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KLAMATH FALLS — For the 39th year, the Klamath Basin Winter Wings Festival will take flight over Presidents Day weekend in February. The nation's oldest West Coast birding festival celebrates the return of bald eagles and waterfowl on the Pacific Flyway to the Klamath Basin. This year's festival runs Feb. 14 to 18, with most of the 60 workshops, programs, field trips and other events at the Oregon Institute of Technology College Union in Klamath Falls. Organizers with the Klamath Basin Audubon Society note the festival typically lures upward of 500 birders and others from around the West Coast and Pacific Northwest. "Winter Wings brings together birders and photographers of all ability levels to learn and explore with top-notch professionals and enthusiastic local guides," say co-coordinators Diana Samuels and Anne Wenner. "The Klamath Basin is known for its massive wintering population of bald eagles but offers prime habitat for several other raptors, including owls, and an abundance and diversity of waterfowl." The Klamath Basin is home to the largest concentration of wintering bald eagles in the lower 48 states, with 500 to 800 eagles in a typical winter. In a shift from previous years, three keynoters will be featured, including author and woodpecker specialist Stephen Shunk, Nikon Ambassador and wildlife photographer Moose Peterson, and Kevin McGowan, author and instructor with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. They and others will lead and participate in an array of field trips, workshops, presentations and receptions. Several birding field trips will be to refuges on the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges complex, which consists of six refuges, including Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, the nation’s first waterfowl refuge. Around 130 species of birds are counted each winter at the festival. The Pacific Flyway is a major north-south route of travel for migratory birds in the Americas, extending from Alaska to Patagonia. Every year, migratory birds travel some or all of the distance in spring and fall following food sources, heading to breeding grounds or traveling to overwintering sites, such as the Klamath Basin. It's estimated 80 percent of the Pacific Flyway migrants make a stopover at the Klamath Basin. Dick Ashford and McGowan — "He is probably one of the leading experts on birds in the nation," Samuels said — will offer raptor identification workshops and field trips, novice birders will have their choice of two "Birding Basics" trips, while intense birders will enjoy a Big Day trek around the Basin. Winter Wings is partnering with the Klamath Falls Blue Zones Project to offer a winter birding walk along the Link River Trail and a new wine and painting workshop at Favell Museum. Among the many professional photographers and specialists sharing their skills are Moose Peterson, Abbott Schindler, Mark Fitzgerald and Larry Turner. Several workshops and presentations are designed to help participants get the most out of their camera equipment and software, including tips for better photos with a phone or tablet. New this year is a workshop and field experience for people interested in drone photography, a program on radio tracking the tule goose, a workshop on ongoing efforts to restore California condor populations, and a "Call of the Wild" field trip for "people who like that adventure experience," which involves an overnight stay at a lodge by the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge for "early, early, early morning" birding. Also new are overnight stays Wednesday, Feb. 14, and Sunday, Feb. 18, at the Crystalwood Lodge near Rocky Point. Depending on snow conditions, participants may hike to birding areas on snowshoes and ride on dog sleds. "We like to mix things up and add new programs," Wenner said. Non-birding programs include a program and tour of the World War II era Tule Lake Segregation Center with a National Park Service ranger, program and field trip on "The History of Conflict Between Habitat and Development," and program about William Finley, an early photographer who helped President Theodore Roosevelt to create the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. Samuels, the festival co-coordinator, says “Some popular field trips fill almost immediately. If you want a spot in these, try to sign up as soon as online registration opens.” Online registration can be completed at www.WinterWingsFest.org. A link can be found on the website. The Winter Wings Festival is partially funded by the Klamath County transient room tax grant program. So far, more than two-thirds of the registrants are from outside the Klamath Basin. "We hope people will come early and stay late," Wenner said. — Reach freelance writer Lee Juillerat at [email protected] or 541-880-4139.