Kenai Birding Celebration
May 22-24
at the Kenai Visitors & Cultural Center
in Kenai Alaska
The central Kenai Peninsula area offers pristine beaches, beautiful state parks, a fantastic wildlife refuge and, best of all, thousands of birds. This three-day event is designed to showcase and celebrate our area birds. Suitable for the beginner as well as the advanced birder, the event includes a series of discussions and birding field expeditions.
Our field excursions offer fantastic birding opportunities without going too far. We have a host of experts ready to help enhance your birding skills. This year we've included a children's component to the program that is sure to excite interest.
Presented by...
- Kenai Watershed Forum
- US Fish & Wildlife Service - Kenai National Wildlife Refuge
- Kenai Visitors & Cultural Center
- Keen Eye Bird Club
Special thanks for supporting this event to...
- City of Kenai
- Great Alaska Adventure Lodge
- Kenai River Professional Guide Association
- Kenai Landing
- Frames & Things
Getting Around & Other Details
Registration: This is a FREE event and open to all.
What to bring on the field trips: Binoculars and/or scope, rain gear, a good pair of walking shoes or boots and your field guides.
Kenai Visitors & Cultural Center
11471 Kenai Spur Highway • 283-1991
All presentations and the children's program will be held at the Kenai Visitors & Cultural Center unless otherwise noted in the program.
Float Trip, Land Trip, and Children's Program
All those participating in these events must be pre-registered. Please contact Kenai Watershed Forum at 907-260-5449 or josselyn@kenaiwatershed.org for more information and to register.
Friday, May 22
Birding Float Trip of the Kenai River
This is a unique opportunity to explore the Kenai River from Skilak Lake down to Bing's Landing by drift boat. There will be four boats with a local birding expert on each helping you find all our feathered friends on that stretch of the river.
Space is limited to 12 people. $100/ per person donation. Lunch will be provided. You must pre-register for this event with the Kenai Watershed Forum 260-5449. Meeting place and other details will be provided upon registration. Many thanks to Kenai River Professional Guide Association for providing the boats.
Beginning Birding around Skilak Loop Road
Join Todd Eskelin on a van excursion around Skilak Loop Road. You'll be making lots of stops to see and hear what feathered creatures might be around.
Space is limited to 13 people. $15/ per person donation. Children must be accompanied by an adult, no children under 8. You must pre-register for this event with the Kenai Watershed Forum 260-5449. Meeting place and other details will be provided upon registration. Many thanks to Great Alaska Adventure Lodge for providing the van transportation.
Saturday, May 23
9:00 a.m. Meet & Greet at the Kenai Visitors & Cultural Center
9:30 a.m. Children's Program
With Dan Pascucci's enthuastic direction this year's children's program is going to be a hoot! From birding craft projects to fun educational songs, your little ones will love this! This program will run approximately 2 1/2 hours. Space is limited to 20 children and must be accompanied by an adult. You must pre-register for this program with the Kenai Watershed Forum at 260-5449.
9:30 a.m. Taldi Walter and eBird
Taldi Walter is the Communication and Education Specialist with the Alaska Audubon Society. She will be giving and talk on incredibly diverse tool called eBird. The eBird program is one of the newest and fastest growing birding programs in the country and new features are added weekly.
10:00 a.m Mossy Kilcher Nest Finding Photo Essay
10:30 a.m. Mossy Kilcher American Dipper Nesting DVD
Mossy Kilcher is a very accomplished birder, photographer and musician and was raised in Homer. She is the proprietor of Seaside Farms, one of the best birding locations in Homer. She spends the majority of her free time photographing and recording bird songs and loves sharing her passion with anyone who is interested. She will be giving two programs. The first is a photographic essay on bird nests from South-central Alaska. The second is a dvd documentary on the life of a dipper family raising young on the Kenai.
11:00 a.m. Beth Peluso birding by ear
Beth Peluso from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Watchable Wildlife Program will give an interactive presentation on birding by ear. This will be a fun introduction to understanding how to identify the birds singing in your back yard.
12:00 Noon Lunch on your own
12:30 p.m. Speical in the field 'Birding by Ear' with Beth Peluso. Meet at the Kenai Viewing Platform near the City of Kenai's dock.
1:00 p.m. Field Stations Open
Field Station 1: Kenai Viewing Platform near the City of Kenai's dock.
Field Station 2: Kenai Landing down Cannary Road
4:00 p.m. Peeps Art & Photo Exhibit Award Ceremony
Everyone is welcome at Frames & Things in the Blazy Mall for an award ceremony honoring the children exhibiting in the Peeps Art & Photo Exhibit. Come support the Peeps!
Sunday, May 24
10:00 a.m. Meet & Greet at the Kenai Visitors & Cultural Center
10:30 a.m. Bill Larned - Loons of the Kenai Peninsula
Bill Larned is a pilot biologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service Migratory Birds Division. He has spent many years surveying every inch of Alaska with special emphasis on Eiders. Bill will give a presentation on the different species of loons on the Kenai and the habitats and niches they fill.
11:00 a.m. Michelle Michaud - Satelite tracking the Sandhill Cranes of Homer
Michelle Michaud is a Homer resident that participated in the recent Sandhill Crane project based in Homer and helped form the newest birding group, Kachemak Bay Birders. Some of the cranes that were captured and fitted with satellite transmitters were captured on the back of her property. She will give us an update on the project and where the cranes went after they left the Kenai Peninsula.
11:30 a.m. Mike Edwards - Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program
Mike Edwards is a Fisheries Biologist at the Kenai Field Office. Mike is also the local representative for the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program. The program works with various private land owners to help restore lands to meet the habitat needs of our nations trust species which often include birds. Mike has helped with the restoration of the new Kenai Viewing Platform and will tell us how the program came about and how it works.
12:00 Noon Beth Peluso Marine Highway Wildlife Trail Book
Alaska’s first two wildlife viewing trails, the Alaska Coastal Wildlife Viewing Trail and the Kenai Peninsula Wildlife Viewing Trail, cross paths on the Kenai Peninsula. Wildlife viewing trails are a network of viewing sites, hiking trails, and overlooks linked by highways—or in the case of the Coastal Trail, the Alaska Marine Highway. Find out how these viewing trails can benefit you and your community.
12:30 p.m. Lunch on your own
1:00 p.m. Field Stations Open
Field Station 1: Kenai Viewing Platform near the City of Kenai's dock.
Field Station 2: Kenai Landing down Cannary Road
6:00 p.m. Backyard Birding Potluck Dinner at Marlow's on the Kenai
Bring your favorite dish and join your new friends for a fun eveing of backyard birding. Directions to the Marlow's on the Kenai available HERE.
Peeps Art & Photo Exhibit
Kenai Peninsula children under the age of 18 are invited to submit their BIRDS AND WILDLIFE OF THE KENAI PENINSULA ARTW0RK, 2-D OR 3-D, for display at the Blazy Mall in Soldotna.
Official Rules and Information Sheet
Download your Entry Form here!
DON’T MISS THE DEADLINE: FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2009