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Carol Patterson

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Tofino festival celebrates visitors and birds

April 19, 2017 by CarolPatterson Leave a Comment

Looking for a reason to visit Tofino?

Really, who needs a reason to visit this charming village on Canada’s wild west coast. But if you need an excuse to get out of town, try visiting Tofino in May 5 – 7th for the Shorebird Festival.  There are fewer people in the shoulder season but there is still plenty to do and the festival lets you take part in the community celebration of returning visitors.

Tofino in spring offers great weather with fewer people

Whales AND little birds

Grey whales move back into the Tofino area in March and April, orcas can be found year-round and humpbacks start to appear as summer approaches so Tofino is always popular with whale watchers. What few realize is that Tofino’s mud flats are important feeding areas for birds migrating to Alaska from points south. And thousands of birds arrive in early spring.

Even if you aren't a bird watcher the sight of 150,000 sandpipers is impressive Click to Tweet
Tofino mud flats are important for migrating birds

Don’t know a shorebird from Sesame’s Big Bird?

If you don’t know much about birds or doubt your spotting skills, don’t worry. The festival organizers are offering dozens of events over the weekend that will teach you about birds, for the keen and the not-so-keen (you know who you are)!

Did you know that shorebirds can fly half-asleep with one eye open?Click to Tweet

Click here for a complete listing of events.

Learn how to identify birds from festival experts

Set your drink on fire 

When you’ve had enough of mud flats and bird identification, warm up with some flaming gin at the Long Beach Lodge Resort‘s Great Room. Thawing out your wet feet while sipping on one of the locally sourced spirits gives you another angle on the forest.

I had the pleasure of sampling The Great Room’s cocktails at last year’s festival. You can read more here about what happens when your drink catches fire!

When your drink catches fire – take a picture!

 

Filed Under: British Columbia Tagged With: birds, festival

Shorebirds: Tofino’s understated tourists

April 22, 2016 by CarolPatterson Leave a Comment

Drive to the western edge of Vancouver Island and you’ll find the surf-mad village of Tofino. Toque-wearing surfers cycle by, their surfboards clipped to a small trailer, the money saved on petrol buying them more time in this rainforest paradise. Motorhomes that were popular in the 70’s – and worn-out in the 90’s – limp along highway 4 as surfers coax more life from them; neoprene wetsuits dry on car mirrors as shaggy haired guys heat soup and discuss surf conditions.
IMG_4046

Weaving around the world’s hardiest surfers – waters are bone-chilling cold even in July – are other travelers who stroll the Pacific Rim National Park beaches. Some of them chow down on crab and mac cheese at Long Beach Lodge Resort, or hop a boat for a tour of Clayoquot Sound. Others are pecking the sand for their lunch, their trip to town accomplished by wing flapping. These are the shorebirds that fly thousands of kilometers from South and Central America to their breeding grounds in the north. They are the tourists not counted by visitor bureaus but Tofino is very popular with traveling birds.

DSC06240
Plovers are one species of shorebird seen in Tofino

Behind the hotels and spas that pamper human visitors are the Tofino mudflats, gooey coastal wetlands that at low-tide serve up a nutrient buffet for sandpipers, whimbrels, and plovers. Shorebirds fly long distances, sometimes half-asleep with one eye open and one eye closed (similar to a red-eye economy flight for humans). In addition to being some of the world’s longest migrators shorebirds are also some of its biggest eaters. They consume about a third of their body weight each day as they prepare for migration and eat so much they poop every two minutes!

Tofino mudflats
Tofino mudflats

In late April, Tofino boasts impressive numbers of shorebirds. “Our most prevalent shorebird is the western sandpiper,” said Andy Murray, Tofino Sea Kayaking guide and naturalist, “150,000 Western sandpipers can pass through here in three weeks!”

The beach in front of Long Beach Lodge Resort is a comfortable place to look for shorebirds
The beach at Long Beach Lodge Resort is a comfortable place to look for shorebirds

The town celebrates these understated tourists by holding the Tofino Shorebird Festival each year. From April 29- May 1, 2016 you can take a kayak tour with Murray, learn to photograph birds, hop on the M.V. Lady Selkirk to look for Tufted Puffins and Rhinoceros Auklet, or if you’re really adventurous, journey to the offshore Continental shelf break to see pelagic birds.

If you decide to go:

Register for festival events at http://raincoasteducation.org/events/tofino-shorebird-festival

Reserve your hotel in advance. Hotel sponsors with great birding onsite are:

  • Long Beach Lodge Resort http://www.longbeachlodgeresort.com
  • The Wickaninnish Inn http://www.wickinn.com
  • Jamie’s Rainforest Inn http://www.tofinorainforestinn.com

Look for shorebirds at the end of Sharp Road (the turn-off is by the Dolphin Motel). Best viewing is mid-tide rising.

Warm up after birding with a Forest Sour cocktail at the Great Room. http://www.longbeachlodgeresort.com/site/cuisine/great-room.html

 

Filed Under: British Columbia, Events Tagged With: bird watching, birds, Birdwatching, festival, nature, tofino, travel, westcoast

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