Kachemak Bay Shore Bird Festival
Hola, bonjour, ciao, hallo, het hallo, aloha, oi, hei, hello and welcome to the 16th Annual Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival, a celebration of spring and the more than 25 species of shorebirds that migrate to Kachemak Bay, joining our thousands of resident seabirds, waterfowl and woodland birds.
This year’s Festival theme is Shorebirds as International Ambassadors: Connecting Birds, Habitats and People. Whether you’re a beginner, intermediate or advanced birder, or even the nonbirder in your group, you’ll enjoy this fun-for-the-entire-family weekend celebration.
Expand your knowledge of birds and birding both in Kachemak Bay and around the globe during this year’s Festival, from tracking Godwits and Eiders, to birding in Bolivia and Taiwan. Our expert speakers, naturalists and guides will share their extensive wealth of birding knowledge as they lead you through the many field events, workshops, presentations and boat tours offered. Activities include shorebird viewing stations, guided bird walks and hikes, shorebird identification by sight and by sound, a nature writing workshop, bird, wildlife and Bay tours by boat and kayak, optics and digiscoping education, live bird presentations, harbor dock tours, a tour of Homer’s Hot Spots, just to name a few.
After birding, relax and unwind with our great lineup of entertainment, including Bruce Cockburn in concert, the Salty Dawg’s Bird Calling Competition, the Keynote Welcome Reception, a Birders’ Fashion Show, the Arts & Education Fair,
Mr. Whitekeys’ 2nd Annual Shorebird Sideshow, the Bird Beer Bash, Sunrise Kilcher-Sjoberg & Friends’ On the Wing Concert of Poetry & Song, and more.
Happy Birding!
Richard Crossley
Keynote Speaker
Coauthor of and contributing photographer to The Shorebird Guide, published in 2006, Richard Crossley’s lifelong love affair with birding began at the age of 10 during a birding trip with a school teacher. Chasing birds while hitchhiking over 100,000 miles across Britain and Europe as a youth, Richard came to the US after graduating with a degree in Environmental Sciences, and fell in love with Cape May, New Jersey, where he currently lives with his wife and daughters.
Richard is considered one of North American’s top experts on shorebirds, and is well known for his quick and long-distance bird identification skills, relying on bird size, structure and behavior, rather than color. Influenced by art and his travels throughout the world, Richard’s photographs depict movement and the beautiful, varied patterns of nature. Richard is passionate about the future of birding, and he and his wife recently formed the Cape May Young Birders Club, with the goal of bringing youth and the community together to encourage a love of birding and the outdoors.
Meet Richard Crossley during the Keynote Welcome Reception on Friday at the Pratt Museum, take in his Saturday Keynote address “Past, Present & Future” following the Arts & Education Fair at the High School, and hear his final Festival presentation “Birding Exposed” during the Birders’ Coffee on Sunday at the Islands & Ocean Visitor Center. And, be one of 15 lucky winners to join Richard Crossley on Saturday morning for a fun and unique, hands-on photography experience, with the In the Field with Richard Crossley Photography Workshop Lottery, open to all ages and photography skill levels.