While anglers have been happily hooking lake trout since the season opener last week, a fishing force of a different kind has been gathering off the Washington coast. Stopping for food on their annual migration north, millions of shorebirds are flocking to coastal beaches and will display their fishing and flying skills this weekend at the Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival in Hoquiam.

The festival, which runs Friday through Sunday (May 5-7), draws thousands of birders, naturalists and curiosity-seekers every year to marvel at the shorebirds' aerial ballet over Bowerman Basin and local beaches. Experienced birders with spotting scopes will be on hand to help newcomers identify Western sandpipers, black-bellied plovers, dunlins and more than 20 other species that flock to the area at high tide.

Shorebird exhibits, lectures and slide shows are scheduled at several locations, including the festival center at the Federal Aviation Administration building at Bowerman Airport. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has installed a new wheelchair-accessible boardwalk at the basin to keep people off the mudflats, and buses will transport festival-goers from the airport to other area beaches at regular intervals.

High tide is 3:30 p.m. Friday (May 5), 4:23 p.m. Saturday (May 6) and 5:15 p.m. Sunday (May 7). Festival staff recommends finding an observation spot an hour in advance to ensure a good view.

The Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival is one of several events around the state leading up to the eighth annual International Migratory Bird Day, which will be celebrated on May 13. Call the state chapter of the Audubon Society (360-786-8020) for other events or check the Audubon-Washington website. .

Of course, seabirds aren't the only ones getting fish these days. Since opening day, anglers have continued to take limits of trout averaging 11 inches from lakes around the state. Clam diggers also will have one last opportunity to harvest razor clams on Friday (May 5), as noted under the South Sound section below.

Northern Puget Sound:

• The lake-fishing opener has come and gone but great fishing should continue for at least the next few weeks, says Regional Fish Manager Chuck Phillips. Several regional waters – Skagit County's Erie and Heart lakes and Snohomish County's Howard Lake – were among the top 20 opening-day producers statewide, turning up 4.6 trout per angler. Other lakes of note include Geneva, Langlois, North, Pine and Rattlesnake lakes in King County; Rapjohn and Tanwax lakes in Pierce County; and Cain Lake in Whatcom County. Sport crab fishers, meanwhile, can head out to harvest with pots in the south part of Marine Area 8-2, including Port Susan, Port Gardner and Possession Sound. The rest of Puget Sound is closed to crab pots but open for other gear types, including ring nets, star traps and dive fishing for crab. To get a good look at local wildlife, check out the dedication of a new remote-control video camera Saturday (May 6) at the Tennant Lake Interpretive Center near Ferndale. The camera, mounted atop a 50-foot tower, sends images to a high-resolution monitor on the ground, offering views of nesting waterfowl, woodpeckers and small wildlife such as muskrats and beavers. Dedication activities get under way at 10 a.m.; for information contact the interpretive center at (360) 384-3064.

Olympic Peninsula/South Sound:

• Three regional lakes ranked among the top 20 producers on opening day, and are expected to continue filling creels in the weeks to come. Wentworth Lake in Clallam County and Pattison Lake in Thurston County each produced five trout per angler, and nearby Long Lake wasn't far behind with 4.6. Anglers' attention may be divided by the opening of blackmouth fishing in Marine Area 13, south of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. This is the only salmon fishery open in Puget Sound and those participating should check the new Fishing in Washington rules pamphlet for restrictions. Clam diggers, meanwhile, will have one more opportunity this spring to dig razor clams during a one-day opening Friday (May 5) on Twin Harbors Beach, which includes the North Cove, Grayland and Westport areas. Digging is allowed during morning (a.m.) hours only. All other beaches are closed.

Southwest Washington:

• If you want to catch a big trout, Kidney Lake in Skamania County and Horseshoe Lake in Cowlitz County are good bets. Nearly 60 percent of all the fish pulled out of Kidney Lake on opening day were specially planted triploid trout, weighing one to three pounds apiece. At Horseshoe Lake, triploids ran 20 percent. While those and other lakes continue to show promise, spring chinook angling remains strong on the Wind River and Drano Lake where boat anglers averaged better than a fish for every four rods last week. Spring chinook and a few summer run steelhead are being caught on the Cowlitz, Kalama and Lewis rivers. Bass angling is also good in The Dalles and John Day pools, where boat anglers averaged several fish per person last week. Sturgeon may again be retained in the lower Columbia from the Wauna power lines downstream to the mouth. Fishing should be good there and continue to improve throughout the summer.

Eastern Washington:

• Stevens County lakes have been producing limits since the April 29 opener and are apt to do so through May. Cedar, Deep, and Starvation lakes were best, but try the Little Pend Oreille chain of lakes, too. Lincoln County's Fishtrap Lake is a good bet this month too, as is Southwest Spokane County's traditional trio – Amber, Badger and Williams lakes. Meanwhile, spring turkey hunting wraps up on May 15 and the big birds continue to be bagged by persistent hunters, both in the northeast and southeast districts of the region. When it comes to viewing wildlife, yellow-headed and red-winged blackbirds are impossible to not see or hear these days when they're mating, nesting and feeding. Even the most common birds, like coots or killdeer, are fun to watch at this time because of their territorial and parental behavior.

North Central Washington:

• Okanogan and Grant County lakes have been among the hottest statewide for trout fishing since the April 29 opener, and they should continue to provide limits through May. Pearygin and Round in Okanogan, and Deep and Perch in Grant, were among the best, but check out Wannacut, Fish, Conconully, Blue, Park, and Dry Falls, too. Douglas County's Jameson Lake not only has lots of limits, but a fourth of the catch are carryovers averaging 15.5 inches. Potholes Reservoir water temperatures are now prime for bass, with largemouths over five pounds and smallmouths over three pounds already caught; Goose Island has nice smallmouth bass in the rocks on the south side. Potholes' net-pen-reared, nine-inch rainbow trout, plus the reservoir's larger, older trout, are also in lots of catches. May is a great month to take a drive or canoe trip through the Columbia Basin's many wildlife areas to witness nearly every imaginable wetland and water habitat species, from avocets to muskrats. The Desert, Crab Creek, Seep Lakes, Potholes, Winchester Wasteway, and Gloyd Seeps wildlife areas are all hosting thousands of nesting songbirds, shorebirds, wading birds, and waterfowl, plus reptiles, amphibians, and mammals of many kinds.

South Central Washington:

• Lakes throughout the region stocked with hatchery trout will continue to produce limits throughout the month. Yakima County's Mud and Myron lakes are good bets close to home for many. A special bank-only fishing season opens May 15 and runs through July on Columbia River hatchery spring chinook salmon and steelhead in the Ringold area, north of the Tri-Cities. Yakima and Columbia River catfish and bass fishing continues to improve. The Oak Creek Wildlife Area isn't just a good elk viewing spot anymore – not at this time of year. With spring in full bloom, this 84,000-acre WDFW property just west of Naches is a great place to see and hear woodpeckers, nuthatches, tanagers, and other songbirds. Also, look for golden eagles, prairie falcons and red-tailed hawks in the open spaces and the uncommon western gray squirrel in the creek bed.