By Janis Snoey
Silly fun can make for a profoundly pleasurable morning. That’s what some South Sound Bird Alliance members discovered on May 30th while marching as a motley flock of birds in Mason County’s Paul Bunyan Grand Parade. Well, not “marching” exactly, more like swooping and hopping and billing and flapping – you know, like birds.
People in Mason County LOVE this parade. Spectators in rows up to 5 and 6 deep lined the route stretching a dozen or so blocks in the heart of Shelton. Families and friends cheered on floats, marching bands, horses, and us – a happy contingent dressed as bluebirds, chickadees, ducks, peacocks, and Pigeon Guillemots, among other species. A towering woodpecker representing DarkSky Olympic Peninsula joined us and quickly became a crowd favorite. The other favorites were the fledglings (kids in costume) handing bird stickers to kids at the curbs. Two birders who declined to feather up – one pulling a wagon with a portable catio – completed the assemblage.
Our scheme for intermittent chicken dances was somewhat preempted by the pop music broadcast by the daffodil float that went before us and the honks from the logging truck that followed behind. We, nonetheless, made some jaunty moves and on-lookers gave us a warm welcome.
We accomplished our mission of outreach and education. Afterwards, trailing back to our cars still in costume, people stopped us, wanting to know more about SSBA and express support for cats indoors as well as dark skies. It was a wonderful way to become known in the community.
The parade is a beloved component of the Mason County Forest Festival, a tradition since 1945 when timber was the foundation of the local economy. Long-term commercial forest land is still the county’s primary land use, a buffer against urbanization found elsewhere in South Sound. Sustainable forest practices and thousands of acres of forest lands subject to conservation easements help protect water quality, wildlife habitat, and dark skies for migration.
Group photo by Bruce Jacobs
