Tide and Time.....

Homer is a major site of extreme tides; variations here of 28-30 feet which we enjoy despite our struggle to understand their dynamics. This past week we experienced three days of large negative tides, the lowest being -5.5 during which the rapidly receding sea exposed rarely seen rocks and sand bars and created tide pools for exploration. One of the other volunteers saw octopus which I envied, but we were delighted by the array of sea stars, anemone, kelp and other seaweeds and crabs, worms and small fish we did see. This first extreme negative tide has taught us the best places to go and we'll find that elusive octopus next time. I'm eager to share some of my finds/photos. The shore, tides and rich estuarine environment (where fresh water streams/rivers meet the sea) are another bonus of volunteering here but I must admit that the generally cold, dreary weather and the "late" spring are getting to us.

This past weekend we worked in various capacities for the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival - one of the top in the US. My favorite assignments were manning the scopes and "hosting" birders at some of the birding "hot spots" on the bay and preparing and manning an indoor station for kids working on their Junior Birder Badge. My station involved matching food source and beak type and introduced a conservation challenge of preventing deadly, "unhappy meals" of Styrofoam, fish line, plastics, etc. by taking care of their trash and picking up after litterers to protect birds, an increasing number of which are killed by human garbage. (Hope all of you will also initiate and support efforts to rid our planet of plastic 6-pack rings, shopping bags and Styrofoam!) Erv provided roving photographer services for the festival as well as manning hot spot viewing stations. There were also a lot of good speakers whose programs we were occasionally able to get into. Overall a very good but tiring (volunteers are also "gofers") festival.

The volunteers' post-festival treat is a 4-day trip to Kodiak Island and another NWR there during which (especially on the full day ferry trip over) we hope to see whales, seals, sea lions, sea otters, and sea birds and, once there, some bear. We will definitely see bear before leaving Alaska, however, because I won a festival drawing for a flight to Katmai National Refuge and half day with bear guides there. Everyone remarks about what a great guide group this is and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. WOW - do I feel lucky!!!