AMAZING, AWESOME, ALASKA!
CBC Bonus Trip June 2012
Fabulous scenery, excellent mammal viewing, and birds found nowhere else on the continent. Alaska is a must for every North American birder!
Immense expanses consisting of range upon range of snowy mountains, glaciers beyond count, islands teeming with seabirds, coastal fjords edged with fogdrenched forest, vast boreal taiga, and untold miles of rolling tundra—Alaska's magnificence is beyond compare.
This trip offers a complete cross section of birds and geography. It focuses upon three very different areas: the parks, rugged hills, and seacoast of Anchorage; breathtaking Kenai Fjords National Park and the adjacent Kenai Peninsula; and the sprawling wilderness in the shadow of majestic Denali (Mount McKinley), North America's highest peak.
We'll begin in Anchorage, then drive south, birding en route to Seward where we will spend a day on a tour boat cruising Resurrection Bay and, if seas permit, around the Chiswell Islands where thousands of seabirds breed.
Then back to Anchorage where we'll take the Glenn Highway east to the Richardson Highway. North from here to the Denali Highway. Of course we'll be stopping frequently to enjoy the birds and wildlife along the way.
We will spend two whole days exploring the 135- mile long Denali Highway. Its stunning scenery and alpine tundra make it a Disneyland for birders.
Next, we proceed to Denali National Park where we'll enjoy a guided tour through the park, spectacular scenery, and the best wildlife viewing in Alaska.
The trip is scheduled for June 2012. Sorry, signup is now wait-list only.
Targets Include:
| Trumpeter Swan | Thick-billed Murre |
| Barrow's Goldeneye | Marbled Murrelet |
| Harlequin Duck | Kittlitz's Murrelet |
| Willow Ptarmigan | Rhinoceros Auklet |
| Rock Ptarmigan | Pigeon Guillemot |
| Pacific Loon | Horned Puffin |
| Red-necked Grebe | Tufted Puffin |
| Pelagic Cormorant | Three-toed Woodpecker |
| Red-faced Cormorant | Olive-sided Flycatcher |
| Gyrfalcon | Bohemian Waxwing |
| Northern Hawk-Owl | Boreal Chickadee |
| Great Grey Owl | Arctic Warbler |
| American Golden-Plover | Northern Wheatear |
| Hudsonian Godwit | Common Redpoll |
| Wandering Tattler | Northwestern Crow |
| Surfbird | Steller's Jay |
| Red-necked Phalarope | Black-billed Magpie |
| Parasitic Jaeger | Golden-crowned Sparrow |
| Long-tailed Jaeger | Lapland Longspur |
| Glaucous-winged Gull | Smith's Longspur |
| Arctic Tern | Pine Grosbeak |
| Common Murre | White-winged Crossbill |
Contact Bruce Smithson with questions.
Bonus Field Trips are open only to CBC members in good standing (i.e., your dues must be paid up). Would you like to go on a field trip but aren't a CBC member? It is perfectly OK to join the CBC at the same time you register for a field trip. Information on joining the CBC can be found on our membership page.
