Spring Wears Many Faces on Alaska National Wildlife Refuges (AK)

by Melanie Dufour, Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges

The Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges supports all 16 national wildlife refuges in Alaska. From Alaska Maritime in the southwest to the Arctic NWR in the far northeast, these vast acres include islands, ocean coastlines, wetlands, snow-covered peaks, coastal plains, boreal forest, sand dunes, live volcanoes, native lands, and much more. (View this 3-minute video for a bird’s-eye view of these stunning landscapes!) 

Though spring has many faces and arrives at quite different times on these refuges, at Kachemak Bay on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska Friends and Alaska Maritime NWR will be hosting the 30th Annual Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival, May 4 – 8. After altering the format to adjust to COVID last year, this year the festival is returning with lots of favorites, including guided tours on the bay and the shoreline and a bird calling contest at a brewery. 

This year will also feature some exciting new additions that expand the reach and connection to include people of all ages and abilities as well as the importance of art and nature. Added this year is a nature journaling class, a ballet with the bird, an All Abilities Birding Outing, and we've expanded our Junior Birder program so those who “fledge” from that go on to become Teen Birders! And of course, any good festival has its swag, which for Kachemak includes wearables as well as art.