Summer's winged tourists are a worthwhile attraction: Homer and Cordova host shorebird festivals.(Alaska This Month)

Alaska's summer is filled with visitors from other places; coming by car, RV, boat and airplane they flock to see the colorful long days and wild beauty while creating a bustling tourist industry.

Some visitors, however, arrive by air but circumvent the airports completely, make no hotel or dining reservations, provide their own meals and yet have become their own sought-after attraction. They are the wide variety of shorebirds who migrate to and through Alaska and are the focus of two separate and lively festivals this month near Kachemak Bay and on the Copper River Delta near Cordova.

The 18th annual Copper River Delta Shorebird Festival will be held in Cordova from May 3 to May 6.

In early May, the tidal flats of the delta shimmer with the activity of hundreds of thousands of shorebirds, said Martin Moe, executive director of the Cordova Chamber of Commerce.

The festival is a partnership of the Cordova Chamber, the U.S. Forest Service-Cordova Ranger District and the Prince William Sound Science Center, working together to create environmental awareness through education and hands-on experience. The event offers bird identification tips, photography workshops, scientific lectures and presentations geared for novice to expert birders, scientists, and especially, the children. The Shorebird Package includes daily shuttle bus service to Hartney Bay, a large mudflat perfect for observing shorebird feeding habits, as well as a three-hour fieldtrip to Alaganik Slough.

As many as 5 million shorebirds rest and feed here during their spring migration, Moe said. The Copper River Delta is a unique combination of wetland and marine ecosystems that provides unparalleled opportunities to observe and be a part of the migration miracle. The area, perched on the edge of the largest continuous wetlands on the Pacific coast of North America, creates a perfect setting to witness and begin to understand the integral part wetlands play in our ecosystem.

This year's keynote speaker will be Scott Weidensaul (pronounced "Why-densaul"). He has written more than two dozen books on natural history, including his widely acclaimed Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds (North Point 1999), which was one of three finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction. In addition to writing about wildlife, Weidensaul is an active field researcher whose work focuses on bird migration.

The second opportunity this month for birding experts and families looking for a great time is the 15th Annual Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival, May 10 to May 13, sponsored by the Homer Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The festival offers a huge array of educational events, lectures, food music and seminars for people of all interests and ages.

"The focus this year is family birding," said Christina Whiting, festival coordinator. During spring migration, more than 25 shorebird species stop in Kachemak Bay, a major staging area and designated site within the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network. The festival has grown into much more than birding, Whiting said, "It's Alaska's largest wildlife festival."

This year's keynote speaker is naturalist and entertainer John Acorn, perhaps best known as the writer and host of the television series "Acorn, the Nature Nut." The family oriented, how-to-be-a-naturalist show airs on the Canadian Learning Channel, Animal Planet, and various other broadcasts around the world. Acorn also hosts "Twits and Pishers," a travel show for bird watchers, produced by the Discovery Channel and seen as far away as Japan.

On May 11 is the Bird & Bug ID Walk with Acorn. Fifteen festival lottery winners will join Acorn and the Pratt Museum's Entomologist Lois Bettini for a fun and educational walk through the back woods along the Pratt Museum's Forest Ecology Trail. They will identify local birds, their songs and food habits, as well as bugs in the soil and on plants. Tickets for the lottery are $5.

Complete festival information, including a schedule of events and registration form, is available at www. homeralaska.org/shorebird.htm, at various venues throughout the state, or by contacting the Homer Chamber of Commerce at 235-7740.

Information for the Cordova festival can be found by contacting the chamber at 424-7260 or visiting www.cordovachamber.com.

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