Festival Schedule
Welcome to the 14th Annual
Alaska Bald Eagle Festival in Haines, Alaska!
Celebrating the largest gathering of Bald Eagles in the World!
 |
The American Bald Eagle Foundation, the Alaska Bald Eagle Festival Committee, and the people of Haines welcome you to the 2008 Alaska Bald Eagle Festival. This program will help you best plan your activities during your visit to our historic community.
From your morning coffee in one of our homey, welcoming restaurants, to the time you lay your head on the pillow at night in one of our fine hotels, we are certain you will have an exciting, fulfilling once-in-a-lifetime experience here in beautiful Haines, Alaska.
Headquarters for the Festival is at the American Bald Eagle Foundation building conveniently located at the corner of Second Avenue and the Haines Highway. Here you will attend wildlife workshops, classes, tours and live raptor presentations. Daily busses will whisk you to the Alaska Bald Eagle Preserve along the Haines Highway where you will witness the “Gathering Of The Eagles” – where you can see over 3,000 eagles feeding on a late run of salmon. Special presentations at the Sheldon Museum will entertain you and fine evening entertainment has been scheduled each night to round out your Festival experience.
On Saturday, plan to attend the highlight of the Festival – the rehabilitated eagle release at the Eagle Preserve. Bid in the annual “Flight For Freedom” auction for the honor of releasing one of these magnificent birds back into the wild!
 |
Started in 2003, the “Flight For Freedom” auction program raises funds for statewide educational programs having to do with the American Bald Eagle and the preservation of its habitat in Alaska.
Between scheduled events, you will want to visit our many fine shops and galleries downtown and in Fort Seward where you will find local Alaskan and native artwork and other special treasures to take home with you. Our friendly shopkeepers and artisans will welcome you warmly!
Please plan to attend every day of the Festival if you can in order to experience the broad range of activities we have scheduled for you. Thank you for helping us celebrate this, our 14th annual Alaska Bald Eagle Festival!
To Be Announced
To Be Announced
TBD
More information Coming Soon
 |
| John Pitcher |
John C. Pitcher - Artist/Naturalist, Dorset, Vermont
Pitcher approaches his art as an Artist/Naturalist, creating his field sketches, field journals and finished paintings with confidence and originality. For over thirty years he has expressed his passion for birds and the natural world through his paintings of wildlife.
John C. Pitcher moved to Alaska in 1971, there he spent the next twelve years raising his family and developing his art and birding skills. His first sketches of the Bald Eagle "Council Grounds" were made in 1982 which he later developed into his popular painting "Winter on the River". He since has lived in Washington and now in southwest Vermont where he and his wife Sue Westin, also a professional artist, run their Gallery on the Marsh along the shore the Dorset Marsh.
Nick Hammond, a British author/editor/publisher specializing in wildlife and nature, rates Pitcher as "among the best American wildlife artists." Robert J. Koenke, a leading spokesperson on wildlife art and a marketing expert says, "I'd compare Pitcher's work with that of any of the great artists in the world." Pitcher is an honoured member of the Society of Animal Artists and a canoeing crewmember of "WREAF" (Wilderness River Expedition Artist Foundation) where his field studies and paintings are part of the touring exhibit "Visions of the Boreal Forest Ð Artists deep in the Wilderness" - this exhibit will soon be featured at the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.
His published works are through Artique Ltd., Mill Pond Press, Alaska Geographic, National Geographic, National Wildlife Federation, Apple Jack Limited Ed. and Good Nature Publishing Co.
An award-winning member of the international Society of Animal Artists, his paintings are exhibited nationally and are in the permanent collections of the Anchorage Museum of History and Art, AK; University of Alaska Museum, AK; The Bennington Center for the Arts, VT; The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, WI; and the Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum, NJ.
 |
| Golden Eagle live demonstration |
Live Bird
Presentations
Anchorage Bird TLC - Kerry Siefert, Lynn Siefert
Juneau Raptor Center - presenters TBA
(more info on these exciting live bird presentations coming soon!)
Wildlife Workshops
Presentations (more
info on these exciting presentations coming soon!)
TO BE ANNOUNCED
• Naturalist Guided Excursions to the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, twice daily
• A Park Ranger will be on-site in the Preserve to answer your questions
 |
| Four eagles fight for position on Chilkat River in the preserve. |
Join award-winning Naturalists on board a well equipped "expedition bus" for a fully narrated journey past ancient Tlingit village sites to the heart of the Preserve, the "Eagle Council Grounds" twenty-one miles up the Chilkat River Valley north of Haines. This is a unique area where a special underground reservoir in an alluvial fan keeps a mile-long stretch of the Chilkat River ice-free providing access to the unique winter run of spawning salmon when food supplies are exhausted elsewhere.
Your guides enjoy sharing their knowledge of the area's rich natural and cultural history. Questions are encouraged. There is plenty of time so all can participate in identification, discussions and photography. Interpretive highlights include: bald eagle winter ecology, current eagle population, local nesting mortality, special adaptations, size of the fish runs, identification and tracks of other birds, eagles, moose, wolves, bears, otters and other small mammals in the snow and mud, the history of Haines, the creation of the Preserve, and the fascinating history of three Tlingit village sites en route, (two are abandoned). Old photos are used to show the geologic, biologic and social changes to the area over the last century.
DEPARTURES: During the Festival, busses depart the Haines Visitor's Center parking lot, in the center of town. Check your Schedule of Events for departure times.
DURATION: 3 hours. Participants who are prepared for the weather can arrange with their guide to stay through lunch in the preserve, 7 hours, and return on the 3:30 PM bus to town. Make sure to arrange this with your guide ahead of time. During the last three festivals the local brown bears were still at large and had not gone to their winter dens yet. Cell phones do not work from the Preserve.
 |
| Eagle
landing on Chilkat River |
ACTIVITY LEVEL: Moderate. 2 miles of level trails, viewing areas and boardwalks. Participants should be in good health and able to walk for sustained periods outdoors.
DRESS: Dress for the weather, with warm layered clothing, waterproof shell, warm boots, gloves, or mittens. The bus functions as a warming hut and bird blind.
BRING: Cameras, extra film and batteries, binoculars, and a snack. Heat packs extend battery life on cold days.
PROVIDED: Interpretation, restroom facilities, transportation from the visitor's center to the preserve.
COST: Included in your festival registration. Non-festival participants pay $20/ trip on the bus.
WEATHER: It's not nearly as cold as you might think! Just 21 miles from the ocean you can expect everything from 40° F, cloudy and rainy, to 20° F with three feet of snow , to 0°F with clear skies. At this latitude and time of year the sun rises at 8:30 AM and sets around 3:00 PM.
USE THE BUSSES: With icy winter roads and limited parking in the preserve, festival participants are encouraged to use bus service even if they have a vehicle.
To Be Announced
• Release of Wild
Rehabilitated Bald Eagles
• Hands-on Activities at the Sheldon
Museum - TBA
• American
Bald Eagle Foundation natural history display,
diorama and speakers
• Sheldon
Museum and Cultural Center Special Events and Exhibits
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
