For 19 years, close to 40 species of birds have returned to attend the annual Tofino Shorebird Festival (birdwatchers are also welcome to attend)

 Friday, April 29 to Sunday, May 1, 2016

 

April 4, 2016, Tofino, BC – Joining thousands of migrating and local shorebirds along the west coast of British Columbia for the 19th annual Tofino Shorebird Festival, members of the Raincoast Education Society have partnered with Long Beach Lodge Resort and other tourism providers to present three days of activities for everyone from bird-watching novices to expert ‘twitchers.’

Fourteen events are scheduled over the three-day festival, including land and sea-based bird-watching expeditions, lectures, and introductory and intermediate bird-watching seminars – Birding 101: Get Your Beak Wet and Birding 201: Get Your Feet Wet. Long Beach Lodge Resort is the host venue for the festival’s Bird Photography Workshop with nature photographer Jess Findlay on Saturday, April 30 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m and Shorebirds in Pacific Rim with Parks Canada’s Resource Management Officer Sarah Tyne on Sunday May 1 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. The full schedule of events is available through the Raincoast Conservation Society: http://raincoasteducation.org/events/tofino-shorebird-festival. Rates at Long Beach Lodge Resort start at $229 Cdn per night, plus taxes and based on double occupancy. A Birder’s Breakfast Feature Menu will be available in the Lodge’s Great Room each morning from 7:30 to 11:00 a.m.

Tofino, BC is a bird-watcher’s paradise. The timing for the Festival aligns with the annual migration of sandpipers, plovers, whimbrels, and other shorebirds that use the protected forests, long sandy beaches, and rocky shorelines as resting points during their journey from South and Central America to northern Arctic breeding grounds. Ideal foreshore and intertidal habitats attract nearly 40 species of shorebirds to the area, among them some rarely seen and threatened species like the red knot that journeys an incredible 15,000 kilometres from the far reaches of South America to the Canadian Arctic.

Bird watching is one of the fastest growing leisure activities in North America, estimated to generate billions of dollars in tourism and recreation industries. It’s also rapidly gaining popularity in Canada, with more and more birders keen to spend their travel dollars on birding vacations. With Vancouver preparing to host the 27th International Ornithological Conference in 2018, which will attract leading bird scientist from around the globe, birding in BC is set to get an extra big boost. Long Beach Lodge Resort is an ideal and luxurious base for birding. Set on Cox Bay Beach, the resort provides guests with an excellent vantage point for bird viewing, with floor to ceiling windows in the Great Room overlooking the beach, beachfront access, and plenty of [brand] binoculars available for scoping the shoreline for some of Tofino’s regular springtime avian visitors.

For more information, visit www.longbeachlodgeresort.com or call 1-877-844-7873.

About Long Beach Lodge Resort

The visionary dream of owner Tim Hackett, and famous for its iconic Great Room, with spectacular ocean views and cozy fireside dining and relaxing, Long Beach Lodge Resort is home to one of the best surfing experiences in the area. Long Beach Lodge Resort is set right on the ocean beach of Cox Bay, Tofino (one of Tofino’s best surfing beaches) and provides beautifully appointed accommodations in a private, wild Pacific West Coast setting. The resort offers 41 lodge rooms, 20 two-bedroom cottages and a full service dining room, as well as meeting space and instant beach access. The Resort also offers the Surf Club Adventure Centre, providing guests with a fully equipped centre complete with changing rooms, rentals, retail shop, hot tub and coffee bar. Long Beach Lodge Resort has been featured in Architectural Digest, and recently became the first resort on Vancouver Island to receive more than 1,000 excellent Trip Advisor reviews.  For more information, visit www.longbeachlodgeresort.com or 250-725-2442.


-30-
 

 Media Contacts:

Kate Rogers, Tartan Group: 604-880-1494 (cell) or kate@tartangroup.ca
Brian Cant, Tartan Group: 250-592-3838, 250-888-8729 (cell) or brian@tartangroup.ca