2012 Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival
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20th Anniversary - May 10-13
Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival
Check
out the Festival's presence on
Facebook.
Welcome to the 20th Anniversary Kachemak Bay
Shorebird Festival
It all started in 1993 when a group of Homer
residents representing environmental, economic and
cultural interests got together with a vision to
create a local event that would both educate the
public about shorebirds and wetlands and help to
preserve critical bird habitat areas.
What started as a very small Festival with a very
large mission has grown into an extensive four day
weekend, filled with events and activities for
birders of all ages and skill levels, and events and
activities for non-birders as well. Today, the
Festival boasts over fifty workshops, presentations,
field events and art and entertainment activities.
These include but are not limited to birding and
natural history by boat, kayak, bike and van, scenic
beach hikes and walks, shorebirding walks, guided
viewing stations, photography workshops and field
trips, geology field trips, nature writing
workshops, writing panels, shorebird identification,
field drawing events, birding for beginning birders,
birding for intermediate birders, birding for
advanced birders, a Junior Birder program, an Arts,
Crafts, Gifts and Education Fair, a welcome
reception for the Keynote speaker, family concerts,
live music, movie showings, evening performances,
art gallery walks, and on and on and on. These
events and activities are led by well-known local,
regional and international speakers, presenters and
guides, and the quality of the programs have attract
well-know Keynote speakers including Peter Harrison,
Kenn Kaufman, Pete Dunne and Car Safina to name a
few.
It has been my honor to serve as the Coordinator of
the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival for the past
eight years, and to work with the incredibly
passionate, enthusiastic and dedicated individuals
that make up the Festival planning committee and who
work for nine months to create the Festival that you
enjoy annually. These Committee members are Betty
Siegel, Beth Peluso, Beth Trowbridge, Carla Stanley,
Carmen Field, Diane Borgman, Jason Sodergren, Karl
Stoltzfus, Lisa Matlock, Marianne Aplin and Rebekah
Jones. I will be retiring from my position as
Coordinator after this year's Festival and I would
like to express my respect and gratitude to Dorle
Harness, the Coordinator before me, to Derotha
Ferraro and Poppy Benson, the women who hired me,
and to Janice Coker, Janet Higley, Roni Overway,
Barb Glidden, Paul Frisinger and Karen East for
saving my sanity, making me laugh and reminding me
to breathe! I would also like to thank each and
every individual and organization within and outside
of Homer who has given so generously of their time,
their resources, their expertise and their finances.
Your support continues to be integral to the success
of the Festival.
This year's Festival celebrates twenty years of
great birds, great birders and great birding. I hop
you enjoy the expansive program the Committee and I
have put together for you. It's been fun! Now, let's
get birding.
Christina M Whiting
Festival Coordinator
Want to
become a member of the elite Festival Shorebird
Crane Club? Download the Application
here.
Arts, Crafts, Gifts & Education Fair vendor
applications now available on line. Download the
Application
here.
Want to
volunteer for the Shorebird Festival? Many
opportunities are available leading up to and during
Festival weekend. Birding skills are not required.
Contact Christina at
907-235-7740 or
shorebirdster@gmail.com
for more information.
Thanks to our Corporate Sponsors
Homer Area Birding
Information is available on the web at
www.kachemakbaybirders.com.
For information on
the latest bird arrivals or to report your bird
sightings, call 907-235-PEEP (235-7337). |
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Big Spit Birding
Challengers
Photo by Christina Whiting |
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Yellow Leg
Photo by Wild North
Photography |
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Rock Sandpipers
Photo by Karl Stoltzfus |
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Family that birds
together stays together
Photo by Christina Whiting |
Website
Festival photos courtesy of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service, unless otherwise noted.
