Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival

Each year the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival gives bird lovers the opportunity to become better acquainted with various bird species. This year will be no different and the festival theme for 2008 is “Shorebirds as International Ambassadors: Connecting Birds, Habitats and People.”

The Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival takes place each year in Homer, Alaska, where more than 25 species of shorebirds make their migration to Kachemak Bay in time for the arrival of spring. Here they join thousands of resident waterfowl, woodland birds and seabirds. This abundance of birds provides the perfect setting for the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival. The festival is family friendly and caters to beginner, intermediate and advanced birders and even non-birders and the focus is on a fun, nature-orientated weekend celebration.

This year’s festival will give birders an opportunity to expand their knowledge of birds in both Kachemak Bay and in other places around the globe. If you are excited at the prospect of birding elsewhere in the world, you may be able to book your place in a birding trip to Bolivia or Taiwan. However, if you are only planning to keep it local, you will certainly not miss out! Birders attending the festival will be treated to speeches by a variety of expert naturalists, birders and guides, who will share their extensive knowledge and also guide you through the various field events and workshops. Presentations and boat tours will also be on offer, and participants can choose between shorebird viewing stations, hiking, guided bird walks, nature writing worships, kayaking, an educational workshop on optics and digiscoping, courses on shorebird identification through sound and sight, live bird presentations and tours of Homer’s Hot Spots.

But the fun and entertainment doesn’t end there! Once you have taken in all the sights and sounds of nature, you can settle down, relax and enjoy an evening of great entertainment. Live concerts, fashion shows, an art and education fair, multimedia performances, beer bashes, bird calling competitions, poetry readings and solo singing performances are just some of the great evening entertainment on offer at the Kachemack Bay Shorebird Festival. The 2008 Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival will take place from 8 to11 May, so book your spot now and make the most of this impressive bird watching festival.