ADAK ISLAND, ALASKA
|
Dates:
|
Sunday, 26 August through Sunday, 2 September 2007 . . . and . . .
Sunday, 2 September through Sunday, 9 September 2007.
Both tours are 8 days & 7 nights.
|
|
|
You can go to Adak for either week, or save money and
increase your chances of seeing more Asian strays and
other great birds by staying for one and a half or two weeks.
Please consider joining our tour
group that will be on Adak 6-20 September 2007. Your odds of finding
more rarities increase directly with the number of people searching.
|
|
We'll visit Adak Island in the central Aleutians, 1200
miles southwest of Anchorage, the westernmost portion of North America
that is accessible by commercial airline.
|
|
Previous trip lists are available upon request.
|
|
|
Target Species include . . .
|
| |
Cackling Goose
|
Red-necked Phalarope
|
| |
'Eurasian' Green-winged Teal
|
Parasitic Jaeger
|
| |
Eurasian Wigeon
|
Glaucous-winged Gull
|
| |
Tufted Duck
|
Black-legged Kittiwake
|
| |
Common Eider
|
Common Murre
|
| |
Rock Ptarmigan (Aleutian subspecies)
|
Pigeon Guillemot (Aleutian subspecies)
|
| |
Laysan Albatross
|
Marbled Murrelet
|
| |
Black-footed Albatross
|
Ancient Murrelet
|
| |
Northern Fulmar
|
Parakeet Auklet
|
| |
Short-tailed Shearwater
|
Horned Puffin
|
| |
Pelagic Cormorant
|
Tufted Puffin
|
| |
Red-faced Cormorant
|
Winter Wren (Aleutian subspecies)
|
| |
Black Oystercatcher
|
Song Sparrow (Aleutian subspecies)
|
| |
Pacific Golden-Plover
|
Lapland Longspur
|
| |
Bar-tailed Godwit
|
Snow Bunting (Aleutian subspecies)
|
| |
Rock Sandpiper (Aleutian subspecies)
|
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (Aleutian subspecies)
|
Rarities and vagrants found on our September 2004 tour include . . .
|
| |
Arctic Loon
|
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
|
| |
Yellow-billed Loon
|
Temminck's Stint
|
| |
Eurasian Wigeon
|
Common Tern (east Siberian subspecies)
|
| |
Tufted Duck
|
Oriental Cuckoo
|
| |
Gyrfalcon
|
Fork-tailed Swift
|
| |
Lesser Sand-Plover
|
Gray Wagtail
|
| |
Common Snipe
|
Olive-backed Pipit
|
| |
Marsh Sandpiper
|
Gray-streaked Flycatcher
|
Additional possibilities include . . .
|
| |
Garganey
|
Crested Auklet
|
| |
Black-headed Gull
|
Least Auklet
|
| |
Slaty-backed Gull
|
Red-throated Pipit
|
| |
Red-necked Stint
|
|
Most likely mammals are . . .
|
| |
Sea Otter
|
Caribou
|
| |
Harbor Seal
|
|
ADAK ISLAND, ALASKA
26 August - 2 September 2007, 2-9 September 2007 or 6-20 September 2007
|
Day |
Agenda
|
|
1
|
|
Your flight from Anchorage departs in late morning with a
mid-afternoon arrival in Adak. From the airport we'll make the short
drive to our lodging facilities, comfortable two-bedroom apartments
that formerly housed naval officers when the base was active. They
are all equipped with cable TV, telephone, a kitchen, and washer and
dryer. As soon as everyone is settled, we'll begin birding. Our first
stop is an overlook of Kulik Bay to look for alcids and
cormorants. From there, we'll continue to Clam Lagoon,
THE hotspot on Adak. This location has yielded North America's
first Spot-billed Duck and Broad-billed Sandpiper. On a
recent fall tour we found Marsh Sandpiper, Temminck's
Stint, Lesser Sand-Plover, Gray Wagtail, and other
good birds at the lagoon.
|
|
|
Clam Lagoon is one of the prime birding areas on Adak Island.
--John Puschock
|
|
|
|
2-7
|
|
|
One of the Asian vagrants found on a recent scouting trip was this immature Oriental Cuckoo.
--John Puschock
|
|
We'll spend most of our days looking for seabirds, shorebirds,
Asian vagrants, other migrants, and some of the island's resident
species such as Lapland Longspur, Snow Bunting, and
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch. We'll check Clam Lagoon once or twice
daily, plus other areas such as the old Loran station at the north end
of the island to look for seabirds that may include
Black-footed and Laysan Albatrosses. We'll visit Lake
Andrew where we saw Gray-streaked Flycatcher on a past tour,
and the town itself where we found an Oriental Cuckoo.
Part of the excitement of birding on the Aleutians is that you
never know what may show up where or when.
|
|
|
|
|
We are planning an offshore boat trip to look for Whiskered
Auklet and other seabirds such as albatrosses,
Short-tailed Shearwater, Northern Fulmar, and a variety
of alcids. We will schedule this trip early in the tour so that
we have a back-up date in case of bad weather. We will make every
effort to take the boat trip as we feel that it will be productive. If
for any reason it does not go, you will receive a refund for the boat
portion of the tour fee. The status of Whiskered Auklet in the
fall near Adak is relatively unknown. We will make every reasonable
attempt to find this rarity using all of the information at hand,
including the experience of our local boat captains.
|
|
|
Bald Eagles are abundant.
--John Puschock
|
|
|
|
8
|
We'll take one more look at Clam Lagoon and perhaps a few other sites
this morning, then return to town to prepare for the early afternoon
return flight to Anchorage.
|
|
|
Leader:
|
This tour will be led by John Puschock, author of a chapter of
the ABA/Lane Birder's Guide to Alaska. John operated four
bird-banding stations in northwestern Alaska. He has now conducted
six very successful tours to Adak.
|
|
Price:
|
$4695 per person for either week. Price may go up or down slightly due
to factors beyond our control. We will do our best to hold to the
quoted price. If you stay on Adak for both weeks, the fee for the
second week will be reduced based upon the price of the roundtrip
airfare from Anchorage to Adak. Also, dependent upon the rooming
arrangements, we may be able to offer a discount for any couple
sharing a bed.
|
|
Includes:
|
Expert guide service, lodging for 7 nights, ALL meals, entrance
fees and permits, all ground transportation on Adak, and roundtrip
airfare from Anchorage to Adak. ALL tips are also included in
the tour fee, except for anything that you may wish to give to your
tour leader(s).
Does not include cost of airfare to and from Anchorage, Alaska.
BIRD TREKS
will, upon request, help you obtain the best airfare. Also not
included are the cost of alcoholic beverages and items of a personal
nature.
|
|
Deposit:
|
An $1100 deposit will assure your reservation on the tour. The balance
is payable 15 June 2007. Adak is a spectacular birding destination
that has only recently become accessible to the birding public. We
expect both tours to fill quickly. Send your deposit soon to insure
your reservation and to obtain the best possible airfare to Anchorage.
|
Extra
Services:
|
We offer the services of our exclusive
BIRD TREKS travel agent,
Lori Heathcote, in arranging your air travel. Lori has 21 years
of experience in the travel industry and is a veteran birder. Contact
her through Bailey Travel at 1-800-224-5399, or you can e-mail
lori@baileytravel.com.
By dealing with Lori you have the security of a 24-hour toll-free
telephone number in case of any travel emergency. She can also assist
you with all pre- and post-tour travel plans.
|
Refund &
Cancellation
Policy:
|
With written notice more than 90 days prior to the first day of the
tour, 100% of your deposit will be refunded, minus a $100 service fee.
With 30-90 days notice, you will receive a 50% refund of the full cost
of the tour. No refund can be made with less than 30 days notice. You
will receive a full refund if you provide a replacement for your spot
on the tour.
No partial refund can be given once a tour begins.
We strongly recommend that you purchase trip
cancellation insurance to protect your investment in case of injury or
illness to you or your family prior to or during a tour. Click on the
following link to Access America or contact
BIRD TREKS for information
on obtaining this coverage.
|
| |
Robert M. Schutsky
216 Spring Lane
Peach Bottom, PA 17563
Phone: 717-548-3303
Fax: 717-548-3327
e-mail: info@birdtreks.com
|