Alaska - New tour for 2018

Alaska's wild and beautiful spaces have long captivated birders and naturalists alike. With miles of unspoiled wilderness, unending layers of snow-covered peaks, rugged hillsides and tundra landscapes aside the Bering Sea, magnificent fjords of the craggy Kenai Peninsula, islands draped with seabirds of all shapes and sizes, glaciers calving into dark blue waters, impenetrable boreal forests and rolling tundra under the mammoth backdrop of North America's tallest mountain peak, it's easy to see why! 

Our 'Birding the Outposts' tour of Alaska offers a complete sampling of Alaska's birdlife as we visit Nome for breeding Arctic waders including Bristle-thighed Curlew, Barrow for Spectacled and Steller's Eiders, take a boat ride out into the Kenai Fjords and visit Denali National Park. 

A post tour extension to the spectacular Pribiloff Islands will be offered for those interested in visiting St. Paul Island's impressive seabird cliffs teeming with puffins, auklets and kittiwakes and we will have a 3-night stay here so we can fully appreciate the extraordinary birding opportunities that this island provides. 

Just a few of the other key target species: Emperor Goose, Harlequin Duck, Barrow's Goldeneye, Spruce Grouse, White-billed Diver, Rock Sandpiper, Aleutian Tern, Great Grey Owl, Boreal Owl, Snowy Owl, Black-backed Woodpecker, Gyrfalcon, Boreal Chickadee, Pine Grosbeak, Sooty Fox Sparrow, Smith's Longspur and more!

But it's the nesting seabirds that really make a trip to Alaska so special: Red-faced Cormorant, Brunnich's Guillemot, Pigeon Guillemot, Marbled Murrelet, Kittlitz's Murrelet, Ancient Murrelet, Parakeet Auklet, Least Auklet, Crested Auklet, Rhinoceros Auklet, Horned Puffin, Tufted Puffin, Red-legged Kittiwake....

Take a look at our tour itinerary here: Alaska 2018

Spectacled Eider 

Spectacular Scenery

And more great scenery

Bristle-thighed Curlew

King Eider

Red Phalarope

Rock Ptarmigan

Sabine's Gull

Willow Ptarmigan

Aleutian Tern

American Three-toed Woodpecker

Boreal Owl

Great Grey Owl

All photos courtesy of Kim Risen, our co-leader for this tour.