Summer's winged tourists are a worthwhile attraction: Homer and Cordova host shorebird festivals.

• Author: Pilkington, Steve
• Position: 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...