Music above, by singers of the skies. Music below, by singers (and fiddlers and guitarists and the like) of the Earth. What could be better?
BirdFest and Bluegrass has been a winning early-fall combination in the town of Ridgefield and its signature National Wildlife Refuge for going on 17 years now. Migration is underway, leaves are just starting to turn, and local musicians who spent the summer stringing up their instruments and scratching away at “Little Birdie” and “Turkey in the Straw” and even “Freebird” are itching to play for you.
If you’re a musician, consider hauling your instrument down to the bluegrass jam, which runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday in the beer garden between the Old Liberty Theater and the Sportsman’s Steakhouse and Saloon on North Main Avenue. Just to maintain a little order, it’ll be emceed by Linda Leavitt.
If you’re more of a bluegrass-music lover than a player, you won’t want to miss the offerings on both Friday and Saturday nights. On Friday, it’s The Whiskey Achievers, a Portland bluegrass band offering up what they like to call “old-school country and whiskey-soaked acoustic punk,” at 9 p.m. at the Sportsman’s. On Saturday at the Old Liberty, it’s a double-header featuring the classic high-lonesome harmonies of the Brian Oberlin Bluegrass Quartet at 7 p.m., and Jeff Scroggins and Colorado, a five-piece explosion of unpredictable, second- and third-generation bluegrass, at 8 p.m.
If You Go
• What: BirdFest and Bluegrass, a celebration of wildlife, Native American culture and bluegrass music.
• Where: Downtown Ridgefield and the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge.
• When: Kicks off 5 p.m. Sept. 30 with a sandhill crane tour (registration required), 7 p.m. screening of “The Birds.” Tours, workshops, nature walks and other events continue Oct. 1 and 2, mostly between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m.
• Cost: Most events are free; some outings and workshops require registration and cost between $10 and $35. Sandhill crane tours are $25.
• Information: http://ridgefieldfriends.org/events/birdfest-bluegrass
• promisedlanddoc.com
If you’re a movie lover, BirdFest and Bluegrass hasn’t forgotten you. For one thing, you can’t really dig into the delights of avian life without also considering the dark side. Birds are beautiful but film director Alfred Hitchcock also sensed that they’re just a little creepy, and he gleefully cranked up that creepy feeling to 11 in his classic horror film “The Birds.” There’s no better way to begin your BirdFest and Bluegrass experience than by watching those sweet creatures of the sky decimate an entire California town. Admission is free at 7 p.m. at the Old Liberty.
On a more serious note, a new documentary about two Pacific Northwest tribes’ fight for restoration of treaty rights will screen at 1 p.m. at the Old Liberty. Called “Promised Land,” it follows the Duwamish and the Chinook and examines the larger problems of how governments and society in general view tribal sovereignty.
Tribes who signed treaties and helped settlers still lost their land, the film’s website points out; and today, a “toxic cycle of colonialism” still keeps them down, with governments redefining treaties and regulating tribal memberships while profiting from the resources of indigenous lands. In an “increasingly climate-challenged world,” that’s especially perilous behavior, the filmmakers say.
People from the Chinook Nation will conduct a Q & A after the screening.
Bird heaven
But if you’re basically just into birds, you’ll find Ridgefield and the refuge resembling bird heaven this weekend. Scheduled for Saturday and Sunday are massive flocks of avian outings, exhibits and demonstrations.
Early-morning and early-evening guided sandhill crane tours are designed to provide a once-in-a-lifetime experience as hundreds of cranes visit their night roost. Staffers from Pro Photo Supply and Olympus Corp. will lead several birding photography hikes and provide pointers. The Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership will host a family-friendly canoe paddle all around the refuge, starting at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Or, just hang out in the Family Zone in Davis Park and make a birdhouse — or whatever you fancy — at the Creation Station.
Even if you prefer to stay indoors, there’s great bird stuff to do. There will be wildlife storytelling in the library, a birders’ marketplace in the community center and an Audubon bird show at View Ridge Middle School.
View Ridge will also host a top bird cop. Special agent Sheila O’Connor of the law enforcement division of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will share tales of her investigations of global wildlife crime — like smuggling and harming endangered species.
Finally, don’t forget to stop by the northern Carty Unit on Saturday afternoon to offer your thoughts and opinions about a new visitor center for the refuge. Consultants will be onsite to collect public input for this long-term project aimed at making the site that much more hospitable and educational for human visitors.
Bird visitors are already all set in the 5,300-acre Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge.
