirds are arriving from as far south
as South America, while ducks that been here all year,
are preparing to leave for the Arctic, Canada and Alaska.
It is the perfect time of the year to be here.
>> The hardest thing we did was that we had to try to look
for a bird that was like all moving,
they were trying to catch mice.
>> A hike up to Admiralty Lighthouse perched atop a high
sea bluff gives a viewpoint to scan the waters below
for seabirds, marine life and migratory shorebirds.
On January 21, 1861, the lighthouse pierced the night
for the first time, guiding thousands of ships
into Puget Sound for over 61 years of service.
A short walk along the beach offers a chance to play.
Some of the seabirds
and wildlife they can see along the way are surf scooters,
common goldeneye, western sandpipers, bald eagles,
as well as orca and gray whales
and sea lions, if they are lucky.
>> The grossest thing I saw was the fish that was
in the ground and wasn't moving.
>> One of the ways nature comes alive is through touch.
The marine lab touch tanks house giant Pacific octopus, scallops,
crabs and some of the really cool invertebrates that make
up the basis of the food web
that feed migratory birds along their arduous journey.
>> The grossest thing is when I got to hold --
I didn't know what it was until he told me, the slug.
>> The thing that I liked the most about the bird festival was
that we got to meet new people and communicate with them.
>> It was amazing.
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