Photo Gallery
Photos by Gary Rosenberg
We begin with a visit to the Homer, where we’ll take a short boat trip to a bird island where Black-legged Kittiwakes nest in abundance.
At the mouth of a glacial fjord, we should see dozens of Kittlitz’s Murrelets, one of the scarcer alcids in Alaska.
At Seward, we’ll take a longer boat trip to Kenai Fjords National Park and the Chiswell Islands, where we’ll visit the scenic Northwestern Glacier.
At the base of the glacier, Harbor Seals often haul out on chunks of ice that have calved off the glacier, and if we’re lucky…
…we’ll see several Humpback Whales.
On the Chiswell Islands, Tufted Puffins nest by the thousands, and we’re likely to get close views.
Next we’ll travel north of Anchorage to Denali National Park, famous for the spectacular Mt. McKinley which we may not see if the weather is bad….but if it’s clear, what a show!
Inside the park we’ll use the shuttle bus system where our main focus will be scenery and large mammals, such as this Grizzly Bear, and if we’re very fortunate…
…we may catch a glimpse of the top predator, the Gray Wolf.
Due to transport restrictions within Denali National park, our main birding will be done outside the park along the wonderful and wild Denali Highway. Here we may see remarkable sights such as this Upland Sandpiper perched atop a spruce tree…
…or one of our main target birds, Northern Hawk Owl.
On the way back to Anchorage, we’ll visit a scenic (of course…) mountain pass in search of the scarcest of Alaska’s ptarmigan, the White-tailed.
We’ll conclude with four full days of birding in Nome on the Bering Sea where shorebirds breed in the shadow of the
Nome is always exciting to bird, and a number of arctic breeding species will be plentiful, such as Willow Ptarmigan.
Northern Shrike is a regular nesting bird on the Seward Peninsula and…
…the arctic tundra is always alive with shorebirds and jaegers, such as this Parasitic Jaeger…
…and this elegant Long-tailed Jaeger.
We often run into herds of Muskox, re-introduced on the Seward Peninsula and a true indicator species of the high arctic.
…and seeing a Gyrfalcon right outside the van window sums up just how exciting Alaska birding can be!