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12th annual Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival,
May 6, 7, 8, & 9, 2004
Shorebird Page | Event
Descriptions | Registration Forms
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Art by Carla Stanley |
Highlights of the 2004 Festival
Keynote Speaker: Pete Dunne
About Pete Dunne.
Pete Dunne is a well-known name to anyone with an
interest in birds. He is the Director of the Cape May Bird Observatory
in New Jersey and author of seven books on birding. Pete has written
numerous columns and articles for all major birding magazines as well as
the New York Times, and he is an articulate spokesman for the birds and
those who pursue them. A master storyteller and recipient of the ABA
Roger Tory Peterson Award for Promoting the Cause of Birding, Pete Dunne
brings a wealth of information and inspiration to bird watchers of all
levels.
International Migratory Bird Day Art Auction
We
are proud to be able to offer the original artwork for the 2004 IMBD
poster by Ram Papish in a silent auction during the Kachemak Bay
Shorebird Festival. Ram will donate a portion of the proceeds to benefit
the festival. A unique sideline of his seabird art will be displayed at
the Pratt Museum, where he will hold a field sketching workshop and be
the feature artist for the Gallery Migration. Ram will also offer a
presentation on the Pribilof Islands, where he has done years of seabird
research. See the International Migratory Bird Day website at
www.birdday.org
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News!
The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and Kenai Wildlife Refuge are holding their big Centennial Celebration Event for
National Wildlife Refuges on August 2nd
Click
HERE for info |
Singer-songwriter Dana Lyons will bring his creatively presented
environmental messages to this year’s Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival.
His witty lyrics and diverse musical talent captures audiences of all
ages around the world. His songs cover a wide spectrum of topics and his
story lines range from clever humor to thoughtful sensibility.
 Art Chart to Benefit the Shorebird Conservation and Education Fund
Homer artists Carla Stanley and Conrad Field will again donate their
time and talent to produce a new Art Chart, featuring painted and drawn
birds on a nautical chart of Kachemak Bay. The original will be
available as well as the popular posters signed by both artists that
have quickly become highly sought after collector items. Thank you
Carla and Conrad for your dedicated support!
The Semipalmated Plover is the featured bird for the 12th annual
Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival. It is the only shorebird that nests on
the Homer Spit, while most other species use the beaches and mud flats
of Kachemak Bay as a staging area on their journey to the breeding
grounds in other parts of Alaska. The Semipalmated Plover gets its name
from the small web that joins its front toes. It is featured in this
year’s festival design by Carla Stanley.
The Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival offers a wide variety of birding
workshops and presentations for beginning and advanced birders, guided
field trips and viewing stations, children's activities, art and
entertainment events, boat tours and sea-kayak trips. Many events are
free of charge and bay tours are offered at special festival fares. |
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Conrad Field
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Over
50 events including:
- Shorebird Viewing
Stations
- Guided Bird Walks
- Educational Workshops
- Boat Wildlife
Tours
- Kids Activities
- Arts and Crafts Fair
- Gallery
Migration
- Kid's Concert
- Wooden Boat Festival
- and Much More!
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Greetings from the
Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival team!
 Much has
happened since the extensive shorebird research of local ornithology
professor George West triggered the idea among community leaders to hold a
shorebird festival in Homer. This collaboration between cultural,
environmental and business groups led to community-wide awareness of the
phenomenal migration of hundreds of thousands of shorebirds and the concern
for their fragile habitat.
As the festival was created, Homer middle school teacher Dave Brann
spearheaded the Shorebird Sister School Program, linking students along the
Western flyway via the internet to track shorebirds as they migrate. An
expansive Shorebird Sister School curriculum was developed by a local
committee and over the years the project grew beyond North America's
borders with connections to South America, Asia and Australia. The SSSP is
now administered from Washington DC.
 Kachemak Bay was
designated as part of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network,
bringing it international recognition for its significance as a shorebird
staging area. This partnership with WHSRN links Homer to a number of
critical shorebird habitat areas from Alaska to the tip of South America.
Efforts by the Kachemak Heritage Land Trust, the City of Homer and other
conservation organizations to permanently protect shorebird habitat received
wide community support. A number of critical habitat parcels have been
protected, and more conservation efforts are underway.
Many organizations and individuals take part in the organization of the
Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival. The unique partnership of festival sponsors
Homer Chamber of Commerce and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, both of whom
utilize tremendous volunteer power to make the festival happen, received the
Public/Private Partnership Award from the Alaska Land Management Forum in
1999.
Reflecting on the shorebird festival's history, it still amazes me how deep an impact this fun,
highly enjoyable event has on our community and beyond. Please come and
join the celebration.
Sincerely,
Dorle Scholz, Festival Coordinator
Homer Area
Birding Website!
Find out about birding opportunities, bird count results and species
listings on the new birding website for the Homer Area at
birdinghomeralaska.org
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The Kachemak Bay
Shorebird Festival
Alaska will experience a special celebration of spring when the Kachemak
Bay Shorebird Festival, the state's largest wildlife festival, kicks off
in early May. Festival participants can choose between
over 50 different events, from advanced ornithology workshops, beginning
backyard birding presentations, field trips and boat tours to arts events
and children's activities
 Hundreds of thousands of
shorebirds, representing over 25 species from as far as Asia, Hawaii and
South America use sites around Kachemak Bay as feeding grounds during
their spring migration. Shorebirds commonly seen during the festival
include Western and Least Sandpipers, Dunlins, Short-billed Dowitchers,
Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Common Snipe, and Black-bellied and
Semipalmated Plovers. Over 100 species of
pelagic, coastal and woodland birds have been seen in one day during the
Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival, including Aleutian Tern, Red-faced
Cormorant, Kittlitz's Murrelet and Eurasian Wigeon.
Let's Celebrate Spring!
The whole community and visitors from around the
state and the country gather every year to witness the return of the
shorebirds and to take part in the festivities. Join us for the Kachemak
Bay Shorebird Festival.
The Place
 Located
on the beautiful shores of Kachemak Bay, the Homer Spit is one of the most
accessible places for shorebird viewing in Alaska. Access available via a
scenic 5 hour drive south of Anchorage, or take one of the many daily
flights from Anchorage International Airport to Homer.
The Birds
Over 100,000 shorebirds migrate through Kachemak Bay.
Many travel thousands of miles resting and feeding at a very few specific
critical stop-over points such as the base of the Homer Spit on their
journey to the breeding grounds in the Alaska tundra
Shorebirds
Roadside viewing of over 25 species and flocks numbering several thousand
birds is possible. Shorebirds to look for during the festival include:
Black-Bellied, American Golden, Pacific Golden and Semipalmated Plover;
Hudsonian, Marbled and Bar-tailed Godwits; Red Knots; Surfbirds; Western,
Least, Pectoral, Spotted and Semipalmated Sandpipers; Red-necked Phalaropes;
Ruddy and Black Turnstones; Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs; Common Snipe;
Dunlins; Short-billed and Long-billed Dowitchers; Whimbrels; and Wandering
Tattlers.
Other Species
 Besides the "Guests of
Honor", the shorebirds, many of the 236 species of birds
recorded for Homer can also be seen in early May, including Arctic and
Aleutian Terns, Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels and Tufted and Horned Puffins.
Red-faced Cormorants and thousands of Common Murres and Black-legged
Kittiwakes are assembling near their nesting sites on Gull Island. Common
Eiders, Pigeon Guillemots, Marbled and perhaps Kittlitz’s Murrelets
should be on the Bay. Look for Eurasian Wigeons in Mud Bay or Beluga
Lake. Three-toed and Black-backed Woodpeckers are resident in spruce woods
around Homer, along with Warblers and Swallows and of course there are
always Bald Eagles, lots of them.
The Festival's History
It all started when...In 1993 a group of Homer residents representing
environmental, economic and cultural interests, got together to dream up
an event. They envisioned a festival that would educate the public about
shorebirds and wetlands. The Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival was born.
Festival Dates: May
6-9, 2004
Sponsors: Homer Chamber of Commerce, US Fish & Wildlife
Service Contact: Dorle Scholz, Festival Coordinator
Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival,
P.O.Box 541, Homer, Alaska 99603
Phone- (907) 235-7740 Fax: (907) 235-8766
BIRD HOTLINE (907) 235-PEEP
New Birding Website at: birdinghomeralaska.org
Education paid off!
Festival enthusiasm has led to
protection of critical shorebird habitat. Kachemak Bay has been included
in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network. Habitat has been
acquired and city land permanently protected on the Spit, in Beluga
Slough, and Overlook Park. These lands are being preserved for the future
and the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival played an important part in the
process.
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Funding for the Birds
Celebrating the return
of the shorebirds is not enough. We want to ensure that future
generations can experience and enjoy this great migration too. The
festival's goal is to educate people about birds and to highlight
the significance of habitat conservation. The Kachemak Bay Shorebird
Festival is not a fundraising event. The festival budget is limited
to cover basic administrative expenses and provide free and low cost
educational events. If the festival generates any proceeds after
covering expenses, they are allocated towards education, research,
and protection of bird habitat. The Shorebird Education and
Conservation Fund has been established to support those projects.
On behalf of future
generations of plovers, sandpipers, godwits, birders and many
other species: Thank you for your support.
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The Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival sponsors
Homer Chamber of Commerce and US Fish & Wildlife Service wish to thank all
festival supporters, including:
Magnificent Godwit Supporters
Homer Tribune, Eagle Optics, Anchorage Daily News, Era Aviation
Great Yellowlegs Supporters
Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge,
Bay Excursions, Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, Carmen Field, Hallo Bay
Wilderness Camp, Geri Laehn, Barbara Mc.Bride, Jackie McDonough, Ram Papish,
Pratt Museum, MaryAnne Rowe, Barbara Russell, Tim Schantz Memorial Fund,
Simyra Taback Wildlife Photography, shorebird artwork by Carla Stanley,
Conrad Field and George West
Awesome Nest Providers - who donated
speaker accommodations
Beeson's B&B, Best Western Bidarka Inn, Jackie Dentz, Driftwood Inn,
Heritage Hotel, Homer Floatplane Lodge, Island Watch B&B, Kiana B&B, Mavis
Muller, Ocean Shores Motel, Skyline B&B, Spit Road Lodge, Victorian Heights
B&B, Welcome Friends B&B
Invaluable Sandpiper Supporters
Anchorage Audubon Society, Art Shop Gallery, Bay Club, Bear Claw Bakery,
Bear Creek Winery, Bird Treatment & Learning Center, Bunnell Street Gallery,
Captain's Coffee, Coal Point Trading Company, Downward Dog Productions, Dale
Chorman, Eagle Eye Photo, Fireweed Gallery, Friends of Kachemak Bay State
Park, Grog Shop, Janet Higley, Homer Council on the Arts, Homer Methodist
Church, Homer Ocean Charters, Homer Theater, Homer Tours, Jakolof Ferry
Service, Kachemak Bay Conservation Society, Kachemak Bay Ferry, Kachemak Bay
Quilters, Kachemak Bay Research Reserve, Kachemak Bay Title Company,
Kachemak Bay Wilderness Lodge, Kachemak Guide Bureau, Kachemak Shellfish
Growers, KBBI Public Radio, Rich Kleinleder, K-Wave Radio, Land's End
Resort, Leica Optics, Lighthouse Village, Mako's Water Taxi, NOMAR Canvas
Products, Picture Alaska Gallery, Princess Tours, Ptarmigan Arts Gallery,
Rainbow Tours, Sail Wood Adventures, Salty Dawg Saloon, Sea Lion Gallery,
Shirley Mogle, Spenard Builders Supply, St. Augustine Kayaks & Tours,
Sunrise Sjoberg, True North Kayak Adventures, Two Sisters Bakery, Wells
Fargo Bank Alaska
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