Seabirding from the State Ferry Tustumena, Homer to Dutch Harbor

Thurs. 5pm-6pm. Islands & Ocean Visitor Center.

The state ferry Tustumena passes through 800 miles of prime seabird habitat on its trip to Unalaska/Dutch Harbor. At times it passes through concentrations of shearwaters numbering in the millions, several large nesting colonies of black-legged kittiwakes, and many concentrations of Tufted Puffins, Northern Fulmars, and Fork-tailed Storm Petrels. Murres by the thousands, murrelets, auklets and cormorants make up some of the approximately 35 to 40 species in our Maritime Refuge. Join Doug Stuart, federal naturalist and a six year veteran of this run, on a virtual state ferry trip from Homer to Dutch Harbor - no Dramamine required!

‘In Honor of Scavengers’ Reception

Thu. 5pm-7pm. Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies.

A free Shorebird Festival kickoff reception to honor Raven and good scavenging instincts. Don’t miss the reading of hungry Raven tales and a presentation by local birding expert Carmen Field on the best spots to view migrating birds and other wildlife. Seafood chowder, fruits, sweets and libations provided. Pick up a Shorebird Festival Scavenger Hunt checklist. Sponsored by the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies.

Friday

An Introduction to Birding Optics

Fri. 1pm-2pm. Islands & Ocean Visitor Center.

The right optics are essential to any birding experience, but with so many models and styles currently available, how do you find what’s right for you? This workshop will feature optics expert Ben Lizdas, who will cover the basics of binocular design and function. Topics will include binocular construction, how to choose the right binocular for your application and budget, features to be aware of, and what to avoid when looking for a birding binocular. There will be a discussion on spotting scopes as well, followed by a question and answer session. Sponsored by Shorebird Festival Optics Sponsor, Eagle Optics.

Spoon-billed Sandpipers: From Siberia to Saemangeum and into the Unknown

Fri. 2pm-3pm. Islands & Ocean Visitor Center.

This presentation by Tyler Hicks, recipient of this year’s Tim Schantz Memorial Fund Award, will follow the life of a single spoon-billed sandpiper. We will hear about the dangers this bird and other shorebirds face in the East Asian flyway, and learn more about this rare, declining, and little known species.

Digiscoping: Capturing Beautiful Wildlife Images through a Telescope

Fri. 3pm-4pm. Islands & Ocean Visitor Center.

Wondering how to take those amazing close-ups of birds? Jeff Bouton, published digiscope photographer, will share his secrets. Instruction will begin in the classroom where Jeff will review the basics of digiscoping, from what it is, to equipment selection, to adapting your camera and scope, and finally, to using the equipment to get high quality images. After the classroom session, participants will go outside to practice some newfound skills. Sponsored by Leica Optics.

Welcome Reception for Bernd Heinrich

Fri. 4pm-6pm. Pratt Museum, lower level.

Meet this year’s Keynote speaker, Dr. Bernd Heinrich, during this reception and book-signing event. A selection of Bernd’s books will be available for purchase at the museum store. Enjoy refreshments and browse the current museum exhibits: “Body Works,” a science/art collaborative exhibit revealing the marvel of the human body and “Making Ourselves at Home,” a chronological exhibit of Homer between 1900 and 1960. Co-sponsored by the Pratt Museum.

Saturday

Birding for Absolute Beginners

Sat. 9am-11am. High School Choir Room.

If you can’t tell a crow from a raven, if you think all gulls are sea gulls, and if the only bird you can name with any confidence is the bald eagle, then this lighthearted program by Alaska Department of Fish & Game’s Karla Hart is for you. In this hands-on classroom workshop, you’ll be introduced to and practice using basic birder tools: field guides, checklists and binoculars, to identify birds. Bring field guides and binoculars if you have them. Some field guides and binocular will be available for use during this workshop.

Whoo-o-o’s for Lunch?

Sat. 10am-noon. Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies.

This open house at the Center will provide fun, hands-on activity stations for kids of all ages, exploring the wonderful world of shorebirds and other local birds. Activities will include owl pellet dissection, the Eagle Discovery lab, bird crafts and bird displays. Sponsored by the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies.

Shorebird Identification Workshop

Sat. 11:30am-12:30pm. Homer High School’s Mariner Theatre.

Anchorage Audubon Society’s Buzz Scher will help you learn which species of shorebirds are likely to be seen in the Kachemak Bay area during the festival and how to identify them. Buzz has led this class every year since the Festival began in 1993, so if you love shorebirds, you won’t want to miss this!

Live Bird Presentation

Sat. 12:15pm-1:15pm, 1:30pm-2:30pm. High School Choir Room.

A unique opportunity to bring the entire family to get up close and personal to a trio of live birds! Wildlife rehabilitators DeAnne Sabol and Lisa Pajot from the Anchorage Bird Treatment and Learning Center will introduce their wild birds and discuss their behaviors. Both sessions will feature a wily raven, a beautiful black-billed magpie and a majestic great-horned owl. $2pp.

Alaska Wildlife Trails, Homer and Beyond

Sat. 1:30pm-2:30pm. Homer High School’s Mariner Theatre.

More and more people traveling in Alaska are following themed wildlife viewing itineraries, and Alaska Department of Fish & Game’s Karla Hart has the latest on birding and wildlife trail projects. Learn more about the economic development and conservation roles of these trails, and about two Alaska projects that are now underway: the Alaska Coastal Wildlife Viewing Trail (extending along the Alaska’s Marine Highway routes from Ketchikan to Dutch Harbor) and the Kenai Peninsula Birding and Wildlife Trail. Both trails intersect in Homer!

Birds and Habitats at Risk in Alaska

Sat. 3pm-4pm. Homer High School’s Mariner Theatre.

Stan Senner, the executive director of Audubon’s Alaska State Office, will discuss Audubon’s “Watch List,” which highlights declining and vulnerable bird populations, emphasizing shorebirds, in Alaska. He will also present an update on Alaska’s important bird areas, which are part of a global network of critical areas to nesting, migrating and wintering birds.

The Real Human Being, Seabirds, and Other Life: Reflections of an Aleut from the Pribilof Islands

Sat. 4:30pm-5:30pm. Homer High School’s Mariner Theatre.

Larry Merculieff was in the last generation of Pribilof Aleuts that had a fully intact traditional upbringing. Larry will share stories of what he learned growing up in the “Galapagos of the North” about our relationship to fish, wildlife, and habitat, with an emphasis on seabirds. Larry’s perspective comes from a people who have survived and thrived in the Bering Sea for ten thousand years.

Keynote Address: The Behavioral Biology of Ravens, the Wolf-birds

Sat. 7:30pm-9pm. Homer High School’s Mariner Theatre.

Ravens are closely associated with large carnivores where they encounter sometimes large temporary surpluses of food. Much of their biology is relevant to the carnivore connection, and many enigmas of their behavior start to make sense because of it. Dr. Bernd Heinrich will explore this connection through their natural history, illustrating with pictures and data generated from birds in the field and in large aviaries. A limited number of Bernd’s books will be available to purchase at this event. $6pp.

Sunday

Birders’ Coffee

Sun. 9am-11am. Islands & Ocean Visitor Center.

Warm up after a morning in the field with hot beverages and pastries. Join festival speakers and fellow birders in sharing bird sightings and meet the feathered guests from the Anchorage Bird Treatment & Learning Center. Have a book signed by Fairbanks author Debbie Miller, check out the display of optics, and don’t miss your last chance to buy a ticket (or two or three) for the $400 scope being raffled! With support from Captain’s Coffee, Two Sisters Bakery and Homer Safeway.

Shorebird Festival Tally

Sun. 9:30am-10am. Islands & Ocean Visitor Center.

Bring your sightings and gather with fellow birders to find out which bird species have been seen during this year’s Festival.

Ravens at the Feast

Sun. 10am-11am. Islands & Ocean Visitor Center.

Your second opportunity to hear Keynote speaker, Dr. Bernd Heinrich, share his bird expertise. Ravens often feed in crowds in the company of dangerous predators. Social interactions and intelligence play a large role in feeding success and survival. Bernd will address these interactions and explore the topic of the raven’s intelligence. A limited number of Bernd’s books will be available for purchase at this event.

Reading of Big Alaska: Journey Across America’s Most Amazing State

Sun. 11am-11:30am. Islands & Ocean Visitor Center.

Gather the kids to listen as Fairbanks author Debbie Miller reads from her new children’s book. You’ll follow an eagle’s flight across Alaska and meet a few bird puppet friends. Copies of “Big Alaska” will be available for purchase and author signing after the reading.

Avian Influenza: What it Means for Alaska

Sun 12:30pm-1:30pm. Islands & Ocean Visitor Center.

Alaska represents a unique crossroad where migratory flyways for Asia and North America overlap, making it the most likely location for the Asian H5N1 avian influenza to occur in North America, if introduced by wild birds. Deborah Rocque, the state’s avian influenza coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will discuss the current scientific effort to monitor birds and detect H5N1 in Alaska.

Songs from Around the World

Sun. 2pm-3pm. Islands & Ocean Visitor Center.

Fairbanks author Debbie Miller will take us on a slideshow journey to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to learn about the extraordinary songbirds that arrive each spring to breed. Hear about such birds as the Northern Wheatear, the Eastern Yellow Wagtail and the tiny Yellow Warbler, which migrate from Africa, Indonesia, Bolivia and elsewhere. She will also read from an essay based on her two-week trip in the refuge’s Sadlerochit Mountains, which will be published in the new book “Arctic Wings.”

Being a Bird: A Writing Workshop

Sun. 3pm-4pm. Islands & Ocean Visitor Center.

Capture your festival birding memories on paper! Nancy Lord, creative writing instructor and author of “Fishcamp” and “Beluga Days,” invites adults of all writing levels to this workshop. Writers will use their birding experiences as the basis for a couple of writing exercises designed to explore humans’ relationship to birds and nature. Bring paper and pen. Limit 15. No admission fee, but registration required.

Boat Tours

Barren Island Birding

Fri., Sun. 7am-5pm. Harbor, Ramp 2, Slip C-5, M/V Sizzler.

Visit the largest Bird Rookery, the Federal Wildlife Marine Refuge, and the Barren Islands. This is a great birding opportunity to view pelagic seabirds, whales and more during this over-100 mile round trip with a naturalist on board. Dress warm with rain gear and bring binoculars, bird books and cameras. Lunch included. Limit 20. $149pp. Sponsored by Rainbow Tours.

Cold Duck Time

Thu., Fri., Sat. 8am-11am. Harbor, top of Ramp 2, MW.

Captain Mako Haggerty and sea duck enthusiast Nancy Hillstrand team up to provide you with the big picture and close-ups of the local Mergini tribe. Following Nancy’s shore-side presentation on seaduck identification, habitat, habits, food, predators and nesting locations, Mako will take you on a bay tour aboard the Blue Too in pursuit of sea ducks and other marine birds. Dress warmly. Limit 6. $50pp. Sponsored by Mako’s Water Taxi.

Eiders & Otters

Sat. 1pm-5pm, Harbor, Ramp 2, Slip E-1, M/V Rainbow Connection.

Common, Steller and King Eiders winter off the high bluffs of Homer. The elusive King Eider is our target, along with several other seabird species and lots of otters. Come help us find the king! Limit 80. $45pp, $25 children under 12. Sponsored by Rainbow Tours.

Gull Island Getaway

Fri., Sun. 10am-11:30am, Sat. 1pm-2:30pm. Harbor, Ramp 1, Slip C22, M/V Bay Explorer.

Join the crew of the 50’ Bay Explorer and enjoy a narrated natural history and bird watching cruise to Gull Island to view nesting seabirds. Learn about the Homer harbor and habits of the seabirds that visit Gull Island. Limit 28. $20pp, $12 children under 12. Sponsored by Homer Ocean Charters.

Gull Island Tour

Fri. Sat. 4pm-5pm, Sun. 5pm-6pm, Harbor, corner of A&C float, M/V Danny J.

During this 1-hour boat ride you’ll have the opportunity to view nesting kittiwakes,

murres, puffins and other seabirds on Gull Island. Limit 36. $10pp, $5 children under 12. Sponsored by Kachemak Bay Ferry.

Oyster Farm & Gull Island Tour

Thu., Fri., Sat., Sun. 10am-1pm. Harbor Ramp 6 (back side of the harbor) Slip DD30, M/V Carolyn.

Enjoy the scenic beauty of Kachemak Bay and its wildlife and get a firsthand interpretive tour of the Gull Island Seabird Rookery on the way to a working Kachemak Bay oyster farm. A fun, educational and delicious experience! Limit 6. $85pp. Sponsored by Petersen Bay Lodge & Oyster Camp.

Romance the Sea

Thu., Fri., Sat., Sun. 10am-3:30pm. Harbor Ramp 2, M/V Seabird.

Don’t bird from the sidelines, immerse yourself in an active participatory adventure! Experience seabirds and sea otters from the very best viewing platform, the seat of a kayak. This guided kayak trip includes a seabird rookery visit, a loop through two scenic bays and hot beverages and snacks. Limit 12. $95pp. Sponsored by St. Augustine’s Kayak & Tours.

Seabird Sidetrip

Thu., Fri., Sat., Sun. 9am-noon. Harbor, bottom of Ramp 3, to the right, M/V Torega.

Join local bird expert Karl Stoltzfus aboard the Torega as he shares his favorite birding places during a 3-hour cruise of upper Kachemak Bay. Enjoy looking for Kittlitz’s & Marbled Murrelets, eiders, loons, Red-faced Cormorants and many other species with excellent close-up viewing opportunities for all passengers. Limit 12. $50pp. Sponsored by Bay Excursions.

Sea Kayak Bird & Wildlife Viewing

Thu., Fri., Sat., Sun. 10am-1:45pm & 1:45pm-5:30pm. Harbor Ramp 2, M/V Harlequin.

Take a scenic ferry boat ride to Yukon Island where you’ll explore Yukon Island’s remote beaches, craggy rock arches and spectacular birds and wildlife. Wear warm, layered clothes and bring a snack and a water bottle. Limit 6. $80pp, $60 children under 12. Sponsored by True North Kayak Adventures.

Sunset Dessert Birding by Boat

Fri. 7pm-9pm. Harbor, bottom of ramp 3, to the right, M/V Torega.

Join local bird expert Karl Stoltzfus for an evening cruise on the bay. Watch for birds while enjoying delectable desserts by Standaert Fare Catering. Limit 10. $35pp. Sponsored by Bay Excursions.

Upper Kachemak Bay Wildlife Tour

Sat. 8am-12:30pm, Harbor, Ramp 2, Slip E-1, M/V Rainbow Connection.

Join us aboard the 65’ M/V Rainbow Connection for a trip to the rich shorebird feeding area in front of the Fox, Sheep and Bradley Rivers. We’ll explore the head of Kachemak Bay with a visit to Bear Cove, Aurora Lagoon, Glacier Spit and a stop at Gull Island bird rookery. Continental breakfast included. Limit 80. $50pp, $30 children under 12, infants free. Sponsored by Rainbow Tours.