Birders invited to flock to Fern Ridge.

Byline: Mark Baker The Register-Guard

VENETA - Everything looks better after a glass of chardonnay or pinot gris or, perhaps, a nice velvety pinot noir, right?

(If you're a wine lover, that is.)

So maybe those owl pellets - undigested animal parts full of bones and fur and teeth - that our wise, feathered friends regurgitate will have more appeal than usual Saturday during the Fern Ridge Wings & Wine Festival.

Not to mention the raptors, shorebirds, passerines, woodpeckers, geese, stilts, phalaropes, yellow-headed blackbirds, American bitterns, redheads and other migrant songbirds you can gaze at through telescopes - or observe with just your naked eyes.

The event takes place on International Migratory Bird Day - celebrated throughout North America with bird festivals and bird walks - and is intended to showcase the bird-watching jewel that is Fern Ridge. It's also intended to support agri-tourism in the Veneta area, says Patti Chappel, owner of Secret House Winery, which will help host the inaugural event.

"Bird-watching is one of the fastest growing hobbies in the country, so we wanted to get Fern Ridge and bird-watching on the map," says Chappel, who was contacted by Veneta City Administrator Rick Ingham last fall.

"Last year at this time we were wrestling with Fern Ridge Dam being drained and empty," Ingham says. "And so Veneta, trying to grow, to help our businesses, to improve our economy, went after some grant money. And the more we talked about it, the more we realized we are truly one of the ideal bird-watching spots around."

In addition to Secret House and the city, others on board with this event include the Army Corps of Engineers, which operates Fern Ridge Dam, the Lane County Audubon Society, the Cascade Raptor Center of Eugene, the Convention & Visitors Association of Lane County and Waste Recycling Environmental Limited.

"It could have great, great promise," Ingham says. "We're going to stumble and fall a bit this first event, but we're really excited."

The city was able to secure $3,500 in grant money for the event from Lane County funding programs, as well as the Oregon Chapter of Wildlife Society, Ingham says. With Veneta sitting on the "wine corridor" of Territorial Highway, and wine lovers and bird watchers being of the same demographic, "We think it's a natural niche," he says.

And there will even be an "owl-calling" walk after dinner, Chappel says.

"And who can resist the pun," she adds. "It's gonna be a hoot."

FERN RIDGE WINGS & WINE FESTIVAL

What: Bird-watching event at Fern Ridge Lake and Veneta's Secret House Winery.

When: Saturday May 13.

More information: Go online to www.fernridgebirding.com for a schedule of events and their locations. Some events include a charge, require advance registration and are limited to 20 people. A slide show and dinner is at Secret House in the evening.