Central Iowa’s fifth annual Pelican Festival will be held tomorrow (Sunday). It’s expected to draw hundreds of people and thousands of pelicans. Kami Rankin, community education coordinator for the Polk County Conservation Board, says this is the peak time of year to see the large birds as they migrate across the Midwest. This season, there have already been some 20-thousand pelicans on Saylorville Lake, just north of Des Moines. Rankin says the Pelican Festival has grown each year and includes all sorts of educational entertainment. There’s a speakers’ tent with different speakers every half-hour discussing pelicans, waterfowl, osprey and their amazing migrations. There’s also a kids’ tent for all sorts of kid-focused activities, a live bird exhibit and two releases of birds back into the wild at 2 and 4 P.M. Rankin says plenty of spotting scopes, staffed by trained birders, will be available for public use. The events will be underway at Jester Park near Granger from 10 AM to 6 P.M. tomorrow (Sunday). For more information, contact the Polk County Conservation Board at (515) 323-5300 or visit the website at “www.conservationboard.org”.
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