By Jessica Edwards

Photographer and writer Arthur Morris and Fairbanks painter Randall Compton are festival headliners. Birder and humorist Al Batt returns this year as master of ceremonies.

Visitor information coordinator and event organizer Christa Rayl said inquiries she has received about the festival have been enthusiastic. "We have about 100 people registered. They sound really excited."

According to Rayl, the classes with Morris have generated a lot of interest. "The classes are almost full with the festival more than a week away."

An eight-year veteran of a shorebird study at a coastal Massachusetts wildlife refuge, Morris authored the book, "The Art of Bird Photography," and has received numerous awards for his photographs.

He has been a Canon contract photographer since 1995, appearing in Canon television ads and programming. Morris has published more than 11,000 photos in photography manuals, birding books, and magazines; his work has also hung in gallery photo exhibits.

Festival-goers can attend three separate clinics with Morris, with topics to include photoshopping and digital photography. The culminating class, held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 9 is a journey into the eagle preserve with Morris as field instructor.

Featured artist Compton is a well-known painter whose art was featured on the first Alaska Ducks Unlimited Print in 1985. Compton also created the artwork for this year’s festival print. A new festival offering this year, a wildlife painting course with Compton, will be available if there is interest, Rayl said.

Compton is partial to Alaskan environments in his work, particularly birds of prey. A falconer, he keeps peregrines for falconry and study. Compton’s work has been described as "a full environment with the birds belonging in it."

Other festival highlights include a live bird presentation and photo opportunity on Friday Nov. 9 and an eagle release ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 10. Attendees to Saturday’s release can bid for the privilege of releasing a raptor into the wild.

On Sunday Nov. 11, there will an informational clinic on the handling of injured raptors. Throughout the week, a host of expert speakers will give wildlife workshops on ornithology, the wilderness, birds of the Yukon, mountain goats, and Haines salmon.

Local tour operator Dan Egolf, who has been active in the eagle festival since the event’s inception, said this year his company would lead additional trips to the eagle preserve for visitors who wanted viewing opportunities beyond those offered in the event’s regular schedule. "The (eagle preserve) is the emerald of Southeast," he said. "This is the world’s largest congregation of bald eagles as well as the greatest gathering of a predator species."

Not all visitors during the festival are birders. Local guide and tour operator Joe Ordonez booked an "off-season adventure trip" with 15 visitors from the Lower 48 during festival week.

The group’s itinerary includes going to dinner at local restaurants, visiting the museum, shopping at local stores and galleries, and taking a flight-seeing trip, as well as driving into the preserve to look at eagles. "They’re going to do whatever is going on," said Ordonez.

Ordonez said that many of the clients had visited Southeast Alaska in the summertime. "A lot of them wanted to come back and didn’t want to see the same thing."

Numerous evening events, many of them fundraisers, are planned the week of the festival.

The festival’s first official evening of entertainment opens at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 7 with a silent auction and dinner to benefit the Bald Eagle Festival. Food will be catered by the Bamboo Room. Auctioned items will all be eagle related, and include Franklin Mint plates with eagle designs, festival sweatshirts, and paintings by local artists. Tickets should be purchased in advance at the visitor center.

Attendees this year will be able to sample Alaskan delicacies such as salmon, halibut, moose, venison and shrimp, said Carter. "It gives out of town visitors a chance to taste local food."

Many of this year’s auction items, donated by local artists and businesses, can be viewed this week at Helen’s Store on Main Street.

Carter said the museum also obtained a raffle permit this year. The featured item for the raffle is a woven raven’s tail medicine bag, made by Klukwan artist Mary Jane Valentine. Other raffle items include local gift certificates.

During the festival’s culminating evening event beginning at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, emcee Al Batt will host an evening program featuring a Juneau-based family of musicians, The Alaska String Band. The band’s repertoire includes gospel, swing, bluegrass and blues. Friday’s silent auction winners will be announced at Saturday’s concert.

Tickets for evening events the week of the eagle festival can be purchased at the visitor center. Eagle Elegance tickets are also available at Helen’s Store and the Babbling Book. Tickets for The Alaska String Band concert at the eagle foundation are $10 for the public, or are included in a three-day festival ticket.

Tickets for the festival are $35 per day, $75 for 3 days, or $100 for all programs and events. Individuals who don’t want to purchase a full-day ticket can participate in a single event for $5; an event plus transportation to the eagle preserve cost $20. The photography sessions with Arthur Morris are not included in the festival tickets and cost $100 each or $250 for all three. Space is limited to 30 people for Friday’s field session.

A full schedule of events is available online at www.baldeaglefestival.org or at the visitor center.

Anyone interested in attending the photography workshops or in a wildlife painting class should contact Rayl at 766-2234.