ADAK ISLAND FEATURED IN WILDBIRD MAGAZINE
"Aleutians' Alure" by John Puschock is one of the feature articles in the Jan/Feb 2007 issue of WildBird Magazine. John wrote this article based upon his experience of leading tours to Adak Island, Alaska over the past several years. The article tells of rarities, residents, and how to find Adak's special species. Adak has only recently become available as an Aleutian birding destination, and John is helping to lead the way in exploring its potential for producing Asian strays. The article begins on page 46 of the issue with the male Painted Bunting on the cover. This issue will be available online at http://www.wildbirdmagazine.com/wb/. The current issue being featured on WildBird's web site is Sep/Oct 2006.
TOURS GUARANTEED TO GO IN 2007
The following tours have at least the minimum number of participants needed for the tour to go, but still have one or more openings available. Simply click on the web site address to view the detailed itinerary. Additional information concerning all of our tours is available by going to http://www.birdtreks.com/schedules/sched.html. This includes a short description of each tour, plus highlights, photos, and favorite species from previous adventures.
These tours are GUARANTEED TO GO:Day-by-day itineraries and additional information are on our web site at www.birdtreks.com. Please contact the BIRD TREKS office if you need help accessing our web site or if you would rather have information mailed to your postal address. Many of our other scheduled tours are likely to go, but they cannot be guaranteed at this time. Please contact BIRD TREKS for more information or to register for the tour of your choice.
BIRD TREKS WEB SITE
We are in the process of re-designing the Bird Treks web site. We'd like to receive your comments, including what you like and what you think should be changed. Do you like the color scheme and layout? Do you think the permanent header takes up too much room? Do you have any general comments? Please give us your thoughts.
OREGON TRIP RPORT
The following are some excerpts from John Puschock's trip report on our recent excursion to Oregon. Please go to http://www.birdtreks.com/highlites/index.html and scroll down to Oregon for the full report (coming soon) and Top 10 Lists. Next year's tour is scheduled for 4-13 October 2007, with an exciting extension to the mouth of the Columbia River through 16 October.
COASTAL OREGON & KLAMATH BASIN
29 September - 8 October 2006
Leaders John Puschock & Bob Schutsky
Trip Report by John Puschock
After assembling in Portland, our anxious group of birders headed to the coast. Our first stop was Miami Bay in the town of Garibaldi. There were good numbers of gulls that included six different species. We had our introduction to the hybrid "Olympic Gull", a mix of Western and Glaucous- winged gulls. There's enough variation in these guys that it takes the normal confusion of identifying gulls to a whole new level, enough so that I prefer to find a "typical" Western Gull and a "typical" Glaucous-winged Gull, and then just call it a day as far as those two species are concerned!
We made a few more stops, but the weather was a little unpleasant. Fog and moderately strong winds met us near the coast, so we headed south toward our hotel in Lincoln City. We did, however, see a pair of White-tailed Kites hunting over a field as sunset approached, a nice bonus to end the day.
On the second day of the tour, we explored the coast south of Lincoln City, with stops at Siletz Bay, Depoe Bay, Boiler Bay, Seal Rocks, and Yaquina Head State Park, plus a few other areas. As you can imagine, waterbirds were the focus of the day. Siletz Bay was full of puddle ducks. A possible Eurasian Wigeon got away before the entire group could see it. It simply disappeared into a large flock of American Wigeon. We saw our first alcids - Marbled Murrelets and Common Murres - at Boiler Bay, but the biggest (literally) attraction here were Gray Whales. They were swimming just beyond the breakers. A few other highlights were Black Oystercatchers at Depoe Bay, all three West Coast cormorants (Brandt's, Pelagic, and Double-crested) at Yaquina Head, and Surfbirds at Seal Rocks.
Day 3 was devoted to our pelagic trip organized by Greg Gillson. I had high hopes for Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel, one of the few "usual" North American birds that I still haven't seen. A trip the previous day found a flock of about 1400 of these birds, plus more than 20 South Polar Skuas. However, things can change dramatically from one day to the next at sea. A few people spotted one or two storm- petrels on our pelagic trip. Unfortunately, I wasn't one of them. But despite that, we still had a great day. We saw large numbers of all three jaeger species. Neither Bob nor I ever recalled seeing that many jaegers in one day. A few South Polar Skuas were also seen which, along with the jaegers, completed the "skua grand slam". A Tufted Puffin was also spotted. It was very cooperative, and we were able to circle it with the boat at least three times. We observed more than 20 Black-footed Albatross that were following a fishing boat. Three species of shearwaters (Pink-footed, Buller's, and Sooty) and six species of alcids (Common Murre, Pigeon Guillemot, Marbled Murrelet, Cassin's and Rhinoceros Auklets, along with the Tufted Puffin) rounded out the day . . .
We arrived at the estuary on the final day to find several other birders already looking. The bad news was that it wasn't seen yet that day. Long story short, an all-day vigil did not yield a Red-necked Stint. We did, however, get great close-up looks at a Wrentit while we waited. In the afternoon, Bob took the group to the jetties to look for Wandering Tattler. They were successful. While they were gone, another birder and I noticed a raptor heading north toward us. It turned out to be a Rough-legged Hawk, which would be a great bird for the tour. The only problem was that Bob and the group were still at the jetties. Fortunately, we both had cell phones, so I was able to call and tell Bob that a Rough- legged was headed his way. He scrambled everyone back to the van, and they headed back to a good vantage point. I was able to describe the bird's movements and position to Bob, and he managed to spot it. It was our last new bird of the tour, and a great one seen in quite an interesting way.
COMING SOON . . .
We hope that you have enjoyed reading about Oregon, Adak, and our upcoming tours. We enjoy sharing our news, updates, and information with you. Our next NEWS FLASH will contain lots of exciting tales from Kenya.
Please let us know if we can assist you with any additional information. We'd love to help you with a regularly scheduled tour, or perhaps a custom expedition. Imagine the surprise and delight if you invited your friends on a tour to a unique destination. It could be the adventure of a lifetime!
And, if you need a Christmas gift idea for a birding friend, a Bird Treks Gift Certificate always brings a big smile!
Sincerely,