Submitted Photo
By James Day
The annual Mother’s Day Birding and Wildflower Festival is set for Saturday, May 13 and Sunday, May 14 at Silver Falls State Park.
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days and is scheduled to coincide with World Migratory Bird Day.
Silver Falls State Park officials said in a press release that the event includes guided birding and wildflower hikes, a wildflower show, live raptor presentations, a native plant sale and educational presentations and discovery tables.
The birding guide this year is a woodpecker expert so visitors are likely to spot a few of that family of birds in addition to frequent Silver Falls visitors such as Wilson’s warblers, Pacific wrens, varied thrushes and American dippers.
“It’s a great time of year to visit because the migratory birds should be here in force,” said Silver Falls Park Ranger Matt Palmquist.
At the flora end of the spectrum, the park will be filled with trilliums, bleeding hearts, violets and some calypso orchids. The wildflower show features at least 100 species of flowers on display as well.
All activities take place in the South Falls day-use area, with the exception of some 7:30 a.m. birding walks. The schedule will be posted on the state parks website after Our Town’s presstime at https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=things-to-do.event&eventId=48590.
All activities are free, but a $5 daily parking permit or an Oregon State Parks annual parking permit is required to park at Silver Falls State Park.
