For the past three years, Joe Lacoste and his two children have made the drive from Sacramento to Davis, where they join Lacoste’s brother Paul and his two kids at California Duck Days.

“They love the fishing,” Joe Lacoste said as the four cousins — ages 4, 5, 6 and 7 — cradled four-day-old mallard ducklings in their palms Saturday at a California Waterfowl Association booth. “They’re also getting a little bit of education, too, which is really cool.”

Children are a major focus of Duck Days, a celebration of area wetlands and wildlife organized by the Yolo Basin Foundation and the California Department of Fish and Game. This marks the event’s 17th year.

“They’re the next generation of environmentalists. We’ve got to get them interested,” Ann Brice, coordinator of the Duck Days steering committee, said of the kid-friendly workshops and exhibits.

Saturday’s sunny skies put the Duck Days visitor turnout in “record territory,” Brice said, noting the full parking lot and sandwiches that had sold out by midday.

About half of the field trips to area wetlands and other birding sites were filled in advance, while others booked up as the day progressed, Brice said.

For many youthful visitors, part of the fun is filling out passports — blue cards stamped by exhibitors at the Department of Fish and Game’s Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area headquarters on Chiles Road.

Kids are encouraged to ask a question to earn a stamp, and a full passport of 20 stamps can be exchanged for a prize.

“It gives them the confidence to ask questions,” Brice said.

In some instances, the children seemed to know just as much — if not more — than their parents.

“You can really tell the kids of biologist parents,” said Fred Vanderwold of Cache Creek Conservancy, whose exhibit featured pelts of animals found along many of California’s waterways.

Vanderwold said children generally are good at identifying many of the animals, which include a beaver, squirrel, raccoon and otter. Minks and muskrats tend to throw them for a loop, however.

Kids and adults alike took advantage of hands-on activities such as making fishing flies and bird boxes.

James Reynolds, 6, said he hopes to attract an owl with his bird box in the back yard of his Fairfield home.

“I’m going to put it in the trees,” James said. His favorite part of the activity, he added, was using an adult power drill.

“He loves taking things apart. It’s nice to see him put something together,” dad Ray Reynolds said.

At a demonstration pond near the Fish and Game headquarters, families fished for rainbow trout and slipped on wading boots for an up-close look at the pond’s inhabitants.

Yolo Basin Foundation education coordinator Ann Burris handed out nets for kids to transfer fish and bugs from the pond to shallow trays, where they could get a better look.

“I got about 10 fish and two snails,” said Aidan Quinton, 9, of Davis. “There’s a lot of natural wildlife, and they’re pretty interesting.”

Across the pond, 8-year-old Alexander Jacobson of San Francisco went fishing for the very first time.

“Casting the fishing line is my favorite part,” he said.

New to Duck Days this year were the Fly Fishers of Davis, a regional fly fishing club whose members taught visitors how to make their own colorful flies.

“It’s supposed to imitate a leech, and leeches usually are at the bottom of rivers and streams,” said Kyle Kordana, 11, of Davis, who took less than a minute to fashion a purple fly out of feathers, chenille and hen hackle.

“It’s all a wonderful game of trying to fool the trout into thinking this is a tasty lunch,” added Paul Berliner of Davis, “and it’s a hobby for the old and the young.”

— Reach Lauren Keene at [email protected] or (530) 747-8048. Follow her on Twitter @laurenkeene

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Ann Burris, education coordinator with the Yolo Basin Foundation, helps Jayden Stratton-Quirk, 4 of Davis, look through his net for fish or insects at a learning pond. Wayne Tilcock/Enterprise photo

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Paul Berliner of the Fly Fishers of Davis helps Rebecca Orr, 8 of Elk Grove, make a fishing lure. Wayne Tilcock/Enterprise photo

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Ray Reynolds and his son James, 6, of Fairfield, work on making an owl box to put up in a tree at their house. Wayne Tilcock/Enterprise photo

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Cousins Paige Lacoste, 7, of Davis, and Kate Lacoste, 6, of Sacramento, hold mallard ducklings. Wayne Tilcock/Enterprise photo

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Aidan, 9, and Nathaniel, 6, Quinton of Davis look for creatures to capture in their nets. Wayne Tilcock/Enterprise photo

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Aidan, 9, and Nathaniel, 6, Quinton of Davis bring their nets with insects and small fish to Ann Burris, education coordinator with Yolo Basin Foundation. Wayne Tilcock/Enterprise photo

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A red tailed hawk from the UC Davis Raptor Center poses for observation. Wayne Tilcock/Enterprise photo

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Torri Gilbert gets a close-up look at a mallard duckling. Wayne Tilcock/Enterprise photo

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